- Picture Books
- Ages 3–7
- Fantasy
Where to Hide a Star
Book 5 of 5 in The Boy SeriesView the full series
Part of the Oliver Jeffers universeOpen the collection
The boy's star has gone missing. He and the penguin search everywhere for a safe place to keep it, and meet some familiar faces along the way. A warm reunion of the series' cast that will delight readers who have followed the boy from the beginning.
- Best for3–7
- FormatPicture
- Length48 pp
- Read aloud~10 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Lyrical
- Conversational
- Comedic
Tone
- Warm
- Gentle
- Funny
- Whimsical
- Heartwarming
- Cosy
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
The boy has a star, he caught it long ago, but it goes missing. He and the penguin set off to find a safe place to keep it, and in the process encounter the alien from The Way Back Home and the Martian from Where to Hide a Star, bringing together characters from across eighteen years of Oliver Jeffers' Boy books. Where to Hide a Star is both a standalone adventure and a love letter to long-time readers: the joy of recognition when a character returns, the accumulation of friendship across many books, the sense that this world has been quietly building all along. Jeffers' illustrations are as luminous as ever, the night sequences in particular use light and colour to create something close to magic, and the prose is slightly fuller here than in the earlier books, reflecting a readership who may have grown up with the series. A generous, nostalgic addition that works best for children who know at least Lost and Found.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 3–7
- Read aloud · 3–10
- Independent · 5–7
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Workable
Read-aloud quality
Excellent
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Bedtime
- Reading together
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
4 / 5 · Bedtime-friendly
Sensitive-child
4 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Gift book
- Bedtime book
- Picture book adults love
- Series reunion
- Space lovers
Avoid if
No common reasons to avoid this one — a rare clean sweep on the sensitivity flags.
Particularly good for children who are…
- Making friends
- Interested in science
- Separation anxiety
- Anxiety and worry
In the classroom
How it works in school.
Oliver Jeffers' warm Boy adventures about friendship and belonging — spare, lovely read-alouds rich for inference and talk about feelings.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific delight is the reunion — the boy and the penguin searching for a safe place for the missing star, the alien from The Way Back Home and the Martian arriving along the way, eighteen years of characters meeting in the same book. The Jeffers love letter to long-time readers of the Boy series.
- Secret world
- Animal companions
- Friendship and belonging
- Making a difference
Why parents love it
The newer Boy entry — generous fan-service reunion alongside a standalone star-hunt, luminous night sequences, fuller prose reflecting a readership grown up with the series. Best for children who know at least Lost and Found.
- Nostalgia
- Beautiful illustrations
- Bedtime appropriate
- Conversation starter
In the series
The Boy Series.
5 books · open the series →
About the author & illustrator
Oliver Jeffers.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
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