Mia the Mouse Read online

  “Well, I never!” Grandma said.

  “Archie didn’t believe her,” continued Mia. “But Clarissa explained that all caterpillars eat lots and lots and get bigger and bigger, and then they disappear for a while until they turn into butterflies. She thanked Archie for bringing her all those lovely snacks to eat when she had been a caterpillar.

  “‘You’ve helped me become the most beautiful butterfly in Misty Wood,’ she said. ‘I’ll be your best friend for ever and ever.’ Archie was so happy he forgot how tired he was and danced all the way around Moonshine Pond. The end!”

  “Oh, Mia!” said Grandma with a big smile. “I love a happy ending.”

  “Did I hear someone say ‘snacks’?” called Mia’s mom. She trotted up to Grandma’s bed, carrying the piece of bark. On top of it was a cake made from crunchy hazelnuts.

  Buzby and Buffy followed her, carrying acorns filled with blackberry juice. Mia’s dad came over, too, with some plump barleycorns he’d found while he was out collecting moss.

  And last of all came Barney, who was carrying Mia’s baby brothers and sisters in the basket so that they could join in the tea party.

  Everybody sat down around Grandma and began eating and drinking. Mia snuggled up with Grandma in her mossy bed, and nibbled some cake.

  “Look at all the things I found!” she said when she had finished her cake. “A bumblebee, blackberries, a basket, and a butterfly…”

  “I can think of something else beginning with B,” Grandma whispered when Mia got to the end of the list.

  “What?” asked Mia, looking around. She saw the grains of barley that her dad had brought.

  “Is it barleycorns, Grandma?”

  “They’re tasty, but no, that’s not what I meant,” Grandma said.

  Then Mia saw her four brothers and sisters sipping their blackberry juice. “Do you mean babies, Grandma?”

  Grandma laughed. “That’s a good guess! But no. You’ve brought so many wonderful things today, Mia—especially those beautiful buttercups. But the most special thing of all is that I feel better. You told me such a lovely story and made me such a beautiful cushion that I forgot all about my cold. It’s quite gone away! You’ve made me feel better, and that’s the best thing of all.”

  Mia looked at Grandma’s smiling face. Then she looked at her mom, who was showing Buzby and Buffy and Barney how to make a moss cushion. They weren’t very good at it, and everybody was laughing and giggling as they rolled the moss around. Then she looked at her dad, who was tickling the babies with the bluebird’s feather and making them laugh.

  Everybody was so happy.

  Perhaps I’m not so silly after all, Mia thought, and she cuddled up next to Grandma and helped herself to another piece of her mom’s delicious cake.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Lily Small is the author of the Fairy Animals of Misty Wood series. You can sign up for email updates here.

  How many Fairy Animals books have you collected?

  Chloe the Kitten

  Bella the Bunny

  Paddy the Puppy

  Mia the Mouse

  And there are more magical adventures coming very soon!

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Map of Misty Wood

  Chapter One

  A Good Little Mouse

  Chapter Two

  Don’t Forget …

  Chapter Three

  Searching Misty Wood!

  Chapter Four

  Follow the Song!

  Chapter Five

  Seeing Stars

  Chapter Six

  Two Happy Endings

  About the Author

  Also by Lily Small

  Copyright Page

  Text copyright © 2013 by Hothouse Fiction Ltd.

  Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Artful Doodlers Ltd.

  Cover illustration © John Francis

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  The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

  Small, Lily.

  Mia the mouse / Lily Small. — First American edition.

  pages cm. — (Fairy animals of Misty Wood; 4)

  “Originally published in Great Britain in 2013 by Egmont UK Limited.”

  Summary: Mia is in the middle of telling a story to her sick grandmother when her mother asks her to run an errand, but, distracted by what may come next in the story, all Mia can remember is that she is to fetch something that starts with “B.” Includes activities.

  ISBN 978-1-62779-144-1 (paperback) — ISBN 978-1-62779363-6 (e-book)

  [1. Fairies—Fiction. 2. Mice—Fiction. 3. Storytelling—Fiction. 4. Bees—Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ7.S6385Mi 2015 [Fic]—dc23 2014047285

  First American edition 2015

  eBook edition August 2015

  Originally published in Great Britain in 2013 by Egmont UK Limited.

  eISBN 9781627793636