The central characters in this story are Morning Girl, her younger brother Star Boy, and their parents. There are also references to some of the children's friends and relatives, but the action is centered on the family and its daily doings. We are never told the age of the children, but the context of the story suggests that Morning Girl is perhaps eight or ten, Star Boy perhaps five or seven. Morning Girl often complains about having a noisy younger brother and is at the age where she is expected to help her mother and to watch out for her younger brother. Star Boy is a typical rambunctious little boy who runs, yells, acts impetuously, and sometimes gets into trouble with the adults. He is young enough to think that, after he has inadvertently set his father's canoe loose in the ocean, he can...