Marigold’s Magic Stars by Samantha Wills

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke

The author of Marigold’s Magic Stars is Samantha Wills who is described as a multidisciplinary creative. She is a writer, creator, educator, speaker and feminist. She says of herself, “I’ve never done things the way you’re ‘meant’ to do them. That approach saw me get really terrible grades in high school … and then go on to have a really successful career as a creative entrepreneur.”

I first came across this author through her first book Of Gold & Dust — a business memoir, which documented not only her professional experience as a company founder, but also the very personal and human elements that seemed to come with her success.

The children’s book, Marigold’s Magic Stars, appears to mirror her own earlier life and is a story set to encourage all those students who do not find success in the traditional school subjects but who shine in creative endeavours. Many young children feel a failure when they see their school friends shine in the basic school subjects, and they do not. Yet, as this story reinforces several times, the word SMART has at its centre the word ART.

Marigold loves creating with crafts, painting and dreaming up wild and magical stories, however her stories always fall short at school because of her grammar and punctuation. Her teacher keeps telling her that not everything is about creativity and that she should get her head out of the clouds and concentrate on her schoolwork. This makes Marigold wish that she was smart like the other students.

When her report card is handed out, Marigold cannot see how comments about her creative mind are beneficial to her when others are called smart for their academic success. Her mother is very supportive and tries to show her daughter that Marigold knows many people who have made a success of their lives through their specific creative talents and that there is more than one type of smart which can make someone a successful entrepreneur.

Marigold begins to realise that being creative could help other people or the environment so, when the school fete fundraiser comes around, she sets to work to create trays and trays of dazzling key chains.  In preparing her stall for the fete and working out a price to put on her items Marigold discovers that addition and subtraction are much easier when applied to the things she makes.

When Marigold dreams and creates, the glittering stars seem to dance through her heart and her hands giving her inspiration. After her success at the school fete Marigold creates a sign for her bedroom door which reads MARIGOLD: CREATIVE ENTREPRENEUR.

For me this story mirrored much of what I believe the author might have experienced in her biography, Gold & Dust.

At the end of Marigold’s Magic Stars there is a page full of gold stars with the words

…and if we are paying attention to what the stars are trying to say,

we will see that the entire time

they were illuminating the path showing us the way…

In the Epilogue, the reader is told that Marigold continued to follow the stars that danced inside her, and that her love of beading from making keyrings for her school friends would lead to making jewellery for the most famous women in the world and that she would win awards and be featured in international magazines.

In 2016 the author of this book launched the Samantha Wills Institute, a platform providing resources, insight and education for creative entrepreneurs.

The presentation of this book is enhanced by illustrations from Melbourne-based Emma Leonard, who has produced work for Australian Women’s Weekly and The Freedom Calendar and who also creates customised artworks for many organisations.

This is an inspiring story for young girls showing them that they all have skills that can lead them to success when they follow the stars driving their creativity. It is a hard covered book presented as a first edition box set.

Marigold’s Magic Stars

(2024)

by Samantha Wills

Illustrated by Emma Leonard

Samantha Quills Pty Ltd with Brio Books

ISBN: 9-781761-28246-1

$35.99; 84pp

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