Jordyn the Starfish

JORDYN THE STARFISH AND THE CORAL REEF TRIP

by

Rachel Trail and Jordyn Trail-Fowler

Jordyn the Starfish and the Coral Reef Trip

By

Rachel Trail and Jordyn Trail-Fowler

Illustrated By

Rachel Trail

Jordyn the Starfish will take a trip with her family to a place she has never been before. With things she has never seen.

Would the trip be fun?

Will she learn anything new?

What do you think my Starfish?

Jordyn the Starfish was taking a trip to the coral reef for the first time with her family. She lived in the cove off the shore and had never been outside of the cove before. She woke up early and made sure she had everything ready for her trip. Camera? Check!

Snacks? Check!

Favorite Toy? Check!

Backpack? Check!

Jordyn was ready to go.

Now she only had to wake up her mom and dad so they could get ready to leave. She ran into their room saying “today is the day, today is the day. Get up before you sleep it away.” Her mom could only smile as she got out of bed to get started on breakfast. “I’m up, I’m up just five more zzzzzz” said her dad as her began to snore again.

Jordyn’s mom started breakfast and packed lunch, while she listened to Jordyn talk about all of the things she wanted to do at the coral reef. “I am going to take lot of pictures, and play in the sand, and dance with the waves, and collect some coral to bring back, and swim with the fish that live there, and build a castle, and play coral games.” She went on. She asked her mom “what are you going to do mom?” her mom replied with a smile “I’m just going to enjoy the waves and sun.” “Is that all?” Jordyn asked.

After Jordyn was done with her breakfast she raced back to her parent’s room to wake up her dad. “Wake up, wake up, wake up.” She said as she poked at her dad. Finally he got up very slowly and asked her “what is the rush?” pretending not to know what day it was. “Did you forget?” Jordyn said with a frown. “Maybe” Replied her dad. “IT’S CORAL REEF DAY!” said Jordyn. “Ok, ok, ok” said dad.

Breakfast was done and lunch was packed. Now it was time to go. Jordyn looked out for the first signs of the reef. She saw schools of fish, groups of crabs, sand and more sand. It seemed like it was taking forever to get there. “Are we there yet?” she bugged over and over again. “Not yet” Her parents said over and over again.

Finally Jordyn started to the bright sun and lot of colorful fish and the reef. “I know that we are here now, look at the bright sun and all the different colored fish. It’s like a swimming rainbow. Do you see it, do you?” Jordyn said in amazement. Everything was very different from the cove where she lived. She couldn’t wait to go out and explore.

Finally Jordyn started to the bright sun and lot of colorful fish and the reef. “I know that we are here now, look at the bright sun and all the different colored fish. It’s like a swimming rainbow. Do you see it, do you?” Jordyn said in amazement. Everything was very different from the cove where she lived. She couldn’t wait to go out and explore.

As soon as they got there Jordyn grabbed her backpack and began to start the fun. Only to be stopped by her mom. “Safety first Jordyn” Mom said. “You need to stay where I could see you, do not talk to strange or accept anything from them without asking us first.” Do you understand?” Her mom asked. “Yes mom I do, but can I pick the perfect spot?” Jordyn asked. “Sure” said mom.

Jordyn found the perfect spot by a nice coral rock with pretty colorful sea flowers on it. She helped her mom set up. When they were done Jordyn went off to explore while her mom and dad watched. The water was much warmer than the water in the cove. Jordyn loved the feeling of the warm water and sand. It was like she was in a different world.

Jordyn found the perfect spot by a nice coral rock with pretty colorful sea flowers on it. She helped her mom set up. When they were done Jordyn went off to explore while her mom and dad watched. The water was much warmer than the water in the cove. Jordyn loved the feeling of the warm water and sand. It was like she was in a different world.

Jordyn took out her camera and snapped pictures of all the different fish and plants on the reef. Jordyn found some friendly fish to play with. They played hiding and seek, and tag. It was hard for Jordyn to keep up, the other fish moved so fast, but she did not give up. The Games were too much fun. So Jordyn tried her best to keep up with the other fish.

In hiding and seek it was easy for everyone to find Jordyn because her legs always stuck out of the hiding places and she did not blend in with the colorful plants. In tag she was not fast enough to catch the other fish and she was to slow to get away. This was much harder she though and not so much fun anymore because she was always losing at the games. Jordyn decided to take a break. She sat down with her mom and dad to have a snack.

“Are you having fun Hun?” asked mom. “No, not anymore” replied Jordyn. “Why not?” asked dad. “I am not having fun because all the other fish are so fast I can’t catch them, and they are small and colorful so the blend in with the colorful plants and I can’t find them. I am not fast, and I do not blend in or fit in any good hiding places.” said Jordyn. “That’s no reason to give up” said dad.

“Maybe you should find places to hide that fit you. Just stop and think for a minute I bet you will find a few.” said Mom. “And instead of chasing after them maybe you should cut them off and pop out on them. So don’t give up just keep trying different ways of playing the games” added Dad. Jordyn thought about what her parents hard said as she finished up her snack. Once she was done she was ready to try again, and this time she was giving up.

She found her new friends still playing and asked if she could join back in and this time she had a plan. As the seeker counted she buried herself in the sand. The other fish swam around looking for her but not one of them could find her. They gave up and called out “we give up Jordyn. You win. We can’t find you.” Then out popped Jordyn from the sand everyone was shocked. Jordyn was happy she had finally won. In tag she found that hiding beside coral then popping out on the other fish was much easier than chasing them. She was having a lot of fun now that she found her own way to play.

After Jordyn was done playing with her friends she went with her Mom and Dad to collect coral and to explore the rest of the reef. By the time they were done it was time to go. The sun was setting and after a day of play and fun in the sun Jordyn wanted to go home. She had made new friends and saw many new things that she will remember forever. She couldn’t help but think about her next trip to come and what it may hold.

Jordyn learned that every fish is different, and everybody is good at things in their very own way. That she shouldn’t try to do things the same way everybody else does because it may not work as well for her. If she tries her best and do things in her own way it would be much easier and fun, and to never give up.

Have you ever had problems while you were playing games with your friends?

What were the problems?

Did you find a way to solve the problem?

Or did you give up?

Were you to small or big to play a game?

What do you think you should do next time it happens?

Ask a family member have the ever tried to do something that was really hard?

Did they ever get it done?

See you are not the only one it happens to us grown-ups too!

This book is for all my starfish out there. To let them know do things your own way and never give up. Try, try and try again in different ways, think outside of the box and you will get it. Ever Fail is just a lesson learned. Never give up.

This book series come from the creative experiences of my 6 year old daughter named Jordyn that has tried just about everything new that comes her way, even if it isn’t for her age group. She always wants to try a new thing which is good because that is the way that we learn. We decided to take all of those experiences and put them into a book series so it could help other learn things that we all should know. So we hope that you have learned something from this story that may help you in your everyday life.

We want to thank you for reading with us. We hope to see you again soon. Until then try something NEW!