Earth Day: A Universal Bedtime Story
EARTH DAY
A Universal Bedtime Story
Written & Illustrated by: Barbara L. George
Edited by: Joe Rao Associate/Guest Lecturer
Rose Center for Earth and Space
Hayden Planetarium
Once upon an Earth Day in a cosmos, way up high
All the stars did gather like diamonds in the sky
No one could sleep a wink until each star compared
Every single planet, at least those that were their’s
Every star had their favorite and different was each one
But EARTH was the favorite of the star they called the SUN
Still each planet was so special from the first one to the last
which caused the stars to argue over planets as they passed
“Sun, why pick planet THREE when there’s planet ONE or TWO?
MERCURY is the CLOSEST and VENUS sure loves you!”
“But after a good meteor shower and it’s time to go to bed
I prefer MARS It’s the only one that’s RED”
“But JUPITER is the BIGGEST and it’s not because he’s fat
He even has MORE MOONS! No one can argue that!”
“I can”, said another, feeling rather bold
“SATURN’S the only planet with shiny RINGS of gold!”
“But URANUS is true BLUE”
“And NEPTUNE is all about the GREEN”
“How could the Earth be better?
Sun, you just must not have seen!”
“And Pluto, Eris, Haumea and Makemake are even more cool and far out!
They don’t need to be planets. They’re plutoids. They know what it’s all about!
And if you like dwarfs there’s C-e-r-e-s
Just cause he’s little don’t make him less!
So the SUN considered carefully each point the Stars had made
But SUN was not so fickle and his feelings did not fade
Still puzzled by his choice the stars asked him, just for fun
“What makes the EARTH so special?”
“PEOPLE” Said the SUN!
“PEOPLE? What’s a people? Whatever do you mean?
How can we understand a thing we have not seen?”
“Just because they’re small and somewhat hard to see
That never is a reason to not look carefully!”
“Do PEOPLE see us too? They seem so far away”
“They see PLANETS, MOONS and STARS through the NIGHT and ME… I light their DAY!
And like PLANETS ~ PEOPLE differ…But this I truly know…
Without people, none of us would glow!
They have a special power when they wish on you and I
the next thing you know, you’re lighting up the sky!”
At last the Stars could see the Sun was absolutely right
And thus began their practice of twinkling every night
“Now, sweet dreams little one It’s time to go to bed
And remember the Stars all love you as they twinkle overhead!”
Sound Recording ~ Read by:
Even Steven Levee as The Voice of
The Sun
Steve Nichol as The Voices of
The Fans of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Neptune, Uranus and
The Star Who Quizzes The Sun About “People”
Arthur Steuer as The Voice of
Plutoids ….
Barbara L. George as The Voice of
The Narrator And Saturn’s Fan
