Welcome to ALADDIN QUIX!

  If you are looking for fast, fun-to-read stories with colorful characters, lots of kid-friendly humor, easy-to-follow action, entertaining story lines, and lively illustrations, then ALADDIN QUIX is for you!

  But wait, there’s more!

  If you’re also looking for stories with tables of contents; word lists; about-the-book questions; 64, 80, or 96 pages; short chapters; short paragraphs; and large fonts, then ALADDIN QUIX is definitely for you!

  ALADDIN QUIX: The next step between ready to reads and longer, more challenging chapter books, for readers five to eight years old.

  For Stella and Leni, two royal cousins

  —H. P.

  Cast of Characters

  Princess Mini: Royal fairy princess of Candy Kingdom

  Lady Cherry: Princess Mini’s teacher at Royal Fairy Academy

  Butterscotch: Princess Mini’s royal unicorn

  Princess Taffy: Princess Mini’s best friend

  Chipper: Princess Taffy’s royal unicorn

  Princess Lolli and Prince Scoop: Princess Mini’s parents, ruling royal fairies of Candy Kingdom

  Nutley: Royal stable fairy

  Lord Licorice: Music teacher at Royal Fairy Academy

  Wizard Raylan: Sugar Valley wizard

  BonBon: Princess Lolli’s unicorn

  Gobo: Troll living in Sugar Valley

  Prince Frosting and Princess Cupcake: Princess Mini’s twin cousins from Cake Kingdom

  Lemondrop: A royal unicorn

  Sugarpop: Prince Frosting’s unicorn

  Mocha: Princess Cupcake’s unicorn

  1 Red Horn Emergency

  “Princess Mini!” Lady Cherry called. “Don’t forget your unicorn ribbons!”

  It was the end of the school day at Royal Fairy Academy. I stopped at the classroom door and flew back to my teacher.

  “Thank you, Lady Cherry,” I said. During the day, my class made colorful licorice ribbons to decorate our unicorns’ manes. I couldn’t believe I forgot to take my ribbons!

  “I am sure Butterscotch’s mane will look beautiful tomorrow,” Lady Cherry said, smiling. “Have a good time at the Horn Parade!”

  “We will!” I said as I flew out the door. “See you at the parade!”

  Every year the unicorns in Sugar Valley are honored in the Horn Parade. For the first time, my friends and I were going to ride our unicorns in the parade. I was finally old enough!

  “Over here, Mini!” Princess Taffy called when I got to the schoolyard. She flew up onto her unicorn, Chipper. “I’ll race you!”

  Princess Taffy is my best friend, and we love racing our unicorns. We were in a hurry to get to my castle. I live in Candy Castle with my parents, Princess Lolli and Prince Scoop. They are the ruling royal fairies in Candy Kingdom.

  “Ready?” I asked. I slipped into Butterscotch’s saddle. “Go!” I called over my shoulder.

  Our unicorns flew over the gates of Royal Fairy Academy and followed Chocolate River to Candy Castle.

  “Come on, girl!” I whispered in Butterscotch’s ear.

  Butterscotch’s wide purple wings flapped hard, and we inched ahead of Taffy and Chipper.

  I could see the candy gardens and tall candy trees at Candy Castle. At the top of the castle, colorful flags waved in the wind.

  “Almost there!” I yelled.

  Chipper then caught up to Butterscotch. We landed on castle grounds at the same time.

  “A tie!” Taffy exclaimed as we landed.

  “Good race,” I said. I flew off Butterscotch’s back.

  I opened the paddock gate and let Butterscotch and Chipper in. “Come to the stables,” I told Taffy. “We can get them a snack.”

  “School felt so long today,” Taffy said as she followed me to the barn.

  “I know,” I said. “All I could think about was the parade tomorrow.”

  “Me too!” Taffy exclaimed. “Our unicorns are going to look supersweet.”

  “I’m so excited to decorate Butterscotch’s mane with the licorice ribbons,” I told her. We flew into the barn and took feed bags for our unicorns.

  “It took me a long time to get the colors right,” Taffy said. She filled the feed bag with sweet treats. “Chipper will love this candy snack!”

  When we returned to the paddock, Butterscotch didn’t fly over to me. Usually she knows she is getting a snack and comes right away.

  I saw Butterscotch’s wings were dragging on the ground.

  “Something is wrong,” I said to Taffy.

  Taffy was stroking Chipper’s neck. His wings were drooped too. “Maybe racing was a bad idea?” she asked.

  “Let’s get them inside the stable quickly,” I told her.

  We walked our unicorns over to the barn.

  Nutley greeted us. He is the royal stables fairy and takes care of the unicorns.

  “Hello, Princess Mini,” Nutley said. He took one look at Chipper and Butterscotch and flew into action.

  “Bring your unicorns inside,” Nutly told us. “Let’s give them some water.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  Butterscotch’s head was so low, her ears were touching the stable floor.

  My wings started to flutter fast. What was wrong with Chipper and Butterscotch?

  “Taffy!” I called. “Look at their horns!”

  Both of our unicorns had red horns!

  “What is going on?” I asked. Normally Butterscotch’s horn was a pale pink. Now it was as red as a strawberry!

  I said, “This is a red horn emergency!”

  I squeezed Taffy’s hand.

  She squeezed mine back.

  I was red-hot worried!

  2 The Wizard

  “I am going to send for the wizard,” Nutley said. “A red unicorn horn is never a good sign.”

  “I hope the wizard will know what to do,” Taffy said. She hugged Chipper’s neck.

  “He will,” I replied. I didn’t like seeing Butterscotch with a bright red horn. “Poor Butterscotch,” I whispered.

  “Here,” Nutley said, handing us blankets. “Try to keep them warm.”

  “We should sing a song,” I told Taffy. “Sometimes my mom sings to me when I am sick.”

  “That sounds like a great idea,” Taffy said. “Lord Licorice taught us that rainbow song in music class yesterday.”

  We sang out together:

  “I can sing a rainbow,

  I can sing a rainbow,

  red, orange,

  yellow, green,

  blue, indigo,

  and violet!”

  The song relaxed Butterscotch and Chipper. They closed their eyes.

  “Try to rest,” I whispered in Butterscotch’s ear.

  “Princess Mini!” Nutley called. “Wizard Raylan is here.”

  I turned to see the wizard in his purple robe with silver stars. He had a long white beard and light blue eyes. I met him once at the Candy Ball at the castle. He was a kind wizard who knew all about unicorns.

  “Hello, Princess Mini,” Raylan said. He tipped his tall purple hat. “Greetings, Princess Taffy.”

  “Thank you for coming so quickly,” I said.

  Raylan opened his black bag and took out his silver wand. He waved the wand over our unicorns. “Hmmm,” he said.

  “Do you know why their horns are red?” I asked.

  “We raced them home from school today,” Taffy said quickly. “I hope that didn’t make them sick.”

  Raylan shook his head. “No,” he said. “These unicorns ate something that made them sick.” He rubbed his hand up and down his long white beard. “To make them feel better, you must get them rainbow fruit chews.”

  “Rainbow fruit chews?” I asked. I had only been to Fruit Chew Meadow a couple of times. I didn’t remember seeing any rainbow chews.

  “We need to investigate what the unicorns ate,” Raylan said. “But first, let’s get them feeling well. Go to Fruit Chew Meadow and get rainbow chews.”

  “We can get the chews right now,” I told Raylan. I looked over at Nutley. “Would you please saddle up BonBon?”

  “Yes, of course,” Nutley said. BonBon was my mother’s unicorn, a large lavender unicorn with a dark purple and pink mane.

  “The rainbow chews will be in the back corner of the meadow,” Raylan told us. He waved his hand, and a scroll appeared. “Here is a map of the meadow,” he said. “There are six bushes. Be careful when you pick the rainbow chews because the bushes have thorns.”

  Taffy and I nodded.

  “Give two rainbow chews to each unicorn, and send me a sugar fly message when you return,” the wizard said.

  A sugar fly landed on Raylan’s shoulder. He read the note, and his face formed a frown. “Another unicorn has a red horn,” he said. He shook his head slowly. “All on the day before the Horn Parade.”

  “Oh no!” I said.

  Raylan put his wand back in his bag. He pet Butterscotch. “Your unicorns should be feeling better as soon as they eat the chews.” He tipped his hat. “I hope,” he added.

  “Thank you, Raylan,” I said.

  “Give my best to your parents, Princess Mini,” he said. He flew out the stables, and in a poof of smoke he was gone.

  Nutley appeared with BonBon and her royal saddle.

  “We have to hurry,” I said to Taffy. We flew up to BonBon’s back. “Let’s go!”

  Leaving Butterscotch was hard, but I had to get the rainbow chews. There was no time to waste!

  3 Rainbow Chews

& nbsp; When we got to Fruit Chew Meadow, I took out Raylan’s map from my pocket. Taffy and I were standing in front of two tall cherry chew trees, and I found the trees on the map.

  “Let’s fly this way,” I said, pointing to the left. I traced my finger along the map. “If we follow this path, we will reach the rainbow chew bushes,” I added.

  “I didn’t know this meadow was so big,” Taffy said. “There are so many fruit chew bushes and trees. I hope we don’t get lost!”

  All the bushes and trees were different colors with matching leaves and little chews on the branches. I wanted to try some of the chews, but I knew we had to hurry back to help our unicorns.

  I held up the map when we reached an orange bush. “I see the orange bush here,” I said. I put my finger on the map and looked to the right. “The rainbow chew bushes should be over there.”

  “I see them!” Taffy exclaimed.

  I flew up to a branch and carefully pulled off one of the round and striped treats. I saw the sharp thorns Raylan had warned us about.

  “Sugar-tastic!” I exclaimed.

  “I bet these chews taste as good as they look,” Taffy said. She flew next to me with a basket.

  “I hope this makes Butterscotch and Chipper feel better,” I said. I dropped the chews into the basket.

  We picked a basketful of chews and flew back to BonBon.

  “Hey, Mini!”

  I heard my name being called from a green-and-yellow fruit chew bush. I looked over and saw my troll friend Gobo crawling out to say hello.

  Gobo lives in Chocolate Woods and is my good friend. I was so surprised to see him in Fruit Chew Meadow.

  “Gobo! What are you doing here?” I asked.

  4 Red-Hot Mess

  “I am meeting Prince Frosting and Princess Cupcake,” Gobo answered.

  Just then Frosting landed Lemondrop next to the rainbow fruit chew bushes. His twin sister, Cupcake, was sitting behind him.

  “Is everyone searching for rainbow fruit chews?” Frosting asked.

  My twin cousins went to Royal Fairy Academy with Taffy and me. We were all in the same class.

  “Do your unicorns have red horns too?” Cupcake asked.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Sugarpop and Mocha had red horns when we got home from school,” Frosting told us. “Raylan came right after seeing you!”

  Cupcake looked like she was going to cry.

  “Only he didn’t give us a map of the meadow,” Cupcake whined. Cupcake put her hands on her hips. “He said he gave you one. We thought Gobo might know where the rainbow chews are,” she added.

  “I do!” Gobo said. He waved his hand in front of the six colorful rainbow chew bushes. “See?”

  Cupcake rolled her eyes. “Well, thanks,” she said. “I can see that now.” She flew over to pick a bunch of chews.

  “What do you think made our unicorns sick?” I asked.

  Gobo tapped his finger on his chin, thinking. “All your unicorns were in Chocolate Woods yesterday,” he said.

  “That’s right,” Frosting said. “We met there after school.”

  “Maybe they ate something there?” I asked.

  “What a red-hot mess,” Taffy said, sighing.

  “We should go look in Chocolate Woods,” Gobo said.

  “Good idea, Gobo,” I told him. “We will get these rainbow chews to our unicorns and then meet at Chocolate Woods.”

  “What about tomorrow’s parade?” Cupcake asked. “Do you think our unicorns will be better by then?” She dropped a bunch of chews into her basket. “I knew I shouldn’t have met you in Chocolate Woods yesterday.”

  “Cupcake!” Frosting snapped. “You begged to come for the caramel chocolate treats.”

  “Well, I didn’t think Mocha would get sick,” she said, pouting.

  “We don’t know if anything in Chocolate Woods made them sick,” I said.

  “I sure hope these chews work fast,” Cupcake said. “It would be super sour not to fly in our first Horn Parade.”

  Taffy gave Cupcake a stern look. “We all hope our unicorns will be better by tomorrow,” she said.

  “They will be,” I said. I held my fingers behind my back tightly crossed, wishing it to be true.

  5 Chocolate Woods

  At the royal stables, Taffy and I found Butterscotch and Chipper lying on straw beds with blankets over them. Their horns were still bright red.

  “Oh, Butterscotch!” I cried.

  I flew over to her and gently petted her soft mane. “Here, Raylan says this will help you.”

  Taffy gave two rainbow chews to Chipper and kissed his neck.

  I couldn’t take my eyes off Butterscotch’s horn.

  “I can’t help but think we did something to make them sick,” Taffy said. She looked up at me with her eyes full of tears.

  “I was thinking the same thing,” I said.

  “Sometimes unicorns get sick,” Nutley said, flying into the stable. “Don’t worry. These chews should help your unicorns. They will get better. Now, finding what made them sick will help all the unicorns.”

  I stood up. Nutley was right. Maybe there were other unicorns who had red horns now too.

  “We are going to figure this out,” I said. “Nutley, please send a message to Raylan and let him know we gave the unicorns rainbow fruit chews. We will back as soon as we can.”

  “I will, Princess Mini,” Nutley said.

  Taffy and I flew BonBon to Chocolate Woods. Cupcake, Gobo, and Frosting were already there. They were searching the area where we ate yesterday.

  “We haven’t found anything strange,” Gobo said.

  “Not one clue,” Cupcake said.

  “Nothing looks suspicious,” Frosting added.

  My friends and I checked all the trees, bushes, and vines in Chocolate Woods. When we were finished, I sat down on a rock and put my head in my hands.

  “Maybe the unicorns didn’t eat something that made them sick,” Cupcake said.

  “Raylan was sure the unicorns ate something,” I replied. “Let’s keep looking.”

  A tiny sugar fly landed on my shoulder. The note was from Raylan! I quickly read the message.

  “Raylan says he has seen three other sick unicorns,” I told my friend.

  “Oh no!” Taffy cried.

  “Whose unicorns?” Frosting asked.

  I continued to read the note. “He says that the other unicorns belong to Prince Bean, Princess Pink, and Princess Gummy,” I said. “He still has other unicorns to see too.”

  “Sour cherries!” Cupcake exclaimed. “The Horn Parade will be canceled if all the unicorns are sick.”

  “We have to save all the unicorns,” I said.

  “Wait a minute,” Cupcake said. “Those Candy Fairies were not in Chocolate Woods yesterday.”

  Gobo looked around. “So nothing here would have made your unicorns sick.”

  “But all those Candy Fairies were at Royal Fairy Academy yesterday. We all were!” I said.

  Frosting snapped his fingers. “The courtyard!” he exclaimed. “We should go there now.”

  “Gobo,” I called. “Come fly with us on BonBon.”

  “Let’s go,” Frosting said, flying onto Lemondrop with Cupcake close behind. “We need to get to Royal Fairy Academy fast.”

  6 Flower Lessons

  We left BonBon with Lemondrop outside the front gate of school. “Don’t eat anything!” I told both unicorns.

  I had never been to school after all the students and teachers were gone. I wasn’t used to the schoolyard being empty—and so quiet!

  “What are we looking for?” Taffy asked.

  “I guess something a unicorn would eat that looks dangerous,” I said.

  Gobo walked around the yard. “If you were a unicorn, what would you do here?”

  Frosting leaped up in the air and flapped his wings. “I would race around the yard!”

  “I would smell the flowers,” Taffy said, smiling. She pointed to the row of flowers in the back of the yard.

  Cupcake twirled her finger around her long blond hair. “I would drink the water from the rainbow fountain,” she said. She flew over to the center of the yard where a large fountain sprayed rainbow water from the top.

 

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