⭐

JO LEE

Little stars learning big things: being brave, telling the truth, and shining just as they are
Children's Author · Palmer, Alaska

The Books

Sammy Star book cover — a small glowing golden star in a night forest

Sammy Star

Out now · Paperback & Hardcover

Sammy is a star born into a world of moons. When Mama Moon tries to help him fit in, his sparkle begins to fade… until she discovers that the bravest thing a mama can do is love her little star exactly as he is.

Ages 3–8 · 26 pages, full colour · Paperback $14.99 · Hardcover $21.99

★★★★★ 5.0 on Amazon

Bookshop.org supports local bookstores · or ask any bookstore or library (ISBN 979-8-9972876-1-0)
Scaredy Cat Sammy book cover — Sammy in his blue helmet beside his bike, with Mama Moon and little sister Luna

Scaredy Cat Sammy

Out now · Book 2 · Paperback

Everyone has brand new comet-trail bikes — everyone except Sammy, who thinks bikes are dumb. (He is maybe, possibly, just a little bit afraid.)

Braveheart the raven under the Milky Way

Scaredy Cat Sammy was inspired by a raven I named Braveheart. I started tossing leftovers to an unkindness of ravens during a particularly harsh winter. The ravens were very cautious to approach — hungry, but scared. The scrawniest one, the one I named Braveheart, weighed the risks and decided to go for it. Braveheart went first every time — and the others followed.

I still feed the ravens, and he is still the bravest of them all. Braveheart taught me that the bravest ones are simply the first to try.

And keep your eyes open… a little black cat hides on every page.

Ages 3–8 · Paperback $14.99

Bookshop.org supports local bookstores · or ask any bookstore or library (ISBN 979-8-9972876-2-7)
Sammy Star Sings! book cover — Sammy singing happily into an ice cream cone under the night sky

Sammy Star Sings!

Pre-order now · Book 3 · Paperback · Out November 16, 2026 — shipping now at Bookshop.org

Inspired by my Granny, who loved to sing but was terrible at it. Someone at church commented on her tone-deaf warbling, and she stopped singing — for years. Then, gradually, she began to sing to herself in the kitchen. Her singing had not improved one bit — but that warbling, off-key voice lit her up, and she lit up everyone around her.

Happy people make people happy.

Ages 3–8 · Paperback $14.99

Bookshop.org supports local bookstores · or ask any bookstore or library (ISBN 979-8-9972876-5-8)
Sammy Star’s Sticky Lie book cover — Sammy holding a glowing blue butterfly in his cozy round-window bedroom

Sammy Star’s Sticky Lie

Out now · Book 4 · Paperback

A story about owning up to mistakes, even when it's hard — and especially when nobody saw. Broken things can be mended or replaced, but your word and your honor are yours to keep.

At the back of the book, kids learn about kintsugi — the Japanese art of mending broken things with gold.

Ages 3–8 · Paperback $14.99

Bookshop.org supports local bookstores · or ask any bookstore or library (ISBN 979-8-9972876-4-1)

Coming Next from the Night Sky

One more Sammy story is on the way — here is a little taste of Sammy Star’s Hard Good Day.

Early illustration from Sammy Star's Hard Good Day: the Starlight School bus arriving at the bus stop under the night sky

Sammy Star’s Hard Good Day

Book 5 · Meet Luna!

Inspired by my own children. When my son started kindergarten, the big days wore him out — being on your best behavior all day is hard — and by each afternoon he had nothing left for the little sister who had waited all day for him to come home. When I gently told him he needed to be good to her too, he broke down in tears: “But Mama, I have used up all my good!”

That sentence stuck — and it became this book. It also introduces Luna, Sammy's little sister, who adores her big brother and happily shares her own good when he runs out of his own.

Sammy and friends riding under the Milky Way — early illustration

About Jo

Jo Lee in the autumn tundra at Hatcher Pass, Alaska

Sammy Star began as a story told out loud to my own children at bedtime, and he never really left. Years later I wrote him down, exactly as he was — a different, pointy, sparkly little star in a world of soft round moons.

Five Sammy books are planned, each one helping little ones with something big: loving who they are, being brave when they’re scared, telling the truth when it’s hard, calming big feelings, and doing what makes them happy no matter what others think.

I write and publish from Palmer, Alaska, under my own imprint, Sparkle North Star Books.

Jo's two children asleep as toddlers, holding hands
My two, holding hands in their sleep. Every Sammy story started with these people.

For Libraries & Schools

Sammy Star is available through Ingram under standard library and trade wholesale terms, and through Baker & Taylor, Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.

TitleSammy Star
AuthorJo Lee
ISBN-13 (paperback)979-8-9972876-1-0
ISBN-13 (hardcover)979-8-9972876-0-3
Publisher / ImprintSparkle North Star Books
Format8 × 10 in · 26 pages · full colour
AudienceAges 3–8 · PreK–Grade 2
Story-time and author visits: I'm happy to visit schools and libraries — in person when I'm nearby, or by video call anywhere — and to provide review or donation copies. Just write.

Free Sammy Coloring Book & Brave Star Pledge

Join the Sammy Star list and get two free printables right away: a 9-page Sammy Star Coloring Book and a Brave Star Pledge certificate your little one can sign and color. Five Sammy books are on the way — I’ll send one short note when each new book comes out, and nothing else, ever.

Want something to print right now? Three more free sheets — a moon phases colouring page, a Sammy maze and a “What Makes YOU Shine?” worksheet — with no email needed.

Free printables →

Say Hello

For library orders, school visits, review copies, or just to tell me your little star's favourite page:

JoleeBooks@proton.me

Jo Lee · P.O. Box 775, Palmer, AK 99645