That morning, Dash's garden was all wet with dew. The sun had just climbed up behind the houses, and every blade of grass had a tiny drop that sparkled like a little diamond.

Dash, Ziggy, Lily, and Skye had lined up four soft cushions and were having a contest to see who could jump the highest.

"Look at me!" shouted Ziggy, who was skinny and super fast. He took a running start and jumped so high he almost touched the branch of the apple tree. "Ahhh, I'm a kangaroo!"

Lily clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. "Now it's my turn, and I'll jump higher than everyone!" She jumped once, she jumped twice, she never stopped, because Lily never gave up.

Skye, on the other hand, jumped lightly, with a sweet smile, and landed without a sound, like a feather drifting down from the sky.

Then it was Dash's turn. Dash was the smallest one in the group. He got ready, bent his legs, pushed with all his might, and... "plop." He landed right away, after one tiny little hop.

"Aww," said Dash, lowering his eyes. "I'm too little. I can't jump high like you."

"Don't say that," said Skye, patting his head. "You're the fastest and the funniest of us all!"

But Dash didn't seem convinced.

That was when a cheerful sound came from far away. CHUFF CHUFF!

From behind the hedge popped Toby the Magic Train, with smoke making rings in the sky and wheels that laughed on the shiny tracks.

"Good morning, dear children, the sky is so bright!
Climb up on my back and hold on nice and tight!
I'll take you to meadows that bounce and that sway,
where the grass springs you up, oh so high, far away!"

The children clapped their hands and climbed aboard in a hurry. CHUFF CHUFF! Toby set off, crossed a bridge, passed under a rainbow, and stopped at the top of a very green valley.

"We're here!" said Lily.

It was the Valley of a Hundred Bounces, and at dawn it was the most beautiful thing in the world. The grass was so soft and springy it looked like a giant mattress. The streams gurgled, and it seemed like they were laughing. And everywhere there was dew sparkling, making everything glitter... and making it slippery as soap!

Ziggy climbed down first and put one foot on the grass. BOING! The grass pushed him up like a spring. "Wheee!" Ziggy bounced, bounced again, and ended up sitting on top of a bush. "So much fun!"

Lily tried to walk, but the dew was too slippery. She slid forward, slid backward, waved her arms like a windmill, and plopped down in the wet grass. "Oops!"

Skye laughed with her little hand over her mouth, then helped Lily up.

Dash climbed down carefully, one tiny step at a time. And he was the one who saw her first.

In the middle of the grass, all curled up, there was a little trembling light. It was a tiny star. Her little points were a bit dim, and she trembled like a little leaf in the wind.

"A star!" whispered Dash. "She fell from the sky!"

The children came closer, slowly. The little star looked at them with her tiny eyes of light. "My name is Stella," she said in a thin little voice. "I slipped down from the sky and rolled all the way down here. I can't get back up anymore."

Just then, out of a bush, jumped a red fox with a bushy tail. She took two steps, tripped over her own paws, and rolled down the slope like a bowling pin. PLIM PLOM PLUM! She landed belly-up right in front of the children.

"Hello, everyone!" she said, getting back on her feet a little crooked. "I'm Ember! And who are you? What are you doing? Why are you here? Did you see this bouncy grass? Did you know the streams can laugh?" Ember was curious and wanted to know everything, but she asked so many questions that she tripped again and fell into a bush.

The children burst out laughing.

"This little star fell down," explained Skye gently. "She wants to go back up to the sky."

Ember poked her head out of the bush, with a leaf on her ear. "Ah, of course! Stella is part of a... a... constel-nation!"

"A what?" asked Dash, his eyes wide open.

"Con-stel-NA-tion," said Ember, all puffed up. Then she blushed. "I mean... I can't quite remember how you say it."

"A constellation," said Skye, laughing, "is a group of stars that together make a picture in the sky. Like when you connect the dots!"

"Exactly!" said Ember, happy to have learned the right word. "Up there is the Leaping Fawn, a little deer made all of stars. But he's missing the star on the top of his head, so he's gone all dark. That star is Stella! We have to put her back in her place!"

"And how do we do that?" asked Ziggy.

Ember thought about it, scratching her head, and almost fell over again. "I've got an idea! Let's have a jumping contest! Whoever jumps the highest of all will throw Stella up to the sky!"

"Hooray!" shouted the children. A jumping contest was perfect: they loved jumping!

Ziggy went first. He took a very long running start, jumped on the springy grass... and bounced too much! He flew up high like a balloon, spun in the air, and ended up hanging by his pants from the branch of a tree. "Help! I'm a chandelier!" The children laughed their heads off.

Then it was Lily's turn. Stubborn as always, she clenched her fists and ran. But the dew made her slip: SWOOSH! She shot off sideways instead of up, slid all the way across the meadow, and stopped inside a laughing stream. "I won't give up!" she said, dripping. And she tried again. And she slipped again. SWOOSH!

Ember wanted to try too. "Watch how I jump!" She took three steps, tripped over her tail, did one flip, then another, and landed head-down in the mud. "I did a... a... tumble-sault!" "A somersault!" laughed the children. "That's the one!" she said, with her whole nose all brown.

Even Toby the Magic Train started puffing little giggles of steam: CHUFF! CHUFF! CHUFF!

At last it was Dash's turn. He wanted to jump higher than everyone. He put all his strength into his legs, clenched his fists, closed his eyes, and jumped with all his energy. But... "plop." He fell right back down, just like in the garden at home.

He tried again. He pushed even harder. "Plop." It was no use.

Dash sat down in the grass, and two tears came to his eyes. "I knew it," he said in a low voice. "I'm too little. My legs aren't enough. I'll never be able to send Stella back to the sky."

The little star Stella came close to Dash. She was trembling too, and her little light had grown very small. "I'm scared too," she whispered. "I'm scared of staying down here forever. I feel so small and weak."

Dash looked at her. They were both small. They were both scared. And so, without even thinking, Dash took a big breath and said: "Don't be afraid, Stella. I'm here with you. We'll do it together."

Stella looked at him, and her little light grew a tiny bit bigger. "Really?"

"Really," said Dash. And as he said it, he felt something warm in his chest. It wasn't in his legs. It was in his heart.

And at that moment, he had an idea.

"Friends!" shouted Dash, jumping to his feet. "I don't have to jump by myself! By myself I can't do it. But if we all help each other together, then we can do it!"

The children came closer. "What do you mean?" asked Ziggy.

"Let's make a trampoline!" said Dash. "A trampoline of hands!"

Ziggy, Lily, and Skye understood right away. They stood close together and wove their hands into a soft, strong hollow, like a little nest. Ember wanted to help too and slipped her little paws into the middle, trying as hard as she could not to trip.

"Come, Stella," said Dash gently. He took the little star in his hands, very carefully, and set her in the nest of hands. "Now I'll give you the best push of all. But it's not the push of legs. It's the push of all of us who love you."

"Ready?" said Skye.

"Ready!" everyone answered.

"One... two... THREE!"

And all together, with their arms and with their hearts, they threw Stella up high. The little star flew up, higher and higher, leaving behind a trail of golden light. It hadn't been the strength of a single jump. It had been the strength of four friends, one clumsy fox, and a little train cheering them on.

Stella rose all the way to the top of the sky and settled exactly on the tip of the Leaping Fawn's head.

And then something wonderful happened. The deer of stars lit up all over, from his head to his hooves. He moved, bent his glowing legs, and leaped a giant leap of pure light, soaring across the dawn sky. Then he turned toward the children and bowed his head, as if to say "thank you."

The children burst out cheering. Dash had shining eyes again, but now it was from happiness.

"We did it!" he said. "Together!"

Ember sniffled, deeply moved. "That was beautiful. And I even learned the word constellation!" And she was so happy that she jumped, tripped, and rolled happily in the grass.

CHUFF CHUFF! Toby called the children. It was time to go home. When they had all climbed aboard, the little train said:

"The strongest of legs are not what you need,
but a kind, gentle heart is what matters indeed!
When you jump all alone, on the ground you will stay,
but friends all together will lift you away!"

The children looked at each other and smiled. They had understood. Real strength wasn't in the muscles of their legs. It was in the heart, and in helping one another.

CHUFF CHUFF! Toby carried them back home, while up in the sky, beyond the clouds, the Leaping Fawn made one last leap of light and waved goodbye to Dash, the smallest and bravest little boy of them all.