One night, something round and orange and extremely out of breath knocked on Amelia's window. It was holding a book. An enormous book. A book so big it had its own weather.
"Amelia! Emergency!" it puffed. "I'm Obooga, and I've started the most AMAZING story ever. Listen: 'Once, a brave astronaut named Amelia climbed into a rocket, because—'"
So Amelia zipped up the shiniest spacesuit in the garage, and the story finally had a beginning... A space-mail letter arrived addressed to Amelia: "HELP. Come quick. Bring snacks.".
"Every astronaut needs a ship!" said Obooga. "I drew three. I am VERY proud of one of them, and it is not the one you think."
Obooga christened the Sky Whale by bonking a juice box against the hull. There was juice everywhere. It was perfect.
"I'll do the countdown!" said Obooga. "Ten! Nine! Eight! ...what comes after eight? WHILE I THINK, Amelia, whatever you do, do NOT touch the big red button."
The button was very big. And very red. And very touched. The Sky Whale went off like a firework in a sock drawer... spinning past the moon, past the planets, past a very surprised satellite... completely, wonderfully off course.
The Sky Whale jolted to a stop. Up ahead, a wormhole had tangled itself into an enormous glowing KNOT. And out of that knot came tumbling... a tiny book. Then two purple horns. Then a very fluffy, very blue somebody.
“Dear wormhole: kindly untangle your invisible knot, so this magnificent pickle can zoom straight through you.” And with that extremely silly sentence, Maxalooey took the deepest breath a small fluffy person can take... and read it to the wormhole. The wormhole listened. The wormhole wiggled. Then the wormhole LAUGHED so hard it came completely untangled... and three glittering paths swung open.
The Sky Whale landed in the Junkyard Nebula... mountains of lost umbrellas, single socks, and library books from a thousand worlds. Obooga immediately put a colander on his head. "Safety first," he said, incorrectly.
"Snack wrappers," whispered Obooga, following a trail of them around a mountain of umbrellas. "Fresh ones. We're close."
"Wait. Shhh. SHHHH." Obooga's colander slipped over one eye. "Something is coming. And I have NEVER seen anything like it in ANY story. Which means only YOU know what it looks like."
“a mysterious creature”
Obooga drew this part himself. (He's still learning.)
And there it stood, exactly as Amelia said: a mysterious creature
The creature wasn't scary at all. It was the one who had sent the letter... and judging by the pile of empty wrappers, it had been waiting a very long time. "You came," it seemed to say. "You actually came."
"It's LONELY," said Amelia. "Space is enormous, and it just wanted one voice to answer back. So it sang to the whole galaxy... and only one person answered: Amelia." Obooga nodded slowly. "Then we need a PLAN. Step one: we make sure The Creature is never that alone again. Step two... step two..."
And when it was written on the chalkboard at last... Use the Sky Whale to carry The Creature where it needs to go.... it was, Obooga declared, "the finest Step Two in the history of steps."
The plan worked. It ALMOST worked. It worked right up until a mountain of umbrellas all opened at once, and the sky filled with flying junk.
“Creature's one weird thing turns out to be exactly what saves everyone”
Obooga drew this part himself. (He's still learning.)
And then... the part nobody saw coming, not even Obooga: Creature's one weird thing turns out to be exactly what saves everyone
And that... the moment Creature's one weird thing turned out to be exactly what saved everyone... was how everything changed. And it gave The Creature the chance to do the one weird thing nobody expected... which turned out to be exactly what everyone needed.
Because of Amelia's plan... and the twist nobody saw coming... The Creature wasn't lonely anymore. It had a friend now. It had two.
So it ended with a parade... confetti in everyone's fur, trumpets slightly out of tune, and the Sky Whale writing Amelia's name in the clouds.
The End
Three stories starring Amelia
- “Amelia's Upside-Down River” — a jungle story
- “Amelia and the Backwards Comet” (you're reading it) — a space adventure
- “The Wave That Knew Amelia's Name” — an ocean story
Amelia can write the next one.
These stories came from Obooga's studio — where kids make every decision and finish a real book in about 20 minutes. Free to make and share; hardcover keepsake optional.
Start Amelia's story →Questions grown-ups ask
Are there any stories with Amelia in them?
Yes — three free illustrated stories star Amelia as the main character: “Amelia's Upside-Down River” (a jungle story), “Amelia and the Backwards Comet” (a space adventure), and “The Wave That Knew Amelia's Name” (an ocean story). And in Obooga's story studio, Amelia can write a brand-new one — their own decisions, their own book.
Is this Amelia story free?
Yes — this story, and every story made in the Obooga studio, is free to read and share. The printed hardcover keepsake is optional ($37).
Can Amelia write a story too?
That's the whole idea. In about 20 minutes in the story studio, Amelia makes every creative decision — the places, the creature, the plan, the twist, the title — and finishes a real illustrated book with their name on the byline.
Is Obooga safe for kids?
Every story world is human-written and every illustration human-reviewed. No child accounts, no ads, no strangers. Everything a child types passes moderation. AI is used only in narrow, guarded moments — smoothing the child's own words, speaking their name aloud, and drawing the one picture they describe.