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Reading Beauty - (Empowering Books, Early Elementary Story Books, Stories For Kids

Lex loved to read but on her 15th birthday all the books in her bedroom disappeared. Her parents explained that years ago, an angry fairy cursed Lex so that on her 15th birthday she would fall into a death-like sleep from a paper cut that only true love's kiss could wake her from. Without books, the land grew dark. Lex decided to find the fairy to lift the curse. She used books to help her on the journey and outsmart the fairy's traps. When she confronted the fairy, Lex discovered the fairy couldn't read and was never invited to Lex's birthday party. Lex taught the fairy to read, lifting the curse. Books returned to the land and everyone lived happily ever after.

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Isabel
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510 views44 pages

Reading Beauty - (Empowering Books, Early Elementary Story Books, Stories For Kids

Lex loved to read but on her 15th birthday all the books in her bedroom disappeared. Her parents explained that years ago, an angry fairy cursed Lex so that on her 15th birthday she would fall into a death-like sleep from a paper cut that only true love's kiss could wake her from. Without books, the land grew dark. Lex decided to find the fairy to lift the curse. She used books to help her on the journey and outsmart the fairy's traps. When she confronted the fairy, Lex discovered the fairy couldn't read and was never invited to Lex's birthday party. Lex taught the fairy to read, lifting the curse. Books returned to the land and everyone lived happily ever after.

Uploaded by

Isabel
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Once upon a planetoid,

surrounded by book lovers,


a princess, Lex, read morning, noon ,
and night (beneath her covers).
Lex’s bedroom brimmed with books;
she read them at top speed.
She even trained her puppy, Prince,
to fetch her things to read.
But on her fifteenth birthday,
Lex awoke—her books were gone!
She raced to find her parents.
“Make them stop! What’s going on?”
They answered with a story:
“Long ago when you were small,
we held a celebration
and invited one and all.”
“But while the guests were toasting you,
we heard a muffled shout.
A fairy burst in, furious
that she had been left out.”
“How could you not invite me?
I must say, I’m rather miffed.”
“But wait! We did—”
“Be quiet! Let me give your
Lex a gift.”
“Like all you wretched readers,
Lex will live for reading—but!
When she’s fifteen, she’ll flip a page
and get a paper cut.”

“The paper cut will bring a curse:


a death-like sleep will take her.
She’ll stay that way forever—
only true love’s kiss will wake her!”
“That’s why we hid the books away,”
her mother said, dejected,
“for any book could cut you,
and you need to be protected.”
Without its books, their world grew bleak,
consumed by dark and gloom.
Lex watched the shadows spreading
from the windows in her room.

“It’s all my fault!” she said to Prince.


“I can’t let things get worse!
I’ll fly to find the fairy, then
I’ll make her break the curse.”
Prince’s nose picked up a scent.
“Good dog! Those books—I need them!
We’ll bring a bot to pack them up
and hold them while I read them.”
Lex started off with How to Fly
then How to Find a Fairy,
and stories gave her courage when
the trip got rough and scary.
Meanwhile, in her fairy lair,
the fairy shrieked, “It’s Lex!
She won’t get me—I’ll stop her with
the Thorny Hedges Hex.”
“A wall of thorns around her home!
Nice try, but she can’t hide.”
A garden book helped Lex cook up
a homemade herbicide.
The hedge dissolved to shriveled
bits, so Lex and Prince could land.
The fairy said, “That girl is doomed.
I’ve something special planned!”
“I’ll tempt her with the thing she loves:
a gorgeous, poisoned book
entitled How to Lift a Curse.
She’ll have to take a look!”

Zapzip!
A glowing book appeared.
Prince sniffed. “What’s this?” Lex said.
The fairy listened through the door.
“No sounds—she must be dead!”
Th e fairy inch ed ne a r sleeping Le x,
to ch eck her now -clos ed eye s,
But Lex sprang up and grabbed
her wand and said,
“Hello! Surprise!
I got quite good at faking sleep
when I was just a kid,
so I could read past bedtime.
Now,
about that
curse you did . . .”
“That curse will last forever!
You will never change my mind!”
Then Prince nudged Lex’s leg and barked.
Lex looked. “What did you find?”
“You were invited to my ball!
We thought this didn’t reach you!

Wait!
Can it be . . .
that you can’t read?
Don’t worry!
I will teach you!”
“Me? Read?”
In her excitement,
the poor fairy didn’t think.
She touched the book, she turned
ghost-white,
and crumpled in a blink.
“The fairy cursed herself!” cried Lex.
“We need to help her! Quick!”
Prince ran up and gave
the fairy’s face a sloppy lick.
The fairy slowly came to life.
“What happened? I’m not dead!”
“Oh, Prince loves everyone,” Lex shrugged.
She smiled and scratched his head.
So Lex came home, the books came back,
the land was filled with laughter,
the fairy found a job,
and all read happily
ever after.
To Katherine —D. U.
For Mom, and in memory of Ann —M. H.

Text copyright © 2019 by Deborah Underwood.


Illustrations copyright © 2019 by Meg Hunt.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission
from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN 978-1-4521-7129-6 (hardcover)


ISBN 978-1-4521-7133-3 (epub2)
ISBN 978-1-4521-7748-9 (epub3)
ISBN 978-1-4521-7747-2 (kindle)

Design by Jennifer Tolo Pierce.


Typeset in Sangli.
The illustrations in this book were rendered in brush and ink, pastel, marker, and graphite, and
colored digitally.

Chronicle books and gifts are available at special quantity discounts to corporations, professional
associations, literacy programs, and other organizations. For details and discount information,
please contact our premiums department at [email protected] or at 1-800-759-
0190.

Chronicle Books LLC


680 Second Street
San Francisco, California 94107

Chronicle Books—we see things differently. Become part of our community at


www.chroniclekids.com.
Deborah Underwood is the author of Interstellar Cinderella and
many other books for children. When she’s not writing, you might find her
singing in a chamber choir, playing a ukulele (very badly), walking
around in Golden Gate Park, baking vegan cookies, or petting any dogs,
cats, pigs, or turkeys that happen to be nearby. She lives in San Francisco.
Find out more about Deborah at www.deborahunderwoodbooks.com.

Meg Hunt is the illustrator of Interstellar Cinderella and a printmaker,


educator, and all-around maker of things. Ever since she was little, she’s
been fascinated by the wonders of the universe and adventures big and
small. She has worked for clients like Disney, DreamWorks Animation,
Cartoon Network, Scholastic, Storey Publishing, Oxford University Press,
and Plansponsor. Originally from a little seaside city in Connecticut, Meg
now lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

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