The Secret Storybook

By Pranali

Four children, Katie, Arika, Ankit, and Deepak, are out to enjoy their Diwali break. Finding a cottage in a forest they never knew existed, they set out to clean it and make it their playhouse. But there they find a strange book with no words! Suddenly, Katie goes inside the book with the others right behind, and a wonderful adventure follows; they meet two siblings and their dog that have been locked in a house by their stepmom. The four children are all set to help the siblings though they have no idea how to come out of the book!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Aug 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781482801156

Pranali

A fourteen-year-old from Ahmedabad and winner of many prizes and a scholarship at state and national level, Pranali likes to study subjects like English, math, and science. Her hobbies include singing, writing, and reading, with favourites being the Hunger Games series and Harry Potter series. A few of her short stories and poems have been published in children’s magazines. You can visit her at Stories4TeensandPreteens.Blogspot.com.

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Copyright © 2013 Pranali. All rights reserved.

ISBN

978-1-4828-0147-7 (sc)

978-1-4828-0115-6 (e)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Partridge books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

Partridge India

Penguin Books India Pvt.Ltd

11, Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110017

India

www.partridgepublishing.com

Phone: [phone]

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Writing and publishing this book has not been an easy journey and I would like to thank all those who have helped me on this difficult path:

Heli Bhatt

Ms. Anisha Shishoo and Ms. Kinnari Dave

Saloni Nair

Deepa Nair ma’am

Jonali Patel ma’am

Manish sir and Vipin sir (from VASCSC)

Ms. Esther David

Ms. Huta Raval

Ms. Kairavi Hydrabadi

Just Read magazine

Navneet Newshouse

And of course, my loving and encouraging parents!

Thank You

Contents

The Cute Kittens

Vacations Start

Fun with Deepak

The Garden

Lost and Found

The Small House

The Story-Book

Rita and Rohit

The Escape

Rita and Rohit’s Father

A Happy Ending

The Cute Kittens

There once lived three children named Katie, Arika and Ankit. All the three children were very good friends and played with each other every day. The two girls were neighbours, while Ankit lived just across the street from the girls’ house and hence, it was easy for the three children to meet at each other’s house. They spent most of their time together; doing homework together, playing together, and sometimes having meals together.

Characters.psd

Katie was the fair one, with blonde hair. She had inherited her looks from her mother, who was European, though she lived in India. Katie wore spectacles and her short but healthy figure suited her colour. Arika was darker, being an Indian, with jet black hair and was tall and fat. She was often teased for this by her school friends, but Katie and Ankit liked her the way she was. Fat? Well, all the other girls are boring, much worse than fat! Katie often consoled Arika. As for Ankit, he was a handsome guy. Tall and athletic, he had dark curls and deep, grey eyes.

One day the three had gathered at Katie’s house to do their homework. "Why can’t ma’am give less Maths homework? She doesn’t have to do it. So why should we? Arika was going quite mad trying to complete her Maths homework. She had completed all her English, Sanskrit and Science homework in just half an hour. I’ll never complete Maths! she thought and sighed. Katie had already completed her Maths homework. For her, Maths was easy and fun. Only her Sanskrit was yet to be completed. According to her, Sanskrit had to be the most boring subject ever taught. It was nothing but mugging up. Who told you to complete your drawing in the Maths period while Ma’am was explaining all these sums. If you’d paid attention, you’d have completed your Maths homework in ten minutes, Katie told Arika. I had to! It had to be submitted!" said Arika indignantly.

While the two girls fought over their Maths homework, Ankit completed all his work and put away his books. He was a year older to the two and had more homework. But then, he was a straight-A student too, and studies were easy work for him. He yawned, stood up and pulled the curtains of Katie’s room’s windows apart and looked out. It was raining outside.

We won’t be able to play in the garden today! Ankit announced as he closed the curtains. Why? Arika and Katie cried out in unison, forgetting the Maths argument. They loved playing outside and hated the days when it wasn’t possible to go outside. They groaned when Ankit told them the reason. After they finished their homework, Ankit suggested that all of them read a book. The two girls readily agreed because reading books was the three’s favourite leisure activity. Books took them to adventures unknown and opened doors of places unexplored!

After a while Katie got tired of reading her book.