A book for ages 8 to 12 · in the works
One August night on a backyard quilt, a grandpa and his two granddaughters stay up from dusk to dawn. As the stars turn overhead, he tells them how our galaxy was born, and what people all over the world have said about that same river of light.
The book
The science is checked against current research. The old words are quoted from published translations, with where each one comes from and how it reached us. Kids get both, side by side, and room to wonder about the questions nobody has answered yet.
Eighteen spreads, from the first star at dusk to first light. Each hour of the night carries the story forward: before the beginning, the first light, the first stars, the galaxy gathering, the Sun, and the Milky Way we live in today.
Explorations for the real night sky: find Vega and Altair, trace the Milky Way from horizon to horizon, spot the Andromeda galaxy, and watch your own eyes adjust to the dark.
How people everywhere told the same story: the Rig Veda, Genesis, the Tao Te Ching, the Kalevala, the Popol Vuh, Māori, Cherokee and Lakota teachings, and more.
“Every person who ever lived looked up at this same sky and wondered.”Grandpa · Birth of the Milky Way
Interactive story
Watch the galaxy assemble in a living sky as you read: the science runs down the page, and passages from eight families of the world’s traditions sit beside each chapter. At the end you choose which future to follow, Milkomeda or alone.
Written for grown-ups and curious older kids. Works on phone, tablet and computer.
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