Stargazer

Before there was a story, there was a real Stargazer

Why Stargazer came back

What would Stargazer do?

The book is the beginning

Stargazer was a blind ostrich I cared for many years ago while managing an ostrich chick farm. She was different from the other chicks from the beginning. She grew more slowly, but she grew strong. Her movements were gentle and deliberate, and because she couldn’t see, she experienced the world through her other senses. She would become still, lift her head and take in what was happening around her. That’s how she got her name.

I didn’t know then that Stargazer would come back into my life many years later.

Years later, my work took me into emergency management. I began hearing stories about what happened after emergencies and disasters, when the immediate danger had passed, but people’s worlds hadn't simply returned to how they were before. One story that has stayed with me is about children affected by severe flooding who didn’t want to go to school when it rained again. The rain had come to mean something different.

It made me think about what we offer children when their world changes through disasters, illness, grief, moving home, or other experiences that disrupt what once felt familiar. And I thought about Stargazer. She didn’t experience the world in the same way as those around her. She slowed down and noticed when the others were running around in circles . She used what she had available to understand what was happening around her. That became the beginning of the book.

Stargazer: When Your World Changes

Stargazer is a children’s picture book about a blind ostrich whose world changes. But it isn’t a story that tells children how they should feel, or simply asks them to be brave or calm. Stargazer is a companion.

The book is designed to be experienced by children and adults, creating space to slow down, notice and reconnect. Through the story and illustrations, I want to create a world that children and adults can return to - noticing something different each time they do.

The manuscript is complete and the book is moving through the next stages of its development. It’s visual world will bring together elements of Australia, where the real Stargazer lived, and Aotearoa New Zealand, where her story is now being brought back to life.

Over time, I’ve realised that Stargazer’s story asks questions that reach beyond the pages of a children’s book.

What happens when we stop rushing to respond?

What might we notice if we pay attention differently?

How do we reconnect with ourselves, with one another and with the world around us when things change?

Perhaps being a Stargazer is not about having all of the answers. It begins with paying attention.

I am beginning with one story, but my dream for Stargazer is bigger than one book.

Already, Stargazer is beginning to step beyond the page. This beautiful needle-felted Stargazer is currently being created by Ohana Keepsakes, brining her into three dimensions for the first time.

Over time, I want to explore how Stargazer might grow through stories, objects and experiences that invite children and adults to slow down, connect with the living world around them and make sense of change together. Exactly what that will become is still emerging but for now, I’m starting where Stargazer would by paying attention and seeing where the journey takes us.