Bedtime stories about pirates.

Captain Pebble had the smallest ship on the whole sea. It was painted blue, with a patched sail and a bell that went ting when the wind blew. Her crew was a parrot named Biscuit and a very old, very wise cat.

"Tonight," said Captain Pebble, unrolling a crinkly map, "we find the Treasure of Stars." The map showed a tiny island shaped like a crescent moon. Biscuit fluffed his feathers. The cat opened one eye.

They sailed through the evening as the sea turned gold, then gray, then dark and shining. The little ship rocked gently, and the lantern on the mast swung back and forth, back and forth.

When they reached the crescent-moon island, there was no chest and no gold. Instead the sand glowed with hundreds of tiny shells, each one holding a speck of starlight. "The best kind of treasure," said Captain Pebble softly.

She took just one shell and set it beside her pillow in the cabin. Biscuit tucked his head under his wing, the cat curled up at her feet, and the little blue ship rocked them all to sleep beneath the stars.

Captain Juno found the map tucked under her pillow. It was drawn in crayon, and at the very bottom was a big red X marked Bedtime Bay.

"All hands on deck," she whispered to her crew, a toy crocodile and a sock monkey. The first clue said: Sail across the Bubbly Sea. So Captain Juno splashed through her bath, and the bubbles popped like tiny waves.

The second clue said: Polish the Pearls. So she brushed her teeth, round and round, until they shone. The third clue said: Raise the Captain's Sails. So she wriggled into her softest pajamas.

The last clue said: Hear one story by lantern light. So Captain Juno climbed into her bunk, switched on her little lamp and listened to a story about the sea until her eyelids began to droop.

"Land ahoy," she mumbled sleepily. The crocodile and the sock monkey snuggled close. And there, right where the X had been, Captain Juno found the treasure: a warm, cozy bed, and a whole night of dreams.

Most pirate ships are noisy. They have clanging bells and stamping boots and crews who shout "Yo ho!" But the Hush was different. The Hush was the quietest ship on the sea.

Her captain, Captain Rosa, wore soft slippers instead of boots. Her crew rowed with padded oars. Even the ship's parrot only ever whispered.

Every evening the Hush sailed out to collect the sea's quiet treasures: a shell that held the sound of waves, a feather from a sleeping gull, a drop of silver moonlight caught in a jar.

Tonight they found the best treasure of all: a calm bay where the water was as smooth as glass. The crew lowered the anchor slowly, so it wouldn't make a splash, and Captain Rosa hung a lantern at the bow.

Then everyone climbed into their hammocks. The ship swayed gently, side to side, side to side. The parrot whispered one last "goodnight", and the quietest ship on the sea fell fast asleep under the stars.