The Compass on Cloud Island

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20 pages, approximately 7 minutes while listening. Enter the child’s name in the reader above so the narrator can call the child’s name correctly.

1. 1

   The first garden drifted past Milo’s bedroom window just after breakfast, carrying lemon trees, blue flowers, and one very puzzled butterfly. Milo froze with his toast halfway to his mouth. Beside him, Ember’s star pendant gave a tiny golden wink.

2. 2

   By the time they reached the hilltop, the sky had unfolded into a whole necklace of islands. Rope bridges dangled between floating vegetable beds, lily ponds, and tiny windmills. “If clouds can hold gardens,” Milo whispered, “maybe they can hold us too.”

3. 3

   At the edge of the hill waited a little wooden dock, though no lake sat beneath it. On its last plank lay a brass compass, warm as a bun from the oven. Its needle spun once, then pointed straight toward the nearest island.

4. 4

   Milo held the compass in both hands and stepped onto a cloud puff beside the dock. It dipped like a pillow, not a hole, and made him wobble into a laugh. Ember hopped after him, paws spread wide, pretending he had planned the wobble all along.

5. 5

   The cloud puffs made a path, but not a straight one. When Milo hurried, the next puff slid politely out of reach. He stopped, took a slow breath, and the compass needle steadied, as if it liked being listened to.

6. 6

   The path ahead had floated away while Milo was admiring a bell-shaped flower. A whole garden bed, roots and all, sailed lazily across the cloud sea like a green boat. Ember wagged once, then looked at the compass, whose needle trembled toward the drifting leaves.

7. 7

   “We can hop across before it gets too far,” Milo said, bouncing on his toes. Ember’s ears tipped back, but he followed to the edge. Milo leaped onto the nearest mossy stepping-stone, and the stone sank with a soft puff, dropping just enough to make his knees wobble.

8. 8

   Milo landed safely, but the puff-stone bobbed away from Ember and the main path. The compass spun in his palm as if it had hiccups. “I rushed,” Milo whispered, cheeks warm, while Ember crouched low and gave a tiny, brave yip from the other side.

9. 9

   Milo took one slow breath, then another, until the compass needle stopped jittering. He noticed the stepping-stones rose whenever the wind hummed through the flower bells. “Not fast,” he called to Ember. “We wait for the island’s turn.”

10. 10

    When the flowers sang again, Milo stepped only after the next stone lifted to meet him. Ember copied him, light-pawed and careful, his star pendant flashing in the sun. They reached the drifting garden together, slower than Milo had hoped, but steadier than before.