Luna is a young astronomer. She takes the time to observe the skies and notice patterns. People in her village make sense of the skies by assigning any phenomenon to the Sky Dragon - he is angry, he is happy, he is fighting.
"Legends said that the Sky Dragon was banished to the sky after a battle, because of his fiery breath and quick temper."
When the villagers see a trail of bright stars they are sure the Sky Dragon's claws have torn open the sky whereas Luna is sure it is just a normal part of the galaxy. When the weather turns wild the villagers again blame the Sky Dragon - of course it is really just a thunderstorm. Then the moon vanishes. The people are terrified. It is an eclipse but of course they have no knowledge of these events. Luna is determined to explain all of these things to the people in her village, so she invites them to look through her telescope.
"From then on, the villagers often joined Luna on clear nights and together they marveled at the stars."
The end papers in this book offer an explanation of the lunar eclipse and also mention Draco the Sky Dragon and his banishment by Athena.
I was interested to read this book after it was recommended to me BUT when I discovered the connection to an ancient woman astronomer my interest increased tenfold. This book is based on the story of the Ancient Greek astronomer - Aglaonice. Aglaonice studied the moon and understood it appears to change shape and occasionally even disappears. BUT she was considered a sorceress for her ability to make the moon vanish.
Read more about Aglaonice:
Here are some other books by Bethan Woollvin:
You could explore the the theme of a young girl making scientific discoveries - try to find this book:
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