Sister, Sister, Where Does the Sun Go at Night?

Author: Roopa Pai

Illustrator: Greystroke

Sister, sister, I wonder...

What do you wonder, little brother,

What do you wonder?

I wonder, I wonder,

Where the sun goes at night.

Where do you think, little brother,

Where do you think?

I think, I think...

Tell me, little brother,

What do you think?

I think

That maybe, a demon.

The terrible black demon

Of Darkness

Eats up the sun each night

For dinner.

See how the blue sky, at sunset,

Is stained red with his blood?

But the sun

The glorious brave shining golden sun

He fights the Darkness demon

All night, every night

And by morning,

He’s whole again and back to rule.

That’s where I think the sun goes at night.

Into the mouth of a monster

After a terrible fight.

I’m clever, aren’t I, sister?

Oh yes you are, little brother, oh yes you are

And maybe you are right, too...

But in the books that I have read

That is not what they said.

Then what did they say, sister,

What did they say?

What do you think, little brother,

What do you think?

I think, I think...

Tell me, little brother, what do you think?

I think

That maybe, while it is night

Here on earth,

It is a glorious day in

The ocean's darkest depths.

And the mermaids come dancing out

Of their undersea caves

To frolic with the sharks.

We have seen it ourselves

When we went to Mumbai last summer.

Remember

How the sun lets go of the sky

Each evening at dusk

And slides soundlessly into the sea?

That’s were I think the sun goes at night

To flood the underwater

With golden light.

I’m clever, aren’t I sister?

Of course you are, little brother,

Of course you are

And maybe you are right, too...

But in the books that I have read

That is not what they said.

Then what did they say, sister,

What did they say?

What do you think, little brother,

What do you think?

I think, I think...

Tell me, little brother, what do you think?

I think

That maybe there is no mystery.

That maybe the sun is just like Father.

He goes home tired each night

After a long day

At work.

And his wife, like Mother,

Fusses over him, shushes the kids,

Covers him with a night-dark

blanket of stars,

And hopes his snoring

will not keep her awake all night.

And every morning, the sun

Shrugs off his star-blanket,

Paints the dawn sky red with his sleepy eyes

And gets back to work.

That’s where I think the sun goes at night.

Home to bed until it is light.

I’m clever, aren’t I, sister?

I know you are, little brother, I know you are,

And maybe you’re right, too...

But in the books that I have read

That is not what they said.

Then what did they say, sister,

What did they say?

Come here, little brother,

I’ll tell you what they said.

They said, they said...

Tell me, sister, what did they say?

They said

That the earth is like a ball

That the ball goes around the sun

Spinning like the red top

Mother got you from the Saturday market,

But slower.

And they said

Every spin of the earth

Is as long as a day

And a night.

I asked about the sun, sister,

I asked about the sun.

I am coming to that, little brother,

Be patient now.

They said

When our part of the earth

The half where we live

Is turned towards the sun

We have day.

And when the other half

Is turned towards the sun

And ours

Is turned away

We have night.

They said

That’s where the sun goes at night

To bathe the other half in glorious light.

Can it be true, sister, can it be true?

I can’t say, little brother, I can’t say.

But in all the books that I have read

That is what they said.

FIND OUT MORE!

Where does the sun go at night?

The earth is a sphere that revolves around the sun, along with the seven other planets of the solar system. One revolution of the earth around the sun takes one calendar year.

While it is going around the sun, the earth also spins on its own axis. Each ‘spin’ takes 24 hours, that is, a day and a night.

Whichever part of the earth is facing the sun has day. At the same time, the other half of the earth (the part turned away from the sun) has night. Then the earth slowly spins around and the half that was in darkness (that is, the half that was turned away from the sun) now faces the sun. So this half has day, and the other half, which turned away from the sun has night. So, in reality, the sun does not really go anywhere at night!

Try this experiment!

To understand how the earth’s rotation causes day and night, try this simple exercise.

You need:

A small rubber ball

A big torch

Some felt pens

A friend

What to do:

Imagine that the rubber ball is the earth. Using the felt pens, draw the map of the world on the rubber ball. Now, imagine that the torch is the sun. Ask your friend to switch on the torch.

Place the ball (the earth) directly in the path of the torch beam (sunlight), so that India is facing the sun. Turn the ball around slowly. What do you see? When India is facing the sun, the Americas are in darkness.

As India begins to turn away from the sun, Europe and Africa come into the ‘sunlight’. Then, as the ‘earth’ continues to turn, the Americas come into the light and India becomes dark.

Keep turning the ball till India faces the sun again. This is what happens every time the earth turns around on its axis. During each rotation, India (and every other place on earth) has one day and one night.

This book was made possible by Pratham Books' StoryWeaver platform. Content under Creative Commons licenses can be downloaded, translated and can even be used to create new stories provided you give appropriate credit, and indicate if changes were made. To know more about this, and the full terms of use and attribution, please visit the following link .

Story Attribution:

This story: Sister, Sister, Where Does the Sun Go at Night? is written by Roopa Pai . © Pratham Books , 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.

Other Credits:

This book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books. Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indian languages to promote reading among children. www.prathambooks.org

Illustration Attributions:

Cover page: Sun sleeping , by Greystroke © Pratham Books, 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 2: Boy and girl looking at the stars , by Greystroke © Pratham Books, 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 3: Angry demon , by Greystroke © Pratham Books, 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 4: Bright sunlight , by Greystroke © Pratham Books, 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 5: Girl thinking , by Greystroke © Pratham Books, 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 6: Mermaid in the ocean , by Greystroke © Pratham Books, 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 7: Sunset in the background , by Greystroke © Pratham Books, 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 8: Orange sun , by Greystroke © Pratham Books, 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 9: Boy thinking , by Greystroke © Pratham Books, 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 10: Sleeping Sun , by Greystroke © Pratham Books, 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 11: Orange sunlight , by Greystroke © Pratham Books, 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Disclaimer: https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved. This book is CC-BY-4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. For full terms of use and attribution, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This book was made possible by Pratham Books' StoryWeaver platform. Content under Creative Commons licenses can be downloaded, translated and can even be used to create new stories provided you give appropriate credit, and indicate if changes were made. To know more about this, and the full terms of use and attribution, please visit the following link .

Illustration Attributions:

Page 12: Girl and boy reading a book , by Greystroke © Pratham Books, 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 13: Earth , by Greystroke © Pratham Books, 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 14: Ball or eath spinning , by Greystroke © Pratham Books, 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 15: Planet Earth , by Greystroke © Pratham Books, 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 16: Bright white light in the sky , by Greystroke © Pratham Books, 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Disclaimer: https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved. This book is CC-BY-4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. For full terms of use and attribution, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sister, Sister, Where Does the Sun Go at Night? (English)

Little Brother's inquisitive mind is always full of questions for Big Sister. He knows Big Sister has all the answers, because she is always reading one big fat book or another. In this book, Little Brother wonders where the sun goes at night. Does he just go to sleep after a long day at work, or does he sink down into the ocean deep to make it daylight for the mermaids who frolic there?

This is a Level 3 book for children who are ready to read on their own.

Pratham Books goes digital to weave a whole new chapter in the realm of multilingual children's stories. Knitting together children, authors, illustrators and publishers. Folding in teachers, and translators. To create a rich fabric of openly licensed multilingual stories for the children of India and the world. Our unique online platform, StoryWeaver, is a playground where children, parents, teachers and librarians can get creative. Come, start weaving today, and help us get a book in every child's hand!