The Star Lantern
A free Mid-Autumn Festival coloring page. US Letter, portrait, ready to print.
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From the story “The Star Lantern” in Once Upon a Mid-Autumn Moon in Vietnam — eleven bedtime tales for ages 4–10, each with a word search and a coloring page of its own.
A star that kept going dark
Bảo has the finest lantern on the street, a five-pointed star of red and yellow paper, but the evening breeze keeps putting its light out. Linh, carrying a small round lantern, offers to share her light, and his star blazes up. Then Bảo spots a boy whose lantern has gone dark and passes the light on. In the picture he stands in the street holding his paper star, other children and lanterns around him, under the full moon.
The đèn ông sao
Đèn ông sao means star lantern. At Tết Trung Thu, Vietnam's children's festival, children carry them on sticks through the streets after dark, and in the story helping one another's lanterns shine is part of the fun.
Things to talk about
- Bảo says a star with no light is no star at all. Do you agree?
- Linh stopped beside Bảo when she could have walked on. What do you think she noticed?
- One light became many all down the street. What else grows when you pass it along?
Five points, two colors
The story gives the star red and yellow paper, so try alternating those colors point by point and count all five aloud. An adult can then cut a yellow paper star to tape to a straw.