The Floating Staircase

Every full moon, a staircase of smooth white stones rises above the village square, and nine-year-old Sophie has waited a whole month for the chance to climb it. Wearing her mustard-yellow raincoat and red canvas boots, with her curly black hair in two puffy buns, she steps onto the first stone and ascends into the starry sky. At the top she finds the Sky Gardens, floating islands where silver-leaved trees and colorful flowers bloom in the moonlight.

There Sophie meets Marrow, a tall sky gardener with sage-green skin, who explains that the stones answer to balance and movement: hurry and they wobble, stay calm and they hold. She practices stepping lightly, as if dancing, and soon meets Pip, a playful gardener child with gold-spotted freckles and a watering can, who invites her to a balance game. This gentle fantasy by Yavuz DEMİRKIRAN explores patience, balance and problem-solving for young readers. The tale can be read on Online Masal.