The Starlight Umbrella

Emma lives in a small village at the edge of a wide, quiet hill, in a house with a red door and a garden full of daisies. Each evening she sits on the porch with her grandpa, Joe, who tells her stories about falling stars that twinkle like tiny lanterns. One breezy night, in her yellow raincoat and blue rubber boots, she climbs the hill with her orange cat Pip and her sky-blue umbrella with silver stars, and catches a piece of starlight as it drifts down. Night after night she gathers more, until her umbrella glows like a nightlight beside her bed. When Grandpa Joe says that starlight shines brightest when shared, Emma is not sure what he means; she likes keeping the warm light close.

Then a storm rolls over the village and the power goes out, leaving every house dark and every neighbor worried. Remembering her grandpa's words, Emma takes Pip and her glowing umbrella and steps out into the night. This gentle tale by Yavuz DEMİRKIRAN follows one single night of darkness and light, and it can be read on Online Masal. Its warm, simple scenes make it well suited to reading aloud at bedtime.