Lydia the Reading Fairy

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Map

  Poem

  Backward Books

  A Shocking School Visitor

  A Rhyming Spell and a Reading

  Punished!

  Hop, Skip, and Jump

  The Goblin School Library

  Teaser

  Copyright

  It’s time the School Day Fairies see

  How wonderful a school should be—

  A place where goblins must be bossed,

  And learn about the great Jack Frost.

  Now every fairy badge of gold

  Makes goblins do as they are told.

  Let silly fairies whine and wail.

  My cleverness will never fail!

  “I love the smell of libraries, don’t you?” said Kirsty Tate.

  She took a deep breath and looked around at the bookshelves of the Tippington School library. Her best friend, Rachel Walker, smiled at her.

  “I love having you here at school with me,” she said. “I wish it was for longer than a week!”

  It was only the third day of the new school year, and it had already turned into the most fun and exciting time at school that Rachel had ever known. She had lots of friends at Tippington School, but none of them were as special as Kirsty. She had often wished that they could go to the same school. Then Kirsty’s school had been flooded, and the repairs were going to take a week. So for five happy days the best friends were at school together at last.

  “It’s turning into quite a week, though,” Kirsty replied with a grin.

  Rachel knew that Kirsty was talking about the extraordinary secret they shared. From the time they had met on Rainspell Island, they had been friends of Fairyland. Even though they had often had magical adventures since then, it was always thrilling to meet brand-new fairy friends. And on the first day of this school year, they had been introduced to the School Day Fairies.

  “I wonder if we’ll see any of the School Day Fairies today,” Kirsty whispered.

  Before Rachel could reply, her teacher clapped his hands together to get everyone’s attention.

  “I want each of you to choose a book to read,” said Mr. Beaker. “Then write a few sentences about what you think of the book. All the book reports will be included in the display for the school superintendent’s visit.”

  “What kind of book should we choose?” asked Adam.

  “Try to pick something that you think will transport you to another world,” said Mr. Beaker. “I love reading, and the best books are the ones where the story comes to life. The people should seem as real to you as your best friend.”

  The children started to wander around the library, browsing the shelves.

  “Be brave in your book choice,” Mr. Beaker went on. “It might be exciting to pick something that you wouldn’t normally read. Surprise yourself!”

  There was a loud crash, and Amina and Ellie jumped back from the shelves they had been browsing. Three heavy books had almost landed on top of them.

  “Please be careful,” said Mr. Beaker.

  “But they just fell off the shelf,” cried Ellie. “We didn’t touch them!”

  “Mr. Beaker, this book is stuck shut,” said Adam, who was trying to look at a mystery story. “I can’t open it.”

  Rachel had just chosen a book called The Princess in the Tower. But when she opened it, none of the sentences made sense. She blinked a few times, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her. But there was definitely something very strange about the book.

  “Everything is backward,” she whispered to Kirsty. “Listen to how the story begins: ‘After ever happily lived Rose Princess.’ Something bad has happened in here. The books are all wrong—and I bet I know why.”

  Kirsty knew exactly what her best friend was thinking. This was all happening because of Jack Frost’s goblins!

  When the girls had met Marissa the Science Fairy on the first day of school, she had whisked them away to Fairyland. There, the other School Day Fairies had explained that Jack Frost had stolen their magical gold star badges. Without them, lessons would be messed up and boring.

  “Jack Frost has caused so much trouble for the School Day Fairies,” Kirsty said in a low voice. “We’ve helped Marissa the Science Fairy and Alison the Art Fairy get their badges back, but we have to find all four of them to make sure everything is perfect for the royal visit.”

  Queen Titania and King Oberon were planning to pay a visit to the fairy school. The fairies wanted everything to be perfect for their beloved king and queen, but without their magical badges, the royal visit would be a disaster. Not only that, but school in the human world would be ruined, too.

  Jack Frost had used the magical badges to open a school for goblins, where he was teaching them all about himself. He thought it was the only subject worth learning! But when he had expelled two of his students for misbehaving, they had stolen the magical badges from him and taken them to the human world.

  And right now, those pesky goblins were in Tippington School!

  The girls had soon realized that the two new boys in their class were not really boys at all. Their disguise had fooled Mr. Beaker and the other children, but Kirsty and Rachel were very good at recognizing goblins.

  “We should find the goblins and see what they’re doing,” Rachel whispered.

  Kirsty nodded. Mr. Beaker wasn’t watching them—he was too busy trying to open Adam’s book. The girls made their way toward the back of the library, where the lights were dim and the least-borrowed books were kept. Not many students looked in this section, but now the girls could hear loud, screeching voices. They looked at each other.

  “Goblins,” they said together.

  They peered around a tall bookshelf and saw the two goblins sitting cross-legged on the floor. Each of them was holding a book and reading aloud. They didn’t seem to care that the other one wasn’t listening.

  “Once upon a time there was a grumpy troll who liked to eat princes and princesses,” read the first goblin in a loud voice. “But there weren’t enough princes and princesses to fill him up. So he decided to go on a trip with his best friend, a handsome goblin.”

  “Milly, Tilly, and Jilly were sisters,” read the second goblin in an equally loud voice. “They were human beings, and so of course they were annoying and ugly. One day a happy little goblin was stealing some apples when the silly sisters decided to try to stop him.”

  “They just love the sound of their own voices, don’t they!” said Rachel.

  “Yes,” said Kirsty with a frown, “and it sounds as if those stories have been changed—they don’t sound right at all.”

  Just then they heard footsteps behind them, and they whirled around. Mr. Beaker was coming their way. When he saw the girls and heard the voices, he stopped. Rachel and Kirsty thought that he might scold the goblins, but he just smiled.

  “I’m glad to hear that someone in the class is enjoying their books,” he said. “I don’t know what’s gone wrong, but reading doesn’t seem to be very much fun today.”

  “Do you want us to ask them to talk more quietly?” Kirsty asked.

  Mr. Beaker shook his head.

  “It’s nice to hear that they’re so enthusiastic,” he said. “I don’t mind the noise.”

  As he walked away, the girls exchanged a surprised glance.

  “I guess the main thing is that they’re not causing any trouble,” said Rachel. “For now!”

  “Look at that bookshelf over there,” said Kirsty.

  She pointed to a bookshelf in the corner. One of the shelves seemed to be gleaming with a faint light, and the girls hurried toward it.

  “The light must be coming from one of the boo
ks on this shelf,” said Rachel. “It looks just like a fairy glow.”

  They searched through the books that were on the shelf until they found one that was shimmering with a golden light.

  “This must be the one,” said Rachel, taking it down from the shelf. She opened it, and out fluttered Lydia the Reading Fairy! Her black hair was tied in a thick side braid, and she was wearing flowery shorts with a pink sweater.

  “Hello, Rachel! Hello, Kirsty!” said Lydia. “Queen Titania told me that you were in the library, and I thought it was the perfect moment to ask for your help.”

  “So you still haven’t found your magical gold star badge?” Kirsty asked.

  Lydia shook her head.

  “I’m sure it must be around here somewhere,” she said. “Will you please help me find it? Children all over the world have stopped enjoying reading, and it’s all because of those terrible goblins.”

  “Of course we’ll help,” said Rachel. “Lydia, the goblins are here in the library right now, and no one is watching us. Should we go ask them to give your badge back?”

  Lydia nodded.

  “I’m a little afraid of Jack Frost, but I’m not scared of goblins,” she said. “Let’s go talk to them right now.”

  She hid in Rachel’s pocket and then the girls walked back to the tall bookshelf where the goblins were reading. But before they got there, Kirsty grabbed Rachel’s arm.

  “Look!” she whispered. “Between those books!”

  In a gap between some books on a shelf, the girls could see an ice blue robe and a mortarboard hat. Holding their breath, they tiptoed up to the shelf and peeked through the gap. Then they stared at each other in shock. They couldn’t believe their eyes.

  Jack Frost was in their school!

  Jack Frost was creeping along beside the shelves toward the goblins. They hadn’t noticed him because they were so interested in their books. They were still reading aloud.

  “The grumpy troll and the handsome goblin snowboarded down the snowy mountain,” the first goblin was reading at the top of his voice. “Everyone gasped, because they had never seen such amazing skill and speed. They were better than Olympic athletes and faster than fairies.”

  “The goblin found a really great hiding place for the apples,” bellowed the second goblin. “But Milly, Tilly, and Jilly cheated and spied on him, and they took the apples back to the orchard. So the goblin locked them in an ice castle for a hundred years, and that served them right.”

  “BOO!” shouted Jack Frost, leaping out in front of them.

  The goblins jumped up in fright, dropping the books on the floor. Jack Frost walked slowly toward them, and they backed away until they hit a bookshelf.

  “I’m here for my magical badge,” he said. “You little pea brains are going to give it to me—right now!”

  He pulled a blue book out from under his robe. Rachel and Kirsty could see the title clearly, because it was written in shining silver letters: Fantastic Jack Frost: The Story of My Life.

  “This is the best book in the world,” he said. “I want every single goblin in my school to hear the story—but none of them are paying attention, and it’s all your fault!”

  He was shaking with rage, and the goblins’ knees started to knock together.

  “W-w-what can we d-d-do, Your Iciness?” asked the first goblin.

  The second goblin opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t get any words out, so he gave a little curtsy instead.

  “Give me the badge, fool!” Jack Frost roared.

  Trembling, the first goblin put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a shining golden badge.

  “That’s it!” said Lydia. “My badge!”

  But before the girls could do anything, Jack Frost had snatched the badge and disappeared in a crack of blue lightning!

  “Quick, use your magic!” Rachel begged Lydia. “We have to catch up with Jack Frost!”

  Lydia fluttered out of Rachel’s pocket and hovered in front of them, holding up her wand and speaking the words of a spell.

  “Follow Jack Frost without any delay

  To find the gold badge he has stolen away.

  Whether in sunshine or whether in snow,

  Take us wherever he chooses to go.”

  With a whooshing sound, a ribbon of sparkling fairy dust wound around the girls, wrapping them in magic. They closed their eyes, and their shoulder blades tingled as gossamer wings appeared.

  They heard the tinkle of far-off silver bells and then felt a blast of ice-cold air. When they opened their eyes, they were standing inside a very different kind of library.

  Icicles were hanging from the shelves, and there were patches of ice on the threadbare carpet. But the strangest thing was that every book in the library was exactly the same. Row after row, the girls gazed at thousands of copies of a large, blue book with the title written in silver letters. Fantastic Jack Frost: The Story of My Life. They were inside the library of Jack Frost’s Ice Castle!

  The girls and Lydia were standing between two rows of bookshelves. Before they could say a word, they saw Jack Frost striding across the front of the library. A crowd of goblin students was sitting on the carpet in front of him.

  “Hide!” said Kirsty with a gasp.

  They fluttered over to hide behind a bookshelf at the back of the library, close to the door.

  “I thought Jack Frost said that the goblins weren’t paying attention,” Rachel whispered. “They all look very well-behaved to me.”

  “There’s a good reason for that,” said Lydia, looking serious. “Look at what he’s wearing on his robe.”

  The girls peered through the shelves and saw Lydia’s magical badge glittering on Jack Frost’s robe.

  “That’s why the goblins are being so good,” said Kirsty.

  They watched as Jack opened a copy of his book and started to read.

  “Chapter one,” he began. “The fairies have always caused trouble for me, and their silly sense of right and wrong is always getting in my way. One day, I decided that enough was enough. My brilliant brain instantly thought of a fantastic plan to stop them, once and for all!”

  Jack Frost was a very boring reader. He didn’t change the tone of his voice at all—he just droned on and on. The girls were soon yawning, but the goblins kept listening as if the story was the most wonderful thing that they had ever heard.

  “We have to do something to stop him before we all fall asleep,” said Lydia. “We need to get the badge back—but how?”

  Rachel looked around and saw a bell hanging on a hook by the library door. She tapped Kirsty on the shoulder and pointed at the bell.

  “Jack Frost must ring that bell as the signal for break time,” she said. “We’d have a much better chance of getting the badge back from him if the goblins were playing outside. But first, Kirsty and I need to look like goblins.”

  Lydia held up her wand.

  “Let my spell hide both these faces,

  Cast away all human graces.

  Disguise my friends as goblins green,

  And let no fairy wings be seen.”

  The girls felt a creeping, tickling feeling as their clothes were replaced with green goblin uniforms. Their noses and ears grew long and pointy, and their hair shrank away until they were bald.

  “Rachel, you look terrible!” said Kirsty with a giggle.

  “You, too!” said Rachel, giving her a hug. “I’m glad it’s only for a little while.”

  They made their way over to the library door, hoping that Jack Frost wouldn’t see them. Luckily he was still busy reading all about himself. They could hear his voice booming.

  “That was when I generously decided to give some goblins the chance to be my servants,” he declared. “I visited the goblin village and chose the least foolish and the least ugly of them all. They all kissed my hands in thanks.”

  “This is definitely not a good story,” said Rachel.

  She reached up and rang the bell as loudly as she could. At
the front of the library, Jack Frost jumped in surprise and stopped reading. The goblins scrambled to their feet, and there was a stampede for the door.

  “Let me out!” Kirsty heard one of them mutter.

  “Get me away from this horrible story,” whispered another.

  “I couldn’t stop listening,” said a third. “Something was forcing me to be good. It was awful.”

  They pushed and shoved one another aside, trying to reach the door first. Rachel and Kirsty had to run to get out of their way, but in the confusion they ran in the wrong direction—straight into the arms of Jack Frost!

  He pinched one of Kirsty’s goblin ears between his thumb and forefinger. He did the same to Rachel, frowning at them.

  “I saw what you two did!” he snapped. “You rang the recess bell too early! You interrupted the amazing story of my life! You’re going to be punished for that!”

  “We’re very sorry,” said Kirsty, trying to whimper like a real goblin. “Please don’t punish us!”

  But Jack Frost was furious, and he wouldn’t let go of their ears.

  “You will miss out on recess,” he said. “You will have to sit in my office and work. Come on!”

  Rachel and Kirsty exchanged a hopeful glance. Maybe this was their chance to get Lydia’s badge back!

  Pulling Rachel and Kirsty along by the ears, Jack Frost marched them out of the library and along a dim, damp hallway to his office. There was a brass sign on the door.

  By twisting her head around, Rachel could see that Lydia was hovering behind them in the shadows. Jack Frost kicked the door open and shoved the girls inside. Then he marched around to the chair behind his desk and sat down. Lydia just had time to slip inside the room before the door banged shut. Kirsty saw her hide behind a large potted plant. Above her was a very droopy cactus.