The story in three lines. Tí walks home across the Green with a lantern. Three friends join him, and each one turns a scary shadow into something he understands: Stretch shrinks a giant by stepping back, Block is the dark patch, and Glimmer's jar makes the faint ghost. The refrain grows by one line with each friend.

The five nights. Read it once and just let your child listen. On the second night, pause before the last word of each refrain line and let them say it. On the third, tap the table on each line. On the fourth, stop before each new friend and ask "who's next?" On the fifth, let them "read" it to a toy.

One thing to do at the table. You need a torch or a lamp, a wall, and one small toy. Hold the toy close to the light, then walk it slowly toward the wall. Ask: "Is the shadow getting bigger or smaller?" Swap jobs so your child holds the light.

The grown-up layer. Shadow size depends on distance: an object close to the light blocks a wider cone of light, so its shadow is bigger. That one relationship is the whole story, and it is the same idea ShadowTots plays with. Children carry lanterns home at the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam and at Martinmas in Germany; if you have a lantern tradition, this is a good night to tell it.