A sample story from Starring Tonight, written for an example child, Maya, age 5.
Families receive a new one like this every evening at 6:00 PM.

Captain Maya and the Wobbly Star

About 5 minutes to read aloud  •  Tonight’s skill: Calming down with breath

Every night before blast-off, Captain Maya checked three things: her helmet, her snack (two crackers shaped like moons), and her copilot, a sleepy space mouse named Biscuit who wore a thimble for a hat.

“Ready, Biscuit?” “Ready,” squeaked Biscuit, and he buckled his tiny belt.

Maya pressed the big silver button. Whoosh! The little rocket zipped past the moon, past the purple cloud where comets nap, all the way to the quiet edge of the sky.

Maya was curious. Curious means always wanting to find out more. And tonight, there was something to find out.

One star was not shining like the others. It flickered. It wobbled. It went bright, then dim, then bright again, like a nightlight with the hiccups.

Maya steered closer. “Hello, star. Are you okay?”

“I’m Twinkle,” the star whispered, in a voice like a tiny bell. “Tomorrow is my first night lighting the way home for the night birds. What if I’m not bright enough? What if they get lost?” Twinkle wobbled so hard that sparks fell off like glitter. “My middle feels all jumpy.”

Maya knew that jumpy feeling. She had felt it on her first day at a brand-new school, when her tummy flipped like a pancake.

Now, you might think a captain never gets worried. You would be wrong. Even captains get worried. The good ones know what to do next.

“Twinkle,” said Maya, “I know a trick for worried feelings. Want to try it with me?” Twinkle flickered. That meant yes.

“Pretend you’re holding a flower. Smell the flower.” Maya breathed in slowly through her nose: one, two, three. “Now pretend you’re holding a birthday candle. Blow out the candle.” She blew out slowly. Whoooo.

Biscuit tried too. He smelled his flower so hard his whiskers wiggled.

Twinkle breathed in. Twinkle breathed out. The wobble got a little smaller.

“Again,” said Maya. “Smell the flower. Blow out the candle.”

In, and out. In, and out. Twinkle’s light grew steady, then warm, then bright, as bright as a porch light waiting for someone to come home.

“Oh!” said Twinkle. “My middle isn’t jumpy anymore. It’s just a little bit excited.”

Maya was curious about one more thing. “What if you forget the trick tomorrow?”

Twinkle thought about it. “Then I’ll look for your rocket. It will remind me.”

Back home, Captain Maya checked three things before bed: her helmet was on its hook, her moon crackers were all gone, and Biscuit was snoring in his thimble hat.

Then she looked out her window. There, at the quiet edge of the sky, one small star was shining steady and bright, leading a line of night birds home.

Maya smelled the flower. Maya blew out the candle. “Goodnight, Twinkle,” she whispered, and she drifted off to sleep.

✦   The End   ✦