Clara and the Magical Charms (11 page)

These directions can be used by fairies, gnomes, or children.

L
ook in your backyard or in a garden or a park or even a beach for stones.

Stones that are oval, round, or heart-shaped work best.

Try to find stones with a flat surface, as they are easiest to paint.

Take the stones home and scrub them in the sink. Make sure you ask a grown-up to help with this part as stones can be dirty and grimy and not everyone likes to have dirt and grime in their sinks. Once the stones are clean, let them dry completely. Be as patient as you can.

You can draw your designs on a piece of paper while you're waiting for your stones to dry. Or, if you're like Rowan, you can skip the drawing and just go straight to painting.

Find some fairy paint or, if you can't find that, use acrylic or tempera paint to decorate your stones. Acrylic is shinier, but tempera washes off easily. (So if you like to change your mind a lot, use tempera.)

You can decorate your stones with patterns or stripes. You can cover your stone with just one color. Or you can write messages on your stones. Here are Valentine's messages that could fit on a stone:

XOXO

BE MINE

U R CUTE

LUV U

Sometimes fairies write messages and leave them for children to find. Be on the lookout for fairy stones—someday there may be a message waiting for you.

Fairy Bell Sisters' Song

The Fairy Bell Sisters

Book 5

 

 

S
ylva was just about to head sadly back to the Bell fairy house with her one broken button and the cracked teacup when they caught sight of Queen Mab's attendant. Lady Courtney was flying slowly out of the palace, with something very large in her arms.

“Heigh-ho, here's Lady Courtney,” said Sylva.

“She'll probably tell us we're not allowed to touch anything,” said Poppy.

“Or that we need to curtsy before we approach the jumble pile.” They both giggled.

“I think she needs help,” said Sylva. “That's a huge crate she's carrying.”

The two fairies flew over to Lady Courtney, who was indeed struggling under the weight of a large crate, which looked very old.

“Sylva, Poppy, good afternoon to you,” said Lady Courtney.

“May we help you, Lady Courtney?” asked Sylva, using her best manners. “That looks awfully heavy.”

“It is heavy,” said Lady Courtney. She set the box down with a rattling thump. “Whew! These wings aren't getting any younger.”

“Probably a whole box of broken plates and cups,” whispered Sylva.

“Plus some dirty old pieces of string,” Poppy whispered back. She and Poppy giggled again.

“Are you two the only fairies here?” asked Lady Courtney. “I think you're in luck.”

Sylva and Poppy flew over to the crate. It had a latch on the front and opened quite easily. Inside was not a jumble of old rubbish that no one would want. Inside was something so marvelous that Sylva and Poppy could hardly believe it.

Photo by Betsy Morrell

MARGARET McNAMARA
is the Christopher Award–winning author of more than two dozen books for young readers, including the Robin Hill School series. The Fairy Bell Sisters series is inspired not only by her love of the classic sisterhood novel
Little Women
but by her own experiences growing up with older sisters (and a baby brother). Margaret and her family live in New York City, but they spend part of their summer on an island in Maine very much like Sheepskerry Island.

JULIA DENOS
has illustrated several children's books, including
Just Being Audrey, Grandma's Gloves, Dotty
, and
I Had a Favorite Dress
. She received her BFA in illustration from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. The oldest of five sisters (and a baby brother), Julia lives in Massachusetts. You can visit her online at www.juliadenos.com.

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Cover art © 2014 by Julia Denos

Cover design by Erin Fitzsimmons

Balzer + Bray is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

C
LARA AND THE MAGICAL CHARMS
. Text copyright © 2014 by Margaret McNamara. Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Julia Denos. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McNamara, Margaret.

Clara and the magical charms / Margaret McNamara ; illustrations by Julia Denos. — First edition.

pages cm. — (The fairy bell sisters) ; [#4]

Summary: “Clara Bell needs to use her powers when she and Rowan, a gnome visiting Sheepskerry Island for the Valentine's Games, are faced with very serious trouble” — Provided by publisher.

ISBN 978-0-06-222811-6 (hardcover bdg. : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-0-06-222810-9 (pbk bdg. : alk. paper)

EPub Edition November 2013 ISBN 9780062228123

[1. Fairies—Fiction. 2. Magic—Fiction. 3. Gnomes—Fiction. 4. Contests—Fiction. 5. Sisters—Fiction. 6. Valentine's Day—Fiction.] I. Denos, Julia, illustrator. II. Title.

13 14 15 16 17
CG/RRDH
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1