On a windy Saturday in March, Paloma and her little brother Nico built a kite out of two thin sticks, a sheet of newspaper, and some tape. Nico tied a short piece of yarn to the bottom for a tail.

They ran to the empty field behind their apartment building. Paloma held the string, and Nico let the kite go. It rose a little, spun around and around, and crashed into the grass. They tried again and again, but each time the kite spun and fell.

Their neighbor, Mrs. Lozano, was walking her dog nearby. "Your kite needs a longer tail," she said. "A long tail keeps a kite pointed into the wind, so it doesn't spin."

Paloma ran inside and came back with an old red ribbon from a birthday present. Nico tied it to the yarn. This time, the kite climbed up and up, with its long red tail waving behind it. Nico cheered, and Paloma laughed. "Next time," she said, "we'll make the tail long from the start."