“I loved you before I met you
Before I held you in my arms
I sang you down from the stars”
I Sang You Down From The Stars is such a beautiful lyrical story. I love the beautiful bond between mother, baby and the natural world. The baby in this story was conceived as summer turned to autumn and born in the spring, just like Edie and our Baby Tilda in the stars.
I love the traditional understanding of the Inniniwak and other Indigenous peoples that babies choose their parents. I also adore the mindful preparations made as the mother and her community get ready to welcome the new baby. Every illustration in this beautified book sparkles with awe and wonder, with love, with stardust. The creation of a medicine bundle to help keep a child’s connection to their identity strong is such a lovely lovely idea.
The Inniniwak Nation, the author’s Nation, are known as People of the Stars. The illustrator of this story comes from the Tlingit Nation – People of the Tides.
This is a story created by seas and stars. Tilda and Edie share the middle name Mae which means Star of the Sea. I feel a very special and powerfully emotive connection to this wonderful story.
This book is a truly beautiful celebration of the bond between mother and child. It would make a lovely gift for a new mummy or mummy to be. The perfect lullaby to whisper to a growing bump and share with a growing baby.
On the 2nd May our beautiful Baby Tilda would have turned ten. Instead it will be her tenth birthday in the stars. I am already feeling so sad and broken as the birthday countdown begins and I start to make preparations for remembering and honouring the baby I sang down from the stars only to have to return her to the heavens after far too short a life on earth.
Today I am sharing this book for our Baby Tilda.
We love you and miss you always … in starlight x