The Starburster

It starts on the day Tam’s baby sister is born. He doesn’t like her very much at first, but when Blue is stolen by fairies and replaced by a horribly ugly goblinny thing he wants her back more than anything else in the world – so much so that he sets off on a daring adventure to find her.

“Someone has to take her back to Faery, giver her back to the king of the fairies, find Blue and bring her home,” said Great-grandpa Toby.

“I suppose so,” Tam agreed.

“And there’s only you can do it, Tam. My word, you’re a brave boy.”

“Me? But I can’t do that! I’m only nine years old!”

“Exactly. That’s why you have to do it.”

The starburster is a toy that’s a bit like a kaleidoscope, a bit like a telescope. When you look through it you see the world outside cut up into lots of dazzling shapes and sizes. It’s quite magic! I’ve got one, and I loved it so much that I bought one for my son Tim on his wedding day.

This is the first story in The Starburster series: see also The Humming Machine and The Windspinner.