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When I was little, I liked looking at the stars. They twinkled like lights on a Christmas tree. Woolly liked stargazing too.
In nursery school, we sang songs about stars. “ Twinkle twinkle little star.”
I learned how to draw stars. Up, down, over, across, down. My teacher, Ms. Claire, said stars had names. I named my star Twinkle.
Ms Claire said that people all over drew lines between stars, to make pictures of bears and snakes and hunters.
At night, Daddy and I looked at the stars again, but I didn’t see any pictures. Just lots and lots of dots.
I wanted to see the animals Ms. Claire had talked about.
“Hey, Tig,” Woolly said beside me on the blanket. “People didn’t really draw lines in the sky. They used their imaginations.”
Woolly held up several of his yellow feet like stars and traced between them. Woolly laughed, but I couldn’t see what he drew.
“The great thing about stars is you can connect them any way you want! You can make a bear and a snake,“ Woolly stomped like a bear and wiggled his eight legs like snakes. “Or you can make a fire engine. Honk, honk! Wee-ooh-wee-ooh.”
“Go for it, Tig! Make your own pictures!”
Yes, I thought! I can make my own pictures! I used my finger to trace my favorite dinosaur, the diplodocus.
The next night was cloudy. We couldn’t see the stars, but Mummy got me stars to stick to my ceiling. We set them up so I could make pictures.
My stars glowed at night. As I fell asleep, I made constellations.
I wanted to show everyone at nursery school my constellations, but the stars were gone!
The clouds were gone, too. They’d taken all the stars away!
“Hey, Tig, the stars haven’t disappeared. They’re still twinkling up in the sky, twinkling.”
I shook my head no. Woolly was wrong!
Woolly pointed up at the sun. “The sun is a star too, The sun’s so big and bright that its light outshines the smaller stars.”
I chewed my lip. I wasn’t sure.
“Some days it’s cloudy and you can’t see the sun.” Woolly covered his yellow eyes. “But then the clouds move and you’ll see the sun again!” Woolly uncovered his eyes.
“The stars are always there, Tig, and you’ll see them again soon. On sunny days, you can make star pictures on paper.
Yes, I thought! I like the sun!
I drew stars up, down, over, across, down. I drew a diplodocus.
During resting time, I dangled Woolly over my friends so his yellow feet were like stars. My friends shouted.
I told them “It’s only my toy spider!”
I like sunny days and starry nights. I don’t mind clouds. I love Woolly!