Pandora the Curious
I read a book in the series Goddess Girls Pandora the Curious, by the authors joan Holub and Suzanne Williams. The book is about a mortal girl named Pandora, living at the Mount Olympus Academy(MOA) on the top of Mount Olympus. At MOA, they are taught to be the best gods, or goddesses, or mortals they can be, with subjects such as Beauty-ology, or Hero-ology. Pandora shares a dorm room on the girls'floor with the goddess girl Athena. Pandora is a mortal girl with a habit of firing off dozens of questions, one after the other.
In the beginning, Pandora and Athena see a titan godboy holding an intricate box. Pandora naturally wonders what is inside it. As some nasty godboys snatch the box from Epimetheus, and the box falls into Pandora's lap. She opens it and sees bubbles of all different kinds of colors. All 10 bubbles but one float out of the box, and then Epimetheus slams it shut. Later, as walking back to class a blue bubble bumps Athena and softly says "Ditz". After that, Athena starts acting all scatterbrained. This is the very beginning of the trouble bubbles. In science-ology, Principal Zeus announces that they will have a science fair. Pandora ends up teaming with the titan brothers, Epimetheus and Prometheus. They decide to test the experiment "What do mortals need?" Shortly after deciding this , the period is over and they walk to their next class.On the way there, Pandora sees a purple bubble hit Artemis whispering "Vain". She suddenly becomes very concerned about her looks. Over the next few days, all the other bubbles start hitting people: A green anger bubble hits Persephone, another lazy one hits Zeus, causing the fires in his temples to go out, a greedy one hit Medusa, a rude bubble hits Aphrodite, and a thief one bumps Prometheus.
When this happens, she and Epimetheus go looking for the box. On the way, Prometheus steals a torch, and gives it to his hero on the Hero-ology game board, nearly putting MOA on fire. Outside standing in line, Pandora believes that Poseidon had gotten hit by a Scaredy-cat bubble! The next day is the science fair and Pandora doesn't have a project. Then, she sees the judges Pythagoras and Aristotle. She also sees the ninth bubble hanging around Pythagoras. The bubble bumps him saying"Liar". He goes around making wrong facts up. At the same time, Pandora sees Principal Zeus holding the bubble box. She takes it away and opens it again. The hope bubble flies out and starts bumping everyone who had been bubble-bumped. The trouble bubbles start to "gloop"out. It "gloops "everyone but the lazy bubble doesn't reappear. Pandora suggests that maybe it was because Zeus was naturally lazy, but that wasn't it. She finally gets him to act energetic for a second and the bubble gloops out of him! She then sets up her new science project on curiosity and wins! That night, a message arrives for her from Epimetheus, a bottle of Bubble bath! Everything turned out great: new crush, she captured all the bubbles and rid them of her school, and Pandora won the science fair!
The End!
In the beginning, Pandora and Athena see a titan godboy holding an intricate box. Pandora naturally wonders what is inside it. As some nasty godboys snatch the box from Epimetheus, and the box falls into Pandora's lap. She opens it and sees bubbles of all different kinds of colors. All 10 bubbles but one float out of the box, and then Epimetheus slams it shut. Later, as walking back to class a blue bubble bumps Athena and softly says "Ditz". After that, Athena starts acting all scatterbrained. This is the very beginning of the trouble bubbles. In science-ology, Principal Zeus announces that they will have a science fair. Pandora ends up teaming with the titan brothers, Epimetheus and Prometheus. They decide to test the experiment "What do mortals need?" Shortly after deciding this , the period is over and they walk to their next class.On the way there, Pandora sees a purple bubble hit Artemis whispering "Vain". She suddenly becomes very concerned about her looks. Over the next few days, all the other bubbles start hitting people: A green anger bubble hits Persephone, another lazy one hits Zeus, causing the fires in his temples to go out, a greedy one hit Medusa, a rude bubble hits Aphrodite, and a thief one bumps Prometheus.
When this happens, she and Epimetheus go looking for the box. On the way, Prometheus steals a torch, and gives it to his hero on the Hero-ology game board, nearly putting MOA on fire. Outside standing in line, Pandora believes that Poseidon had gotten hit by a Scaredy-cat bubble! The next day is the science fair and Pandora doesn't have a project. Then, she sees the judges Pythagoras and Aristotle. She also sees the ninth bubble hanging around Pythagoras. The bubble bumps him saying"Liar". He goes around making wrong facts up. At the same time, Pandora sees Principal Zeus holding the bubble box. She takes it away and opens it again. The hope bubble flies out and starts bumping everyone who had been bubble-bumped. The trouble bubbles start to "gloop"out. It "gloops "everyone but the lazy bubble doesn't reappear. Pandora suggests that maybe it was because Zeus was naturally lazy, but that wasn't it. She finally gets him to act energetic for a second and the bubble gloops out of him! She then sets up her new science project on curiosity and wins! That night, a message arrives for her from Epimetheus, a bottle of Bubble bath! Everything turned out great: new crush, she captured all the bubbles and rid them of her school, and Pandora won the science fair!
The End!
Ramona's World
I recently read a book by the name of Ramona's World. It is in a series of 8 books about a girl named Ramona's life, by Beverly Cleary. In the beginning of the last book in the series, Ramona is in the fourth grade at Cedarhurst School, and has just gained a baby sister!Her older sister Beatrice is off to high school and Ramona hops on the bus to Miss Meacham's 4th grade classroom. There, she makes a few spelling mistakes in her paper about herself and also makes a new friend, Daisy Kidd. After the start of school, Daisy asks Ramona to go to her house.Ramona's mother agrees and Ramona has found a new best friend while going to Daisy's house. Then, a while after Daisy's house, Beezus(Beatrice) gets an invitation to go to a party at her best friend Abby's house. She goes and comes back, her face stained with makeup, laughing and telling about the crazy time she had. But then something even crazier happens to Ramona. She was at Daisy's and they were playing the Princess and the Witch with dress-up clothes when Daisy, as the witch, pushes the princess into the attic, where Ramona, wearing heels, steps through lath and plaster and breaks it open. Ramona falls all the way through until her armpits save her from falling all the way through. Daisy's older brother pulls her out and Daisy's mom takes her home, where Ramona tells the supposedly amusing (to her family) story to her parents.
One day, Ramona spots an ad with incorrect grammar and pointed it out to Daisy, and they discussed what Mrs. Meacham would have said if she had seen the ad. They decide to send a letter to the people who wrote the ad telling them that they should not have used that kind of grammar. A few week later, Ramona gets a very formal letter from the author of the ad telling her that she was right and that she had caught his mistake. The girls are so proud that they take it to school to show Mrs. Meacham! Soon, the dreary winter days come and on night, Ramona is stuck feeding Roberta( her baby sister). Ramona starts out well, but ends up with mashed peas on the floor, her face, and Roberta. The next day, though, is picture day, and Ramona enters the school feeling perky and cute, but when the cameraman says to say peas, Ramona thinks of Roberta' s pea mess, and makes a face of disgust. However, she soon thinks that the picture was taken a second before she made and ugly face, and is happy once again.
After, putting her class picture completely out of her mind, Ramona learns that Daisy is going away for a week and she needed someone to cat-sit her brother's cat, Clawed, because if they put in a kennel, he would be unhappy for days, and also come home unhappy. Ramona's mother finally agrees to let Clawed come to their house, as long as Ramona would take full responsibility in taking care of the cat. A few days later, Daisy's family comes to Ramona's house to drop off Clawed and his food, scratching post, water bowl and brush. They leave Clawed to settle down and Ramona's week with the cat becomes a daily chore, giving him food and water, and brushing him so he wouldn't hack up hairballs. Then, one day when Ramona's mom is gone and Ramona is in charge of Roberta and Clawed when Roberta decided to stick her head in Clawed's kitty condo, and can't get it back out, and Clawed hacked up a hairball. Ramona takes the cat outside to finish the hairball, and gets Roberta to get her head back out by singing her Mother Goose rhymes and both Roberta and Clawed end up fine. After hitting off that near disaster comes Valentine's Day, and Ramona is stuck on what to give Danny. She finally decides to give him her awful class picture so that he would not know that she liked him, and he gives Ramona a poem about peas, who decides that she will keep it forever. A few months after that, comes Ramona's birthday! On her birthdate, Ramona, Roberta, and their mother drive to the park to set up for the party. Everyone cooes over Roberta, then Ramona opens her presents. Their lunch is tuna fish sandwich and a cake with whipped cream instead of frosting. Susan decides to eat an apple instead of birthday cake, and then breaks down because no one agrees with her. Ramona and her mother comfort her and she calms down. Everyone finishes their cake, and Ramona says that she is turning zeroteenth years old(ten) to the boys who eat up the rest of the cake. She then goes to play on the rings, happy and contented with how her birthday turned out.
One day, Ramona spots an ad with incorrect grammar and pointed it out to Daisy, and they discussed what Mrs. Meacham would have said if she had seen the ad. They decide to send a letter to the people who wrote the ad telling them that they should not have used that kind of grammar. A few week later, Ramona gets a very formal letter from the author of the ad telling her that she was right and that she had caught his mistake. The girls are so proud that they take it to school to show Mrs. Meacham! Soon, the dreary winter days come and on night, Ramona is stuck feeding Roberta( her baby sister). Ramona starts out well, but ends up with mashed peas on the floor, her face, and Roberta. The next day, though, is picture day, and Ramona enters the school feeling perky and cute, but when the cameraman says to say peas, Ramona thinks of Roberta' s pea mess, and makes a face of disgust. However, she soon thinks that the picture was taken a second before she made and ugly face, and is happy once again.
After, putting her class picture completely out of her mind, Ramona learns that Daisy is going away for a week and she needed someone to cat-sit her brother's cat, Clawed, because if they put in a kennel, he would be unhappy for days, and also come home unhappy. Ramona's mother finally agrees to let Clawed come to their house, as long as Ramona would take full responsibility in taking care of the cat. A few days later, Daisy's family comes to Ramona's house to drop off Clawed and his food, scratching post, water bowl and brush. They leave Clawed to settle down and Ramona's week with the cat becomes a daily chore, giving him food and water, and brushing him so he wouldn't hack up hairballs. Then, one day when Ramona's mom is gone and Ramona is in charge of Roberta and Clawed when Roberta decided to stick her head in Clawed's kitty condo, and can't get it back out, and Clawed hacked up a hairball. Ramona takes the cat outside to finish the hairball, and gets Roberta to get her head back out by singing her Mother Goose rhymes and both Roberta and Clawed end up fine. After hitting off that near disaster comes Valentine's Day, and Ramona is stuck on what to give Danny. She finally decides to give him her awful class picture so that he would not know that she liked him, and he gives Ramona a poem about peas, who decides that she will keep it forever. A few months after that, comes Ramona's birthday! On her birthdate, Ramona, Roberta, and their mother drive to the park to set up for the party. Everyone cooes over Roberta, then Ramona opens her presents. Their lunch is tuna fish sandwich and a cake with whipped cream instead of frosting. Susan decides to eat an apple instead of birthday cake, and then breaks down because no one agrees with her. Ramona and her mother comfort her and she calms down. Everyone finishes their cake, and Ramona says that she is turning zeroteenth years old(ten) to the boys who eat up the rest of the cake. She then goes to play on the rings, happy and contented with how her birthday turned out.
The end!
Ramona and her Father
In addition to having read Ramona's World, I have also read the book Ramona and her Father, the fourth book in the series. In the beginning of this book, it is payday and Ramona is eagerly waiting for her father to come home, and he always brought a treat on payday. Ramona sits, imagining what kind of a treat her dad would bring today when her dad actually comes home.He brings a bag of gummy bears for Ramona and Beezus, and they take it to their room, where they hear their parents talking in hushed, worried voices. They decide to investigate to find out what is wrong.Their mother tells them that their father had lost his job. Then, throughout the next days, their dad becomes a stay at home dad. Ramona's mother will work, and Ramona's father will be going job-hunting. One afternoon, she sees a kid on T.V. singing in a commercial, and her father says that he must be making a million dollars. Ramona decides to start trying to make a million dollars by imitating children in commercials on television. One morning on parent/teacher conference day, Ramona has imitated a child on T.V. and said something rude to her teacher, who, when Ramona's father tells her after the conference, says that Ramona should be more mannerful and not so impatient. However, Ramona has made a crown of burs and cannot get it off. They go home and finally manage to cut the burs out of Ramona's hair. Mr.Quimby has now started smoking and Ramona is very worried about him, because of something Beezus said one night. The Quimby family had been watching Mr. Quimby carve their Halloween jack'o lantern, and after he had gone to bed, Picky-Picky-the cat-had gotten into the spooky pumpkin. Ramona's mother had cleaned up the pumpkin scraps, and Mr. Quimby had started to smoke when Beezus had told him that smoking would turn his lungs black, and he had told her to not butt into his business, which had startled Ramona. Now, she had a plan to save his life and his lungs.
Ramona starts out her plan to save her father's life by posting signs, making them smaller and smaller around the house. Her father starts to get a little upset with the signs, so Ramona gives up the big signs.One afternoon, Ramona's father is late getting home from where he got insurance for the unemployed. Ramona thinks that he has left her because she was being mean to him.He comes back and they have a snack inside, and start to draw the longest picture in the world.He tells Ramona that he will try to stop smoking, and the entire family is enthusiastic for him. Mr. Quimby is not the only member of the family that has a problem. Beezus is dreading creative writing, and she has to write an interview on someone. Her father suggests interviewing Mrs. Swink, the old widow on their street. Mrs. Swink tells them to come right away, she has some errands she needs to do . Ramona goes with Beezus to interview the widow, and Mrs. Swink tells them about reading books, and about making tin can stilts. After the interview is over, Ramona goes to her friend Howie's house and asks him to make tin can stilts. He makes them, and off they go around the block, clomping on their stilts and singing a campfire song. One particular evening, even in the rain, Ramona and Howie make all the way down to one bottle of beer, counting down from 100. Ramona is very proud of her accomplishments, and continues to be proud of it a long time afterward.
One morning at Sunday School, Ramona's class is preparing for the Christmas Carol program and Nativity Scene. Ramona's teacher asks Beezus to be Mary, the mother of Jesus. Ramona is bored since she knows that she will be only part of the choir. She comes up with an idea and asks her teacher if she can be a sheep. Two other people, Howie and Davy, volunteer to be sheep, also. Ramona is very excited, but Beezus asks her where she is going to get her costume. Ramona tells her that Mother would make it for her. However, one night, Ramona hears her parents talking about her. Her father tells her mother that he doesn't want to have a spoiled brat with them, but Ramona's mother says that she would make the costume anyways. Before the scene, Ramona tells her mother about her tight shoes, and they spend and afternoon shoe-shopping that Ramona's mother could have used to be sewing Ramona's costume. The night of the scene, Ramona is grumpy because her mother only had time to sew her tail, and her headress. She wore a pair of long socks, and her white faded bunny pajamas as her sheep suit. In the basement, she saw Howie, in a fat, or chunky, soft, white sheep suit, and Davy, in a thin white sheep suit. She decided that if she couldn't be a good sheep, she would not be a sheep at all. So, she went in the bathroom, and met the Wise Women, who let her have a black nose using mascara. Then, it was time to walk along withe the shepherds( she had decided to be a sheep when she got a black nose), and she saw her father in the congregation, who winked to her. Ramona wagged her sheep tail back happily.
The End !
Ramona starts out her plan to save her father's life by posting signs, making them smaller and smaller around the house. Her father starts to get a little upset with the signs, so Ramona gives up the big signs.One afternoon, Ramona's father is late getting home from where he got insurance for the unemployed. Ramona thinks that he has left her because she was being mean to him.He comes back and they have a snack inside, and start to draw the longest picture in the world.He tells Ramona that he will try to stop smoking, and the entire family is enthusiastic for him. Mr. Quimby is not the only member of the family that has a problem. Beezus is dreading creative writing, and she has to write an interview on someone. Her father suggests interviewing Mrs. Swink, the old widow on their street. Mrs. Swink tells them to come right away, she has some errands she needs to do . Ramona goes with Beezus to interview the widow, and Mrs. Swink tells them about reading books, and about making tin can stilts. After the interview is over, Ramona goes to her friend Howie's house and asks him to make tin can stilts. He makes them, and off they go around the block, clomping on their stilts and singing a campfire song. One particular evening, even in the rain, Ramona and Howie make all the way down to one bottle of beer, counting down from 100. Ramona is very proud of her accomplishments, and continues to be proud of it a long time afterward.
One morning at Sunday School, Ramona's class is preparing for the Christmas Carol program and Nativity Scene. Ramona's teacher asks Beezus to be Mary, the mother of Jesus. Ramona is bored since she knows that she will be only part of the choir. She comes up with an idea and asks her teacher if she can be a sheep. Two other people, Howie and Davy, volunteer to be sheep, also. Ramona is very excited, but Beezus asks her where she is going to get her costume. Ramona tells her that Mother would make it for her. However, one night, Ramona hears her parents talking about her. Her father tells her mother that he doesn't want to have a spoiled brat with them, but Ramona's mother says that she would make the costume anyways. Before the scene, Ramona tells her mother about her tight shoes, and they spend and afternoon shoe-shopping that Ramona's mother could have used to be sewing Ramona's costume. The night of the scene, Ramona is grumpy because her mother only had time to sew her tail, and her headress. She wore a pair of long socks, and her white faded bunny pajamas as her sheep suit. In the basement, she saw Howie, in a fat, or chunky, soft, white sheep suit, and Davy, in a thin white sheep suit. She decided that if she couldn't be a good sheep, she would not be a sheep at all. So, she went in the bathroom, and met the Wise Women, who let her have a black nose using mascara. Then, it was time to walk along withe the shepherds( she had decided to be a sheep when she got a black nose), and she saw her father in the congregation, who winked to her. Ramona wagged her sheep tail back happily.
The End !
Girls Acting Catty
by Leslie Margolis
This second book in a series called Annabelle Unleashed is called Girls acting Catty is a book about a girl named Annabelle Stevens who starts growing away from her true friends into a group of popular girls in sixth grade. At the same time, her mother is getting married to a man named Mr. Weeble, which Annabelle calls, in her head "Dweeble"! Dweeble's son comes to Annabelle's house to live, and Annabelle develops a tiny crush on him. Another problem is that Pepper, her dog likes Jason, Dweeble's son, better than she! Annabelle also starts to change in terms of bodies- shaving legs, and bras. Finally, one of the popular girls that Annabelle has started to hang out with has betrayed her and made one of Annabelle's best friends become extremely sad. And it all started on Halloween................................
What happened on halloween? Well, when Annabelle went out trick-or-treating with her best friends, Claire, Rachel, Emma, and Yumi, they encountered Taylor and one of her clones ( meaning that they did everything that Taylor did). Taylor said something nasty about Rachel's costume and face, and from that moment on, Rachel, Emma, claire, and Yumi hated Taylor and her friends. As the days go by, one day in line stood out. Taylor said to Annabelle's face that she should start shaving her legs, and in one of the following days, when Annabelle wears multi-colored shoelaces, Taylor says that they make Annabelle look like she is from the circus. And another day, something good happens at lunch. Emma has started going out with Corn Dog Joe, whom she has liked for a long time! Back at home, Annabelle's mom's fiance's son arrives, Jason. She thinks that he is good looking, and likes him immediately. The other thing is that her mom and Dweeble have decided to get married! Then, when she goes shopping with her mom for bridesmaid dresses, her mom decides that it's time to get Annabelle a bra! So, they get her one, two, and three bras! But at home a few days later, she hears her mom and dweeble arguing! Over the next days, Annabelle hears her mom and her soon-to- be- stepdad arguing so much that Annabelle thinks that there might not be a wedding. And to make matters worse, the problems with Taylor start to get bigger.............
Now, when Annabelle's family goes to Taylor's house on Thanksgiving, Taylor and Annabelle start to become friends, but Annabelle's true friends don't like it. So, one day at lunch, Taylor invites her to sit with her, Hannah, and Jesse. Sitting with them let Annabelle learn the reason why Jesse has always worn something and ate things that were green (which Annabelle and her friends have always wondered why), and it was because of a bet. Then, another night, Taylor phones Annabelle to ask her about the English class assignment, but they end up talking about Emma and Corn Dog Joe. Taylor says that Joe would look good with a blonde, or a partial-blonde, and Annabelle realizes that Taylor is talking about Corn Dog Joe and Jesse, who had partially blonde hair. However, one day at lunch, Annabelle sits with her real friends, and Yumi tells them that she got a new cat, so Annabelle decides to go visit the cat with Pepper. At home, she sees that Jason has taught Pepper another trick, and now Annabelle thinks that Pepper likes Jason better than she. so, she takes Pepper to Yumi's house, and the cute kitten seems perfectly harmless at first, but then strikes at Pepper! Thus, Annabelle takes the dog home. Then, something terrible happens. A day at lunch, the four friends (Rachel, Claire, Yumi, and Annabelle) look for Emma and find her in the bathroom crying. She tells them that Corn Dog Joe dumped her for Jesse, who had been going out with Oliver but then dropped him. Just then, Taylor and her friends come into the bathroom, and they get all mad at Annabelle , and Taylor tells them about their phone conversation, and then Annabelle's friends get mad at Annabelle, so she tells them the reason to why Jesse ate and wore green all the time. After that, everyone leaves. The day Dweeble and Annabelle's mom get married, Annabelle invites Rachel, but then finds out that Taylor is at the wedding too. After the ceremony, Annabelle sees Rachel, and they both apologize. Then, Annabelle gets mad at Taylor because she sees Taylor flirting with Jason, which Annabelle thinks is pathetic. Suddenly, Pepper jumps on Taylor's dress, ruining it, and Annabelle cheers for Pepper. After that, all Annabelle can say is "Meow!"
What happened on halloween? Well, when Annabelle went out trick-or-treating with her best friends, Claire, Rachel, Emma, and Yumi, they encountered Taylor and one of her clones ( meaning that they did everything that Taylor did). Taylor said something nasty about Rachel's costume and face, and from that moment on, Rachel, Emma, claire, and Yumi hated Taylor and her friends. As the days go by, one day in line stood out. Taylor said to Annabelle's face that she should start shaving her legs, and in one of the following days, when Annabelle wears multi-colored shoelaces, Taylor says that they make Annabelle look like she is from the circus. And another day, something good happens at lunch. Emma has started going out with Corn Dog Joe, whom she has liked for a long time! Back at home, Annabelle's mom's fiance's son arrives, Jason. She thinks that he is good looking, and likes him immediately. The other thing is that her mom and Dweeble have decided to get married! Then, when she goes shopping with her mom for bridesmaid dresses, her mom decides that it's time to get Annabelle a bra! So, they get her one, two, and three bras! But at home a few days later, she hears her mom and dweeble arguing! Over the next days, Annabelle hears her mom and her soon-to- be- stepdad arguing so much that Annabelle thinks that there might not be a wedding. And to make matters worse, the problems with Taylor start to get bigger.............
Now, when Annabelle's family goes to Taylor's house on Thanksgiving, Taylor and Annabelle start to become friends, but Annabelle's true friends don't like it. So, one day at lunch, Taylor invites her to sit with her, Hannah, and Jesse. Sitting with them let Annabelle learn the reason why Jesse has always worn something and ate things that were green (which Annabelle and her friends have always wondered why), and it was because of a bet. Then, another night, Taylor phones Annabelle to ask her about the English class assignment, but they end up talking about Emma and Corn Dog Joe. Taylor says that Joe would look good with a blonde, or a partial-blonde, and Annabelle realizes that Taylor is talking about Corn Dog Joe and Jesse, who had partially blonde hair. However, one day at lunch, Annabelle sits with her real friends, and Yumi tells them that she got a new cat, so Annabelle decides to go visit the cat with Pepper. At home, she sees that Jason has taught Pepper another trick, and now Annabelle thinks that Pepper likes Jason better than she. so, she takes Pepper to Yumi's house, and the cute kitten seems perfectly harmless at first, but then strikes at Pepper! Thus, Annabelle takes the dog home. Then, something terrible happens. A day at lunch, the four friends (Rachel, Claire, Yumi, and Annabelle) look for Emma and find her in the bathroom crying. She tells them that Corn Dog Joe dumped her for Jesse, who had been going out with Oliver but then dropped him. Just then, Taylor and her friends come into the bathroom, and they get all mad at Annabelle , and Taylor tells them about their phone conversation, and then Annabelle's friends get mad at Annabelle, so she tells them the reason to why Jesse ate and wore green all the time. After that, everyone leaves. The day Dweeble and Annabelle's mom get married, Annabelle invites Rachel, but then finds out that Taylor is at the wedding too. After the ceremony, Annabelle sees Rachel, and they both apologize. Then, Annabelle gets mad at Taylor because she sees Taylor flirting with Jason, which Annabelle thinks is pathetic. Suddenly, Pepper jumps on Taylor's dress, ruining it, and Annabelle cheers for Pepper. After that, all Annabelle can say is "Meow!"
Little Wizard Stories
by L. Frank Baum
This last story about Oz was a collection of short stories, and the first one was called: The Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger. It is about the two great beasts that sit at Ozma's feet in the throne room. One day, they decide that their is no use in being Ozma's protector if the girl princess doesn't need any protecting, because everyone loved her, and nobody feared the beasts. So, they decided to try to make people fear them, by eating a nice, fat, juicy baby, what the hungry tiger longed to do, and then tear someone into pieces, which is what the cowardly lion wanted to do. They go out for a stroll to find the people to eat, or tear up. As they are walking down the square, `they come upon a fat baby sitting in the street crying because she has lost her mother. The hungry tiger pounces on the baby and picks it up, cradling it in its arms. The lion asks him if he is going to eat it, and the tiger answers that to do that would be heartless and cruel. While they are watching the baby, the baby's mother comes out from the corner and , seeing her baby in the tiger's arms, she shrieks and starts to run toward her child, slipping on a stone as she does. The lion catches her before she hurts herself, and then assures her that her baby is all right. the tiger then asks him if he is going to tear the mother up, and he replies that to kill up a mother that has lost her baby would be a terrible thing to do. As they give the baby back to the mother and are walking back to the palace, they agree that having a good conciensce is better than feeling guilty and having a bad conciesnce.
This second story about Oz is named Little Dorothy and Toto. it starts out with Dorothy adventuring and coming across a lake. Then, she finds a tiny, tiny man named Crinklink, who says that he can carry her over the lake. Since Dorothy wishes to continue her adventure, she wishes that she could be taken across the lake, and suddenly, she is in the hand of a giant, Crinklink, who is taking her to his castle. She twists around and finds herself face-to-face with buttons in the shape of animal heads. They tell her that she is in the hands of the terrible Crinklink. They also tell her that he might turn her into a button head, but there are no buttonholes,and when they start to tell what will happen to her otherwise, Crinklink quiets them. The group finally reaches the terrible Crinklink's castle. He takes her inside and tells her to wash tons of thousands of dishes, and if even one falls and breaks, he will beat her. Then, he shrinks to the size of a doll, and starts to sleep in a little doll bed. Dorothy starts to cry, because it was such a great task to do, and the Toto barks and growls, and lunges at Crinklink in an attempt to bite him, and next, Dorothy knocks over a large pile of dishes and closes her eyes, to try to vanquish the pain of the whip. But there is no whip, and, instead, standing there is the Wizard of Oz. The Wizard then tells her that there was no Crinklink, and that that was a lesson to teach her not to go wandering all in the country by herself.
The third story is titled, Tiktok the Nome King. In the beginning, Tiktok, a clockwork man, has been fixed by the Wizard, but the Wizard needs a missing piece that the Nome King can get. So, the Wizard sends Tiktok to the Nome King's kingdom, where the Roquat of the Rocks, the nome king, was in an especially bad mood that day, and when Tiktok approaches him to ask him for the piece, Roquat gets so angry at what Tiktok says, that he hurls his scepter at Tiktok and completely breaks him. The nome king feels heavily guilty, and orders his chief steward, Kaliko, to put the pieces in the black pit, but instead, Kaliko keeps the pieces and tries to put Tiktok back together again, while Roquat hides in his room. When Kaliko finishes putting Tiktok back together, along with the missing piece, the gong sounds, and it means that the monarch needs him. The Nome King explains his discomfort, and tells the thing that comforts him: the fact that Tiktok was only a machine man. After that, Kaliko leaves, and Tiktok wanders in. The nome king thinks that he is seeing a ghost, but then, Tiktok speaks to him, and Roquat runs out of the room, smashing into Kaliko on the way, and howls like a baby, which is what Tiktok tells him. Also, Tiktok says that Kaliko fixed him, and the nome king repents, and sends Tiktok on his way back to Oz, with a basket of jewels from his cavern for Ozma.
This second story about Oz is named Little Dorothy and Toto. it starts out with Dorothy adventuring and coming across a lake. Then, she finds a tiny, tiny man named Crinklink, who says that he can carry her over the lake. Since Dorothy wishes to continue her adventure, she wishes that she could be taken across the lake, and suddenly, she is in the hand of a giant, Crinklink, who is taking her to his castle. She twists around and finds herself face-to-face with buttons in the shape of animal heads. They tell her that she is in the hands of the terrible Crinklink. They also tell her that he might turn her into a button head, but there are no buttonholes,and when they start to tell what will happen to her otherwise, Crinklink quiets them. The group finally reaches the terrible Crinklink's castle. He takes her inside and tells her to wash tons of thousands of dishes, and if even one falls and breaks, he will beat her. Then, he shrinks to the size of a doll, and starts to sleep in a little doll bed. Dorothy starts to cry, because it was such a great task to do, and the Toto barks and growls, and lunges at Crinklink in an attempt to bite him, and next, Dorothy knocks over a large pile of dishes and closes her eyes, to try to vanquish the pain of the whip. But there is no whip, and, instead, standing there is the Wizard of Oz. The Wizard then tells her that there was no Crinklink, and that that was a lesson to teach her not to go wandering all in the country by herself.
The third story is titled, Tiktok the Nome King. In the beginning, Tiktok, a clockwork man, has been fixed by the Wizard, but the Wizard needs a missing piece that the Nome King can get. So, the Wizard sends Tiktok to the Nome King's kingdom, where the Roquat of the Rocks, the nome king, was in an especially bad mood that day, and when Tiktok approaches him to ask him for the piece, Roquat gets so angry at what Tiktok says, that he hurls his scepter at Tiktok and completely breaks him. The nome king feels heavily guilty, and orders his chief steward, Kaliko, to put the pieces in the black pit, but instead, Kaliko keeps the pieces and tries to put Tiktok back together again, while Roquat hides in his room. When Kaliko finishes putting Tiktok back together, along with the missing piece, the gong sounds, and it means that the monarch needs him. The Nome King explains his discomfort, and tells the thing that comforts him: the fact that Tiktok was only a machine man. After that, Kaliko leaves, and Tiktok wanders in. The nome king thinks that he is seeing a ghost, but then, Tiktok speaks to him, and Roquat runs out of the room, smashing into Kaliko on the way, and howls like a baby, which is what Tiktok tells him. Also, Tiktok says that Kaliko fixed him, and the nome king repents, and sends Tiktok on his way back to Oz, with a basket of jewels from his cavern for Ozma.
Little Wizard Stories (con.)
by L. Frank Baum
In this continued Little Wizard Stories, the fourth story is : Ozma and the Little Wizard. This is about the Princess Ozma who wants to make sure that all the inhabitants of Oz are content. She decides to take the Little Wizard and his bag of magic tools with her. So, she goes out into the countryside, with the Wizard at her side. As she crosses a rocky path, she comes upon a little cottage. In it is a family who say that they are happy except, that there are three imps, Imp Olite, Imp Udent, and Imp Ertinent. Ozma and the Wizard then walk once more along the rocky path when they encounter three little men, with jet black hair like horns, and mischievious looks on their faces. Suddenly, they run out and pull Ozma's skirt so hard she nearly falls, and push the Wizard, sending him sprawling. They laugh and Ozm yells for the Wizard to perform his magic. He transforms the three imps into thorny bushes, giving him and Ozma time to get up, but then, the imps just slide over to the friends, and start to poke them sharply. The Wizard the transforms them into pigs, but the pigs start tripping up Ozma and the Wizard, making it a more difficult situation. Ozma tells the Wizard to make them something else, so he makes them into three doves, who try to peck them, and one even tweaks Ozma's ear. Finally, the Wizard transforms the doves into buttons of brass, tin, and lead. He tells her that when the buttons have repented of their deeds, they will turn into gold, silver, and aluminum buttons. And so they go on their way through the rest of the fairy country, with no more imps to worry about.
The fifth story is called: Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse. It is about one of Ozma's queer friends who has a pumpkin for a head, and a wooden stick body. The Sawhorse is a, well, sawhorse made out of out. He was Ozma's favorite steed , and never tired, so was very handy. In the start of this Little Wizard Story, Ozma is gazing in to her magic picture, which shows her anything she wishes to see. She is watching a part of the country where to children are tied up to the base of a tree. So after seeing this scene, and finding out where the children are, Ozma sends the Sawhorse and Jack Pumpkinhead to rescue them. Since the Sawhorse did not get tired, the pair rode on and on until they found the little boy and girl. When Jack Pumpkinhead starts to untie them, the king of the Squirrels tells Jack that he cannot untie them, for they are prisoners. The king says that they stole nuts out of the. hollow in the tree, and the children protest that they were only hungry. Jack keeps unbinding them, so the squirrels throw nuts at him and the weak branch falls, which knock his pumpkin head off and mash it. The Sawhorse then takes matters into his own hands and tells the children to put Jack on his back and then for the boy and girl to get on. So, they go out of the woods, and since the path becomes more difficult, and Ozma was watching the group, so she sent the wizard on the Cowardly Lion's back. The Wizard takes the children back to their friends and then sends the lion back t Ozma, and finally makes Jack a new head. So in the end, the children are fine, Jack's got a new head, and everything is fine.
This last, or sixth story in Little Wizard Stories is: The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman. It is about the two best friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, who decide to go on a sail, when sudden rock's jar makes the Tin Woodman fall overboard, and since he is made of tin with joints that rust, he cannot swim back up. The Scarecrow tries to swim down and save him, is straw is too light to go down. In his sadness, he wipes and eye off, and then hears laughter, so he questions the crows' laughter. He tells them of his problem, and they suggest tying a hook to the Woodman, and having the crows lift them up. The Scarecrow agrees to this, and soon both friends are in the air, and draped over a tree branch as a result of the crows' mischief. The scarecrow and the anchor keep both from falling down, but when the Scarecrow drops the anchor to think, he goes flying up in the air, an the Woodman goes down into the ground with the anchor on a pile of dry leaves so he is not dented at all, and thescarecrow finally drops into a bramble bush. where the brambles hold him so that he can't move, and the Tin Woodman is so rusted he can't move at all. However, the Wizard comes by and picks the Scarecrow out of the bramble bush and oils the Woodman, so they go out on the river again with the Wizard, having a nice time.
The End!
The fifth story is called: Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse. It is about one of Ozma's queer friends who has a pumpkin for a head, and a wooden stick body. The Sawhorse is a, well, sawhorse made out of out. He was Ozma's favorite steed , and never tired, so was very handy. In the start of this Little Wizard Story, Ozma is gazing in to her magic picture, which shows her anything she wishes to see. She is watching a part of the country where to children are tied up to the base of a tree. So after seeing this scene, and finding out where the children are, Ozma sends the Sawhorse and Jack Pumpkinhead to rescue them. Since the Sawhorse did not get tired, the pair rode on and on until they found the little boy and girl. When Jack Pumpkinhead starts to untie them, the king of the Squirrels tells Jack that he cannot untie them, for they are prisoners. The king says that they stole nuts out of the. hollow in the tree, and the children protest that they were only hungry. Jack keeps unbinding them, so the squirrels throw nuts at him and the weak branch falls, which knock his pumpkin head off and mash it. The Sawhorse then takes matters into his own hands and tells the children to put Jack on his back and then for the boy and girl to get on. So, they go out of the woods, and since the path becomes more difficult, and Ozma was watching the group, so she sent the wizard on the Cowardly Lion's back. The Wizard takes the children back to their friends and then sends the lion back t Ozma, and finally makes Jack a new head. So in the end, the children are fine, Jack's got a new head, and everything is fine.
This last, or sixth story in Little Wizard Stories is: The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman. It is about the two best friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, who decide to go on a sail, when sudden rock's jar makes the Tin Woodman fall overboard, and since he is made of tin with joints that rust, he cannot swim back up. The Scarecrow tries to swim down and save him, is straw is too light to go down. In his sadness, he wipes and eye off, and then hears laughter, so he questions the crows' laughter. He tells them of his problem, and they suggest tying a hook to the Woodman, and having the crows lift them up. The Scarecrow agrees to this, and soon both friends are in the air, and draped over a tree branch as a result of the crows' mischief. The scarecrow and the anchor keep both from falling down, but when the Scarecrow drops the anchor to think, he goes flying up in the air, an the Woodman goes down into the ground with the anchor on a pile of dry leaves so he is not dented at all, and thescarecrow finally drops into a bramble bush. where the brambles hold him so that he can't move, and the Tin Woodman is so rusted he can't move at all. However, the Wizard comes by and picks the Scarecrow out of the bramble bush and oils the Woodman, so they go out on the river again with the Wizard, having a nice time.
The End!
The Wide-Awake Princess
by E.D. Baker
In The Wide-Awake Princess, Sleeping Beauty, or Princess Gwendolyn of Treecrest has a younger sister, Princess Annabelle, who is immune to magic, and therefore, makes other people around her lose the magic on them. Thus, Annabelle's family treats her like slime. What was the cause for this? Well, at Gwendolyn's christening, an evil fairy cast a spell on Gwendolyn, making her to prick her finger on a spinning wheel when she turns sixteen, causing her to fall into a deep sleep for a hundred years. Not wanting the same thing to happen to Annabelle, the king and queen let a fairy give her a spell on immunity to magic, and she will grow up normally. Well, it was Gwendolyn, or Gwennie's 16 th birthday, and Annabelle was searching the castle with the guards, looking for a witch, or a spinning wheel when in one tower, they find a witch spinning thread, who casts a spell on Annie, but the spell bounces back, and turns the witch into a beetle, which the guards smush. Liam, the new guard, is impressed, when the others tell him about the talent that Annie has. After that incident, Annie is called to watch Gwennie open her presents, but has to sit in the back, to not take away everyone else's magic. When one particular gift arrives, Annie watches it closely as it splits from a tree, to a branch, to a nest, to a bird, to an egg, to a spindle, which is what would happen. Instantly, everyone falls asleep, including Gwennie, but not Annabelle, who helps everyone get into more comfortable positions, since they wake up briefly at her touch. She also starts preparing to go on an adventure to find a prince for Gwennie to kiss, since only true love's kiss will break the spell. Right now, Gwennie was going to marry Prince Digby, whom Annie didn't like, since he only cared about himself and Gwendolyn, or people who were pretty, and Annie certainly wasn't pretty, since she had no magic.
When Annie leaves the castle, she heads toward the woods, and finds a little gingerbread cottage. She comes, dressed as a boy, and stays with the old woman and two lost children through the night. In the morning, though, she finds that the little woman is a witch and plans to eat the little children. Annie helps the children to escape, and knocks down the cottage, then runs toward a meadow, where she finds a ring of fairies, who force her to dance, and she declines, so they start trying to hurt her. She runs away, and meets a prince who has been turned into a bear, named Beldegard. Then, a man named Liam, the new guard who was not hit by the spell because he was outside, approaches and joins Annie on her expedition, and then Beldegard goes away. The find a lake to stay by, when a kelpie comes by them, a man-eating creature. Annie doesn't get on, but Liam does and can't get off, because of the kelpie's magic, and Annie rescues him. After the kelpie, they go to Shimshee, Digby's kingdom and find Digby, who is drunk and they convince him to go to the castle and kiss Gwendolyn. They continue on and find a sign for a contest in Corealis, the neighboring kingdom. Anie enters the contest, which is for Prince Andreas to choose a wife. Though Annie enters late, she wins the first contest, a horseback riding contest, then a poetry contest, a dancing contest, and an eating contest. Annie is declared the winner, and tells the Prince that she did not do it for herself, but for Gwendolyn, and Andreas agrees to go kiss Annie's sister. Now, while they are traveling they go find Sweetness N Light, who tells them to go away, and the go to Voracia next, both fairies, and Voracia tells them that it has to be the true love's kiss first, since Annie was afraid of the other answer, which was that it had to be the hundred years first. After this, they meet a prince named Cozwald, who is trying to rescue his love, Lizette, from an ogre, but when they get into the ogre's castle and find Lizette, she says she needs no rescuing, and is engaged to the ogre. After they depart, Prince Cozwald takes them to meet his cousin, or also known to us as the "Frog Prince", who is always mopey, and both reluctantly agree to go to Treecrest and kiss Gwendolyn.
Now, Liam, Annie's companion wants to take Annie to the place of his birth, the royal family's castle in Dorinocco, and he tells Annie that he was born second in line to the throne in Dorinocco, after his brother, Prince Clarence, which means that Lam is a prince. Annie gets all stiff because Liam didn't tell her about his being a prince, and as they ride to the castle, Liam confesses that he took the oath as guard to protect the royal family of Treecrest from his mother and brother's evil plans to take over the kingdom. Liam's father was not a very active ruler, but a good father. Now, when they get to the castle and meet Liam's not-so-nice mother, she acts angry that he came back, and sends Annie to a bed with 20 mattresses, which is not very comfortable, because she is convinced that only a true princess could feel a pea through all the mattresses, but a pea would be crushed under the weight. Annie suggests that Clarence, another not so nice person come with them as they journey back to Treecrest. Annie finds a note for Clarence from his mom, which says that he should try to wake the princess in any way, just for a second, and Annie notices that the handwriting was the same as the one on the "Happy Birthday " note that came with the spinning wheel. As Annie and Liam ride back, they talk, and only realize that Clarence was spying when Beldegard, who had caught up with them, dragged him out of the bushes. When they get to the castle of Treecrest, they find all the princes waiting, and Annie takes them to kiss Gwendolyn, so all the princes kiss her, even Liam, who does not care for Gwendolyn, but for Annie, but not one wakes her. Finally, Beldegard, who was a prince, licks her when Annie drops a tear on Gwendolyn's face, and Gwennie and everybody else wakes, and finds that Beldegard is Gwennie's true love. Clarence gets so mad that he starts war with Treecrest, using soldiers and a witch's enchanted statues. Annie finally defeats the witch, who was the sister who turned herself into a beetle, since magic bounces off of her and back onto the person who cast it. The witch tries to turn her into a wooden statue, and ends up turning herself into a wooden statue. Clarence, seeing that his witch was defeated, pulled back his troops, and Treecrest wins! Annie and Liam have a sweet moment, in which they say that they want to get married to each other. So in the end, all is well.
The End!
When Annie leaves the castle, she heads toward the woods, and finds a little gingerbread cottage. She comes, dressed as a boy, and stays with the old woman and two lost children through the night. In the morning, though, she finds that the little woman is a witch and plans to eat the little children. Annie helps the children to escape, and knocks down the cottage, then runs toward a meadow, where she finds a ring of fairies, who force her to dance, and she declines, so they start trying to hurt her. She runs away, and meets a prince who has been turned into a bear, named Beldegard. Then, a man named Liam, the new guard who was not hit by the spell because he was outside, approaches and joins Annie on her expedition, and then Beldegard goes away. The find a lake to stay by, when a kelpie comes by them, a man-eating creature. Annie doesn't get on, but Liam does and can't get off, because of the kelpie's magic, and Annie rescues him. After the kelpie, they go to Shimshee, Digby's kingdom and find Digby, who is drunk and they convince him to go to the castle and kiss Gwendolyn. They continue on and find a sign for a contest in Corealis, the neighboring kingdom. Anie enters the contest, which is for Prince Andreas to choose a wife. Though Annie enters late, she wins the first contest, a horseback riding contest, then a poetry contest, a dancing contest, and an eating contest. Annie is declared the winner, and tells the Prince that she did not do it for herself, but for Gwendolyn, and Andreas agrees to go kiss Annie's sister. Now, while they are traveling they go find Sweetness N Light, who tells them to go away, and the go to Voracia next, both fairies, and Voracia tells them that it has to be the true love's kiss first, since Annie was afraid of the other answer, which was that it had to be the hundred years first. After this, they meet a prince named Cozwald, who is trying to rescue his love, Lizette, from an ogre, but when they get into the ogre's castle and find Lizette, she says she needs no rescuing, and is engaged to the ogre. After they depart, Prince Cozwald takes them to meet his cousin, or also known to us as the "Frog Prince", who is always mopey, and both reluctantly agree to go to Treecrest and kiss Gwendolyn.
Now, Liam, Annie's companion wants to take Annie to the place of his birth, the royal family's castle in Dorinocco, and he tells Annie that he was born second in line to the throne in Dorinocco, after his brother, Prince Clarence, which means that Lam is a prince. Annie gets all stiff because Liam didn't tell her about his being a prince, and as they ride to the castle, Liam confesses that he took the oath as guard to protect the royal family of Treecrest from his mother and brother's evil plans to take over the kingdom. Liam's father was not a very active ruler, but a good father. Now, when they get to the castle and meet Liam's not-so-nice mother, she acts angry that he came back, and sends Annie to a bed with 20 mattresses, which is not very comfortable, because she is convinced that only a true princess could feel a pea through all the mattresses, but a pea would be crushed under the weight. Annie suggests that Clarence, another not so nice person come with them as they journey back to Treecrest. Annie finds a note for Clarence from his mom, which says that he should try to wake the princess in any way, just for a second, and Annie notices that the handwriting was the same as the one on the "Happy Birthday " note that came with the spinning wheel. As Annie and Liam ride back, they talk, and only realize that Clarence was spying when Beldegard, who had caught up with them, dragged him out of the bushes. When they get to the castle of Treecrest, they find all the princes waiting, and Annie takes them to kiss Gwendolyn, so all the princes kiss her, even Liam, who does not care for Gwendolyn, but for Annie, but not one wakes her. Finally, Beldegard, who was a prince, licks her when Annie drops a tear on Gwendolyn's face, and Gwennie and everybody else wakes, and finds that Beldegard is Gwennie's true love. Clarence gets so mad that he starts war with Treecrest, using soldiers and a witch's enchanted statues. Annie finally defeats the witch, who was the sister who turned herself into a beetle, since magic bounces off of her and back onto the person who cast it. The witch tries to turn her into a wooden statue, and ends up turning herself into a wooden statue. Clarence, seeing that his witch was defeated, pulled back his troops, and Treecrest wins! Annie and Liam have a sweet moment, in which they say that they want to get married to each other. So in the end, all is well.
The End!
Unlocking the Spell
by E.D. Baker
In the sequel to The Wide-Awake Princess, Annie undertakes a new quest. Gwendolyn wants to marry Beldegard as soon as possible, but he is still a bear. Annie has to hold Beldegard's hand so that Gwennie can gaze into his human eyes. Also, now that Annie is quite famous in her kingdom, everyone comes to her to see if their gold is real, or to see what they really look like. So, partially to not have to watch Gwennie and Beldegard kiss, Annie agrees to go on the quest to find the dwarf that turned Beldegard into a bear, and get the dwarf to turn Beldegard back. When they leave, Annie, Beldegard, and Liam start by going to the cottage where Beldegard spent his winters as a bear, in which an old woman, and her two daughters, Rose Red and Snow White lived, and all of this because they needed to learn where Rose Red worked, to find out if she had seen the dwarf. When the trio gets to the cottage, Annie finds a cushion, saying Peace, Happiness, and Harmony, and senses some good magic in it. She also recognizes Granny Bentbone, the old witch from the gingerbread cottage. After they discover where Rose Red works and get out of the house, Annie realizes someone is following them. As soon as the person leaps from the bushes, Annie tackles it, and finds that it is Gwendolyn! Now, though Annie wants to send her back, Gwendolyn starts to join them on their quest. The quartet travels to The Gasping Guppy tavern to find Rose Red, and when they find her, they explain their dilemma, and she tells them that the dwarf, plus an older dwarf, stopped by the tavern a couple of days ago, and at this point, Beldegard decides to go, and he and Gwennie say their good-byes, while Liam gets Annie, Gwennie, and himself some food and a room. After "Beldie" leaves, Liam and the girls go upstairs into a room to sleep. In the morning, they get up to catch the ferry across the river, and decide that they have to hide Gwendolyn's beauty, perhaps with a shirt. Anyways, when they get to the ferry, they asked the man owning it if he had seen the dwarf, and he had. He said that there was a younger one, who was speaking angry words with the older one. After they get across the river, they continue traveling,this time with Beldegard, who had caught up with them.
As the companions are traveling, they meet a little girl, the girl from the 'Red Riding Hood' story, who is wearing a red cape, which makes Annie want one for Gwennie, since it is so concealing. When they meet the little Gloria, which is her name, she is about to be eaten by a wolf in granny's clothes. When Annie and Liam find out who the wolf truly is, they make him run out, and a huntsman makes sure they are all right. Annie asks for a cape, and gets a dark green one from the little girl, in exchange for a coin, which Annie gives to Gwendolyn. As they travel on, they find a home, which turns out to be the home of three bears, who used to be human. The bears say that a nasty dwarf had demanded food, with a kind older brother with him, and the nasty dwarf had turned them into bears. After this, they journey on, and find an ogre's village, and an elderly ogre gives them the way to Moonbeam's garden, since the group needed to know where to go next. As the quartet goes to Moonbeam's garden, Annie slips on a magic bridge, and finds a herd of minotaurs. When they find that Moonbeam is not at her garden, and her sprite tells them that she is gone, making last minute alterations for a girl going to the ball in Floradale for Prince Ainsley, and Floradale is where their mother had grown up. Annabelle and Gwendolyn and Liam get ready for the ball, and they formulate a plan for Annie to find the girl that Moonbeam had fixed up by touching every girl at the ball. When it is time to descend, Gwendolyn is stunning, and dances with Prince Ainsley, for a long time, so that none of the other ladies at the ball get a chance to dance with him. Gwendolyn is excused from the dance, and Ainsley is now dancing with a beautiful girl named Eleanor, but when Annie not purposely bumps into her, it is seen that she is the girl that Moonbeam fixed up, and the girl runs away. In the morning, Moonbeam appears,and gets mad at Annie for interfering. After this episode, Annie, Gwendolyn,Liam, and Ainsley go and find the girl that left the shoe behind, the Eleanor. When getting to the last house, he finds the girl, who is no more than a servant. Ainsley and Eleanor are in love, and Moonbeam appears again, and says that her work is done. Then, the journers go on.
Annie, Gwennie, Liam, and Beldegard go across a river, when they find a little pig's house, in which lives a little pig, who tells them that they are in Montrose, Beldegard's home kingdom, and that Prince Maitland is hunting all the bears in the kingdom. After thanking the pig , they go on and hear Maitland coming, and they hide Beldegard. Gwendolyn starts to flirt with Maitland to try to make him go away, and Beldegard gets mad at Gwendolyn for pretending to flirt with his brother. They then go on and on until they find a cottage with animals and a magic tablecloth, who scared some robbers away. The animals insist that they join the expedition, so they do. The now big group finds a little short cottage and three pigs inside it, who tell them that a wolf had been terrorizing them, and that a dwarf had turned them into pigs, that they had once been human. The wolf outside has been spying, and when it comes down the chimney, it says that he had also been human, and had been turned into a wolf because he had been falsely accused for cheating at a card game by a dwarf, and also that he did not how to control wolf instincts. As they continue on, without the new members, they find a little cottage, which is home to a beautiful young girl, who is being choked by a necklace from a peddler. Annie immediately takes the necklace off of the girl, and she, the Snow White, invites them in. Snow White says that that had to be her stepmother, since that was the only person who wanted to kill her. Also that she lived with dwarves, and that their grandfather had fallen ill and wanted them all to come home. Now, when they were cleaning, an old woman came to give away some combs, and Annie sent her away, since she was a witch. Then, the third time, the old woman brought poisoned apples, which Annie crushed, and as she ran away, Annie sent Cat and Dog after her. In the evening, Cat came home and recounted her experience, about a mirror that talked, that Dog stayed in the palace. And then, finally, the dwarves came home, and Liam forced Cragery, the nasty dwarf to confess and he did, and also told his whole story, then turned Liam into a woodchuck, but Annie then yelled at him, and he tried to turn her to a squirrel, but instead turned himself, and everyone else turned to their normal form. With Cragery out of the way, the group visited the castle and the king told Marissa, or the evil queen, since Snow White was a princess, to put on an enchanted necklace. Annie did it first, and it didn't squeeze her because it couldn't, but when Marissa put it on, it started to squeeze her. After this, everyone returned to the cottage and decided where they were going to go. Maitland, who had arrived, wanted to court Snow White, Annie, Gwennie, Liam, and human Beldegard were returning to Treecrest, and the animals were deciding where they wanted to go, and it was all peaceful.
As the companions are traveling, they meet a little girl, the girl from the 'Red Riding Hood' story, who is wearing a red cape, which makes Annie want one for Gwennie, since it is so concealing. When they meet the little Gloria, which is her name, she is about to be eaten by a wolf in granny's clothes. When Annie and Liam find out who the wolf truly is, they make him run out, and a huntsman makes sure they are all right. Annie asks for a cape, and gets a dark green one from the little girl, in exchange for a coin, which Annie gives to Gwendolyn. As they travel on, they find a home, which turns out to be the home of three bears, who used to be human. The bears say that a nasty dwarf had demanded food, with a kind older brother with him, and the nasty dwarf had turned them into bears. After this, they journey on, and find an ogre's village, and an elderly ogre gives them the way to Moonbeam's garden, since the group needed to know where to go next. As the quartet goes to Moonbeam's garden, Annie slips on a magic bridge, and finds a herd of minotaurs. When they find that Moonbeam is not at her garden, and her sprite tells them that she is gone, making last minute alterations for a girl going to the ball in Floradale for Prince Ainsley, and Floradale is where their mother had grown up. Annabelle and Gwendolyn and Liam get ready for the ball, and they formulate a plan for Annie to find the girl that Moonbeam had fixed up by touching every girl at the ball. When it is time to descend, Gwendolyn is stunning, and dances with Prince Ainsley, for a long time, so that none of the other ladies at the ball get a chance to dance with him. Gwendolyn is excused from the dance, and Ainsley is now dancing with a beautiful girl named Eleanor, but when Annie not purposely bumps into her, it is seen that she is the girl that Moonbeam fixed up, and the girl runs away. In the morning, Moonbeam appears,and gets mad at Annie for interfering. After this episode, Annie, Gwendolyn,Liam, and Ainsley go and find the girl that left the shoe behind, the Eleanor. When getting to the last house, he finds the girl, who is no more than a servant. Ainsley and Eleanor are in love, and Moonbeam appears again, and says that her work is done. Then, the journers go on.
Annie, Gwennie, Liam, and Beldegard go across a river, when they find a little pig's house, in which lives a little pig, who tells them that they are in Montrose, Beldegard's home kingdom, and that Prince Maitland is hunting all the bears in the kingdom. After thanking the pig , they go on and hear Maitland coming, and they hide Beldegard. Gwendolyn starts to flirt with Maitland to try to make him go away, and Beldegard gets mad at Gwendolyn for pretending to flirt with his brother. They then go on and on until they find a cottage with animals and a magic tablecloth, who scared some robbers away. The animals insist that they join the expedition, so they do. The now big group finds a little short cottage and three pigs inside it, who tell them that a wolf had been terrorizing them, and that a dwarf had turned them into pigs, that they had once been human. The wolf outside has been spying, and when it comes down the chimney, it says that he had also been human, and had been turned into a wolf because he had been falsely accused for cheating at a card game by a dwarf, and also that he did not how to control wolf instincts. As they continue on, without the new members, they find a little cottage, which is home to a beautiful young girl, who is being choked by a necklace from a peddler. Annie immediately takes the necklace off of the girl, and she, the Snow White, invites them in. Snow White says that that had to be her stepmother, since that was the only person who wanted to kill her. Also that she lived with dwarves, and that their grandfather had fallen ill and wanted them all to come home. Now, when they were cleaning, an old woman came to give away some combs, and Annie sent her away, since she was a witch. Then, the third time, the old woman brought poisoned apples, which Annie crushed, and as she ran away, Annie sent Cat and Dog after her. In the evening, Cat came home and recounted her experience, about a mirror that talked, that Dog stayed in the palace. And then, finally, the dwarves came home, and Liam forced Cragery, the nasty dwarf to confess and he did, and also told his whole story, then turned Liam into a woodchuck, but Annie then yelled at him, and he tried to turn her to a squirrel, but instead turned himself, and everyone else turned to their normal form. With Cragery out of the way, the group visited the castle and the king told Marissa, or the evil queen, since Snow White was a princess, to put on an enchanted necklace. Annie did it first, and it didn't squeeze her because it couldn't, but when Marissa put it on, it started to squeeze her. After this, everyone returned to the cottage and decided where they were going to go. Maitland, who had arrived, wanted to court Snow White, Annie, Gwennie, Liam, and human Beldegard were returning to Treecrest, and the animals were deciding where they wanted to go, and it was all peaceful.
The Bravest Princess
by E.D. Baker
This story is the third and last of The Wide Awake Princess series. It starts at the wedding scene of Princess Gwendolyn and her future husband, Beldegard, and they are going to be married in a couple of days. When Gwennie needs Beldegard's twin sisters for their hair flowers, Annie is sent to find them, and finds them and a lot of other children in a line to see Granny Bentbone, who is locked in a cell, and trying to convince the children to get her out by bribing them. After Annie and Liam, who had just shown up, shoo the children out of the prison, they meet with Annie's father and suggest a new place for Granny- a tower she had once encountered on her journeys, and at the same time, a letter arrives from Snow White, telling that ever since Marissa escaped from the dungeon, her father had been eager for her to marry and be taken away to another kingdom. Annie promises to go and meet Snow White, after the wedding, and without Gwendolyn, and after dropping Granny Bentbone off at the tower. Finally, the wedding day arrives, and everyone is frantic for the last-minute preparations, and in the process, someone drops something burning and green, like a flower into her head, and the maids of the kitchen have to wash her hair and cut off chunks of it. However, the wedding goes smoothly, and Gwennie and Beldegard are off on their honeymoon and all the guards and soldiers, Annie, Liam, and Granny Bentbone head for the tower, while 2 or 3 crows are following them. Granny says that Annie should beware of the crows, for a very powerful witch is controlling the crows. The ride is very bumpy, and Granny is complaining the whole way. When they get to the tower, Annie goes up in a basket, and when she is going down, the two or three crows attack, making the basket swing wildly. However, she gets down safely, and Granny Bentbone goes up well, so Annie and her friends continue on with their journey to Snow White's castle, stopping at the royal castles of Dorinocco and Montrose, first at Dorinocco, where Clarence was banished from the kingdom, and Queen Lenore put in a tower in the castle. Liam's father feels terribly guilty and will do anything to help the group. But they had only stopped to get supplies, and then continue on their journey. Many strange encounters with the witch's crows and other animals include forest animals as wolves, crows fouling streams, and quicksands, but they manage to make it to Beldegard's kingdom-where the other princes are staying-to Helmswood, where Snow White lives. When Annie gets to Helmswood, and meets Snow White again, Snow tells Annie of her plan to have a contest to see which prince she will marry, and the one will be the one that has all the traits that she wants in a man.
Another plan that Annie and Snow formulate is one to see if Marissa had disguised herself, and was in the castle. But for the first plan,Annie comes up with a plan to bring out the prince's traits, starting with a contest for how they feel about Snow. The seven princes-called Nasheen, Milo, Tandry, Digby, Andreas, Cozwald, Emilio, and Maitland were informed at breakfast what they were supposed to do, and had until the evening at dinner to show their results. Nasheen gave Snow White a horse, Milo, a portrait made of knots, Tandry, a poem, Digby, a cake, Andreas a song, Emilio a dance, and so on. Then, all went to bed after eating and Snow and Annie discussed what the princes had done. They also came up with a plan to for Annie to touch everyone who worked in the castle to find out if they really were who they said they were, using flowers. They also thought that since the soldiers had nothing to do, that they could spy on the princes to find out what their actual stories were. The next contest was a test of bravery, and , as an example, Prince Nasheen, a very self-centered prince, took out an ogre that was bothering some townspeople. However, after dinner, the guard who was following Nasheen found out that he truly did cast the ogre out into the street, but the so-called ogre was a very tall tax-collecter, whom all the people liked. Maitland's story was that he had saved Princess Annie and Horace the guard from a room filling with water, by fighting a monster guarding the door, and every word was true. As Annie was getting along with her list of people to touch, every single one of them was not Marissa, but she did meet one girl that was an escaped princess working as a scullery maid, and did not want to return to her kingdom. Now, the next test was of compassion, the princes had to show compassion. Maitland again rescued Annie from her room full of crows in the morning, and Maitland defeated all the crows, and took Annie to Snow White's room and called the doctor, where Annie could be safe. Then, at dinner, the princes recounted their stories of compassion. Cozwald gave a book that he had just finished reading to a little scullery maid that probably could not read. Now, the guards and Annie and Liam are going to check out the tower where Marissa used to abide. They found no one in the tower, but signs of people that had lived there, and when they found a magic mirror, and they asked it to tell them who had been here. The mirror showed pictures of Granny Bentbone and Marissa, with another unrecognizable witch, which must have been Terobella.
The last contest of the competition was an honesty test, in which some women were to drop old coins, and see if the princes would return it to them. A couple of the princes took the coin, and some would not even notice that a coin had been dropped, while others gave it back. Then, after the final contest, Snow White announced her pick and it was Maitland! When all the princes and princesses were outside, Tandry disappeared mysteriously, then to appear with Terobella, who was his mother, Marissa, who was sister to Terobella, and Granny Bentbone, who was mother to both women. Because Snow White did not pick Tandry, his mother cursed the castle, turning it to mud, and trying to cast a spell on Annie, making her the slime that a snail leaves. However, the spell bounced back, turning Terobella into slime, that was washed away, and Granny Bentbone and Marissa were put in the dungeon. As they are going back, Annie and Liam decide to tell Annie's parents that they are going to get married. So everyone is content, except for the evil ones!
Another plan that Annie and Snow formulate is one to see if Marissa had disguised herself, and was in the castle. But for the first plan,Annie comes up with a plan to bring out the prince's traits, starting with a contest for how they feel about Snow. The seven princes-called Nasheen, Milo, Tandry, Digby, Andreas, Cozwald, Emilio, and Maitland were informed at breakfast what they were supposed to do, and had until the evening at dinner to show their results. Nasheen gave Snow White a horse, Milo, a portrait made of knots, Tandry, a poem, Digby, a cake, Andreas a song, Emilio a dance, and so on. Then, all went to bed after eating and Snow and Annie discussed what the princes had done. They also came up with a plan to for Annie to touch everyone who worked in the castle to find out if they really were who they said they were, using flowers. They also thought that since the soldiers had nothing to do, that they could spy on the princes to find out what their actual stories were. The next contest was a test of bravery, and , as an example, Prince Nasheen, a very self-centered prince, took out an ogre that was bothering some townspeople. However, after dinner, the guard who was following Nasheen found out that he truly did cast the ogre out into the street, but the so-called ogre was a very tall tax-collecter, whom all the people liked. Maitland's story was that he had saved Princess Annie and Horace the guard from a room filling with water, by fighting a monster guarding the door, and every word was true. As Annie was getting along with her list of people to touch, every single one of them was not Marissa, but she did meet one girl that was an escaped princess working as a scullery maid, and did not want to return to her kingdom. Now, the next test was of compassion, the princes had to show compassion. Maitland again rescued Annie from her room full of crows in the morning, and Maitland defeated all the crows, and took Annie to Snow White's room and called the doctor, where Annie could be safe. Then, at dinner, the princes recounted their stories of compassion. Cozwald gave a book that he had just finished reading to a little scullery maid that probably could not read. Now, the guards and Annie and Liam are going to check out the tower where Marissa used to abide. They found no one in the tower, but signs of people that had lived there, and when they found a magic mirror, and they asked it to tell them who had been here. The mirror showed pictures of Granny Bentbone and Marissa, with another unrecognizable witch, which must have been Terobella.
The last contest of the competition was an honesty test, in which some women were to drop old coins, and see if the princes would return it to them. A couple of the princes took the coin, and some would not even notice that a coin had been dropped, while others gave it back. Then, after the final contest, Snow White announced her pick and it was Maitland! When all the princes and princesses were outside, Tandry disappeared mysteriously, then to appear with Terobella, who was his mother, Marissa, who was sister to Terobella, and Granny Bentbone, who was mother to both women. Because Snow White did not pick Tandry, his mother cursed the castle, turning it to mud, and trying to cast a spell on Annie, making her the slime that a snail leaves. However, the spell bounced back, turning Terobella into slime, that was washed away, and Granny Bentbone and Marissa were put in the dungeon. As they are going back, Annie and Liam decide to tell Annie's parents that they are going to get married. So everyone is content, except for the evil ones!
The Bad Beginning
by Lemony Snicket
The Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket, is about some siblings-not twins- that are thrown through treacherous trials, one after the other, in this series of books called The series of Unfortunate Events. These siblings, two sisters and a brother to be exact, are named the Baudelaire siblings, Violet, Klaus and Sunny. Violet, the oldest at 14 enjoyed to invent useful things, which she was doing as she was standing on the edge of Briny Beach. Klaus, the middle at 12, loved to read, read, read, and inspect creatures in tide-pools as he was standing by his older sister on the beach. Sunny, the smallest and youngest of the family, really liked to bite people with her 4 sharp teeth. Now, on this particular day, a mysterious figure was walking out of the fog, and it was the Baudelaire's parent's friend- Mr. Poe-who had come to tell them that their parents had died in a fire. They would be staying with the Poes for a couple of days, then shortly after moving to their Count Olaf's house. The days at Mr. Poe's house were awful.