Leia was a giraffe unlike any other. Her neck was longer and she had more spots than any of her peers. Moreover, it was common knowledge whenever she set her mind on something she’d go through with it and succeed.

That was why when the animals heard that Leia the Giraffe wanted to go into space: they knew it was going to happen!

Leia set her mind on going to outer space after she had seen the stars and the planets in a photograph. She was so curious to see them up close, to set a hoof on the Moon, get closer to the Sun, go out on a stroll on the Milky Way and hop from cloud to cloud. But what she yearned to see is whether or not in space there were giraffes just like her.

For a while she kept searching for a travelling companion amongst the animals, however since none of them seemed to have enough courage to go into outer space, she decided to go alone on her great adventure. There was one more issue she had to solve before going: she had no clue what she would use as a means of transport…She had heard of rocketships, but she had no idea where she would find one!

After searching and searching, Leia discovered that giraffes simply cannot go into space. She had to be accompanied by a human who goes into outer space, called an astronaut. And so she had to look far and wide for such a human. She also discovered that no astronaut had ever gone into space with a giraffe.

As I had mentioned before, Leia was no quitter and did not give her dreams up easily. Even if it seemed impossible to go into outer space, she was determined to find a solution. And so, no one was shocked when, after a few days, the Giraffe announced:

– I’ve found a solution and I’ll be going to outer space! I’ll return and tell you all about it. Farewell, friends!

And with that, she left.

After a few days no one had seen Leia in the forest and everyone was talking about her going into space. Nobody knew how she had managed to leave, but they were all convinced she had made it.

When Leia finally turned up in the forest again, she seemed changed. Her eyes were…sparkly. Everyone welcomed her and cheered, eager to hear her stories.

Leia sat down and and told her friends about the Moon which has mountains, about astronauts and their strange suits, about objects floating in space and about all the planets she had seen. The animals were listening to her every word, in utmost awe. They liked the story so much that some of them wanted to accompany her next time she went into outer space.

“Of course!,” said Leia,  “I will leave again tomorrow morning. Those of you who want to join me, please be ready and meet me at the edge of the forest.”

“But how will we travel? How did you get there? Is it dangerous?,” the animals asked.

“Weeeeell, I do have something to confess. I didn’t literally travel into outer space. But know all about the things there. It’s just as if I had actually been!”

“How?,” the animals asked astonished.

“I promise you’ll understand everything tomorrow morning. All I can tell you now is that it’s not a dangerous place, on the contrary, it’s fun. I will be waiting for you at the edge of the forest!” said Leia and then she went to bed.

Despite the fact that they were afraid, the next morning all the animals, small and large, were at the edge of the forest, prepared for an incredible adventure. None of them wanted to miss out on a trip into outer space. Or at least, nearly a trip to space…

After a while, Leia appeared and asked them to pair up and they all started towards the city. When they arrived there, the animals were surprised to see that the Giraffe had stopped in front of a building, with the word “LIBRARY” written on it.

“What is this building? Is this where we can go on our trip into outer space?,” they asked.

“Yes, precisely.” said Leia. “You’ll see that once we enter here we’ll be able to go wherever we want.”

They all entered, hearts pounding in their chest, and saw very large rooms filled with shelves with neatly arranged books. Leia showed them a book with wonderful pictures and drawings of space, and a lot of stories about it – all the stories seemed surreal. Leia told them all:

“When you read, you can go to any place you want, even places where a giraffe could never ever really go.”

The animals flipped through the pages of the book and realised Leia was right: they found out everything they needed to know about space, and saw pictures of planets. It was, indeed, as if they had really been there!

The next day they went back and read about castles.

The following day about unicorns, about brave kings, valiant princes and beautiful princesses. They discovered many things about the lives of the dinosaurs and their world long gone. They also learned about pirates and their treasures, and about mermaids and their mesmerising songs with which they charmed sailors to come to them, beneath the blue waters.

And in the evenings, before going sleep, the animals closed their eyes and remembered what they had read about at the library. They dreamt about travelling to wonderful worlds, full of charm. In the morning, they would wake up smiling, remembering what they had dreamt.

Try it, children! Read as much as you can! Books have the power to take you to amazing places, places where giraffes and sometimes humans can not get to!