Like the book as a lens?

Try it for FREE as a downloadable windows program. Your child can flip pages with a click of the mouse and have the program read one page at a time or the whole book at once. Download for FREE in minutes at www.squirtthewhale.com.

Prefer paper? You can purchase the book for $7.99 at the same website.

 

 

For my son, Sebastian.

 
May your love for the animals of the
ocean endure as does my love for you.

    

Squirt Swims with the Stars
Copyright (c) 2007 by Michael Stephens

 

 

 

 

Squirt the whale lived in the ocean with his mother and two brothers
Squirt's brothers were always playing whale games and having fun. They
always wanted Squirt to play with them.

Squirt liked to play sometimes, but what Squirt liked to
do most was to swim close to the shore and see the blue sky.

Most of all, Squirt liked when the sun went down and out came the
moon and the stars. He would ask his mom, How many stars are there?
His mother always answered, More than there are fish in the ocean, my love.

Squirt wanted to go up to the sky and swim with the stars
more than anything. Some nights he would jump as high
as he could out of the water, but it was never high enough
to reach the stars.

Each night, Squirt would lay in the surf as the stars slowly left and
the sun returned. Squirt thought that the stars were the most
beautiful things in the world. He felt a little sad as they slipped away
from the dawn's sky.

One day, Squirt's oldest brother Tommy was
thinking of what he could do for Squirt's birthday.
Tommy wanted to give Squirt a present so
special that Squirt would forget about his silly
dream of swimming with the stars.

Tommy decided to ask his friends for help to think of what he could get for
Squirt. First, he asked Timmy the tiger shark. Timmy thought Tommy should
get Squirt a new ball. Tommy did not think that was very special.

Next, he asked Cammy the crab.

After that, he asked Sammy SailFish, Danny the dolphin and Jimmy Jellyfish.

They all had good ideas, but none of the ideas was so special that it would
make Squirt forget about the stars.

As Tommy was swimming home, he swam past Sara the starfish.

He asked her if she had any idea of what he should get for Squirt. Sara had
a fantastic idea. Sara and Tommy began to plan the surprise.

On the night of Squirt's birthday, Tommy told his family that he had
a special surprise for Squirt. He said that they all needed to come
with him to the Great Drop Off.

Away swam Squirt with his mother and other brother trying to keep
up with Tommy. Tommy was so excited that he could hardly
wait for them to get to the Great Drop Off.

As Squirt's family neared the Great Drop Off,
Tommy had them all slow down. He told them that
Squirt's surprise was just over the edge of the drop
off. Tommy's smile was so big it barely fit on his face.

As Squirt swam over the edge of the drop off, he looked down below.
He could not believe his eyes. There were more stars than he could
count right in the ocean. They were so beautiful glimmering in the light
of the moon.

Sara the starfish had gathered all her starfish friends.
They had all scattered themselves against the dark
rock of the drop off and were shimmering in the
moonlight. They looked just like real stars.

Squirt started to swim all around the starfish. It felt as
if he was really swimming in the sky with the stars. It
was the best feeling he had ever had. He thanked his
brother Tommy and told him how happy he was. This
was the best birthday present ever.

Squirt turned to his mother and said, I didn't think anything in the ocean
could be this special. Squirt's mother replied, Sometimes when you are
always looking for the one thing that is out of reach, you miss the beautiful
things that are right in front of you.

Squirt Swims with the Stars
Michael Stephens
Privately Published
No ISBN, $7.99 www.squirtthewhale.com

Squirt Swims with the Stars is the first in a forthcoming series of children's picturebooks based on the friendly character of Squirt the whale. Available as a downloadable Windows program that can read aloud the story or a softcover print edition, Squirt Swims with the Stars follows a young whale's quest to get closer to the shining stars overhead. He meets a wide array of ocean friends, and finally his brother Tommy takes him to a place where starfish abound - swimming among them is, in its own way, just like swimming amid the lofty heavens. "Sometimes when you are always looking for the one thing that is out of reach, you miss the beautiful things that are right in front of you." The charming illustrations have a relaxing, deep blue color theme, making Squirt Swims with the Stars ideal for sharing with young people right before naptime or bedtime.