StoryBeam KidsThe Reading Nook

The Reading Nook

Every picture from the StoryBeam Originals

140 illustrations from 28 books, drawn for the stories a kid asked for. Each one links back to the book it belongs to, and every book is free to read with no account.

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Allison, Enzo, and the Long Loop

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — Allison, Enzo, and the Long Loop

Allison, Uncle, and Aunt lean over a trail map on the kitchen table while Enzo presses his nose onto the paper.

The family turns cheerfully from a closed footbridge toward the longer loop trail, Enzo trotting on his leash.

Enzo sits firmly planted beside a water bowl while Allison, Uncle, and Aunt rest on a fallen log with water bottles.

Uncle holds the open map while Allison points to a blue trail marker on a post beside the path. Aunt stands beside her holding Enzo's leash, and Enzo sits at the end of it. The marker's shape matches the one drawn on the map.

Enzo sleeps stretched across the back seat with his nose resting on Allison's boot, and Allison sits beside him with her eyes closed. Up front Uncle drives and Aunt rides beside him, facing a low sun going down over the hills. The trail map lies on the seat next to Allison.

Allison and Nonna's Warm-Water Day

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — Allison and Nonna's Warm-Water Day

Nonna sits in a chair in the shade beside the pool, both feet bare and one leg dipped in the water, a coral sandal on the tiles next to her. Allison floats on her back nearby with her arms spread wide, hair fanned across the surface, smiling.

An overhead view of the front of Allison's crayon drawing: a simple golden sun, layers of wavy blue-green water, and one smiling swimmer.

Allison kneels on the sunny pool deck with both hands on the top towel of a neat stack of folded towels. Behind her a soft robe is draped over a wooden chair, with a glass jug of water and one glass on a small round table beside it.

Nonna steps confidently down the pool steps, smiling with her chin up and one hand on the rail, while Mom clasps her other hand and lightly steadies her arm; Allison reaches out from the shallow end.

Wrapped in warm towels at dusk, Nonna hugs Allison close beside the calm pool under a peach sky.

Bao Is Not Even a Tiny Bit Sleepy

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — Bao Is Not Even a Tiny Bit Sleepy

Bao the little panda has fallen fast asleep sitting up in the bamboo leaves, a bamboo stalk still at his mouth and his orange nightcap crooked, while his big sister Mei chews her supper and glances at him.

Under a plum dusk sky Bao tips stiffly sideways, fast asleep on his feet, toward a soft pile of bamboo leaves, while Mei watches calmly and the owl looks down from a pine branch with one eye open.

The owl stares down from his leafy branch with both big yellow eyes open, and Bao looks up at him with his mouth wide open in surprise, Mei beside him, a pale glow rising behind the mountain.

Under a round moon Bao snuggles against Mei, who is fast asleep, and peers at one tiny glowing firefly on the tip of his nose, while more fireflies rise from the bamboo and the owl watches with one eye open.

Bao and Mei sleep leaning on each other in the bamboo, smiling, Bao's nightcap flopped over to one side, while fireflies glow all around and the owl keeps watch from a pine branch against the moon.

The Frost Before Breakfast

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — The Frost Before Breakfast

Mom stands alone on the dark grass under a sky full of sharp stars, arms folded and face lifted to read the weather, while Allison watches in her pajamas from a warm lit window beside the glowing porch light.

The whole back yard is silvered with the year's first frost as Allison steps out onto the sparkling grass in her coat and mittens, dark green footprints trailing behind her, Mom watching from the porch steps.

Allison and Mom crouch side by side at the fence in the first gold light, Allison pointing at a spiderweb strung with rows of silver frost beads while Mom tucks a strand of hair back under her coral hat.

In the warm afternoon kitchen Allison holds up a small slab of ice with blades of grass frozen inside it, her other hand around a plain cup, Mom leaning in close beside her with an arm around her shoulders.

Allison stands in the year's first snowfall with her arms wide and her face turned up, catching flakes on her mittens, Mom close beside her looking up at the falling snow.

The Garden That Brought Friends Home

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — The Garden That Brought Friends Home

Allison crouches on a wide patch of bare dirt beside a closed wooden garden gate, smiling down at it. Mom stands next to her in a yellow sweater and cuffed jeans, hands in her pockets.

Allison kneels to press pebbles into a winding path while Mom crouches beside a white picket fence, bending a leafy twig arch over a tiny arched wooden door. In front of the door, a round patch of bare dirt is left open.

Neighbors of many ages crowd in a ring around the tiny house, with Allison kneeling in the middle of them. An older woman in glasses settles a pinecone roof onto the little door, Mom holds out a pot of herbs, and somebody else holds a pebble above the stone path.

The same tiny house appears four times in one frame: leafy green in summer, under red and orange leaves in autumn, buried under snow in winter, and ringed with pink and purple flowers in spring. The wooden door, the twig arch, the pinecone roof, the potted plant, the stone path, and the round slice of log beside it stay the same in all four.

Golden evening light in the garden. Allison stands at the garden gate beside Mom, looking up at her, while behind them a woman and a man laugh together under a lit porch lantern, and the tiny wooden door sits at the foot of the fence at the end of its stone path.

Hippo Is Very Good at Hiding

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — Hippo Is Very Good at Hiding

Hippo crouches behind a single red tulip with her eyes squeezed shut, the little flower covering only a sliver of her muzzle, while Peep the little yellow bird points at her, delighted.

Hippo hides behind tiny Peep, the whole of her big grey body in plain sight around the little yellow bird on a bent reed, eyes shut tight and very pleased with herself, while Peep looks back at her.

Four round grey rocks sit in a row on the grassy bank of a pond, and only two tiny ears on top and a scrap of pink at the bottom of the last one give Hippo away.

Peep rests her chin on her wing on top of the last grey rock in the row, and that rock has two small ears, a scrap of pink hat, and a tiny pleased smile.

Hippo stands in the meadow in her pink bobble hat, shading her eyes and peering hard to one side, while Peep sits on top of her hat with her wings over her beak, giggling.

Kip Is Going to Be First

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — Kip Is Going to Be First

Five penguins walk in single file along a snowy ledge above the sea, from Oona with her yellow crest at the front down to little Kip in his red scarf at the very back.

Kip zooms on his tummy around a big blue ice rock on a looping track in the snow, while the other four penguins stand together and watch him go.

The five penguins walk the other way up the snowy slope with the sea behind them, Kip in his red scarf now at the front and tall Oona calm at the very back.

Kip stops at the front of the line and looks back over his red scarf with a worried face, while the four penguins behind him call out with beaks wide open and flippers up.

Five penguins waddle happily in a circle on the snow, their footprints pressed into a ring, with the sea far off behind them.

Lumi and the Lantern Meadow

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — Lumi and the Lantern Meadow

Lumi, a small plum-purple paper unicorn, stands among closed moonflower buds as the moon rises over a pine ridge.

Pip, a field mouse in round spectacles, tips an acorn cup while Lumi pours a leaf-shaped watering can at the base of one tall moonflower plant with a closed white bud. Below the soil line, a cutaway shows the water darkening the earth around its pale roots.

Lumi sits still on a grassy rise, her horn unlit, looking out across the meadow. Beside her a green leaf tents a small snail, a tall stem arches at the right with two pale buds on it, and a short twig and loose grass strands lie nearby.

A brown moth rests on the first open moonflower, wide and white, its long tongue curled toward the center of the bloom. Lumi stands close behind it, watching, and two closed buds wait nearby.

Lumi lies curled asleep in the grass with a small ember of light at the tip of her horn, one closed bud on a stem beside her. Pip sleeps in his round woven grass satchel with his acorn cup on the ground beside it, and open white moonflowers glow across the dark meadow under a full moon.

Marlow Runs the Starlit Line

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — Marlow Runs the Starlit Line

Marlow, a small red and blue engine, stands on the rails at a night depot with three flat wagons in a line on the same track, each carrying a wooden crate marked with a sun, a trellis, and a silver leaf. Two hanging lamps light the platform wall, and a crescent moon hangs in the dark sky.

At night, Conductor Bea and a gardener in a green apron hold a wooden crate marked with a sun between them, heaped with dark seeds. A small lantern glows at their feet beside three raked planting rows and a matching sun sign on a post, and Marlow waits on the track behind them, headlamp lit, under a dark starry sky with a crescent moon.

Marlow waits at a red signal behind a white line on the track, with Bea watching from his cab. Beyond the closed striped barrier, three deer cross under a crescent moon: a doe, a spotted fawn, and an antlered buck.

Marlow moves along the track through thick layers of gray fog over wooded hills, his headlamp throwing a pale beam ahead of him. Bea leans out of the cab window with one hand cupped to her ear, and a bell on a post and a striped marker show through the mist beside the track.

In the roundhouse, Conductor Bea stands beside Marlow and holds a black cable plugged into a socket on his cab while he rests on the track, his headlamp a small amber dot. Three framed windows on the wall behind them look out on a green hill, a row of bean trellises, and a stand of shady trees.

Moss Will Be Right There

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — Moss Will Be Right There

Moss the sloth hangs upside down from a mossy branch by his claws, smiling, his yellow cardigan hanging the wrong way, while Zip the hummingbird zooms around him in a looping trail.

Moss sits on a branch hugging empty air with his eyes closed, very proud of himself, while a pink berry drops away below him and Zip hovers beside him with her beak open.

At the very top of the tree Zip perches on a leafy twig beside a little nest among drooping red flowers, wide-eyed, as Moss's smiling face and one clawed hand come up over the leaves behind her, a leaf stuck on his head.

Moss lies on his back along a wide branch with one arm folded over his cardigan and Zip perched on his chest, both gazing up at big white clouds, one shaped like a fish.

In the soft morning light Moss lies on the same branch with a little red flower on his tummy and dew on his fur, smiling, as Zip zooms in toward him with her beak open.

Otto Can Hold Everything

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — Otto Can Hold Everything

Otto stands on the sandy reef floor in his teal beanie, smiling with eight empty arms spread apart: two raised, two reaching sideways, and four curling down toward the sand.

Otto stretches three arms up high with a little pink shrimp on the tip of each, a whale gliding far off above them, while his other arms hold a shell, a seaweed hat, a ball of wool, and the end of a scarf, and one arm curls empty.

Otto stares wide-eyed with all eight arms full, one thing in each: a shell, a seaweed hat, a ball of wool, the end of a scarf, a pearl, and three shrimp. A small pink seahorse floats below him looking up, and the crab, the pufferfish, the turtle, and the open clam watch from the sand.

Otto hugs Tilly the little pink seahorse close, his eyes closed in a big soft smile, all eight arms curled in around her from both sides while her tail hangs loose below the hug.

Otto hugs everybody at once, his eight arms wrapped round the turtle, the crab, the pufferfish puffed up round, the three shrimp, and the clam, with Tilly snug in the middle, all of them smiling with their eyes closed, while the seaweed hat floats away above.

Papa's Quietest Beat

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — Papa's Quietest Beat

In warm lamplight, Papa sits cross-legged on a round rug with one hand resting on a small plain hand drum. Allison kneels beside the drum, smiling, both hands raised and ready to play.

Papa and Allison sit cross-legged on a woven rug with the plain hand drum between them. His palm hovers just over the drumhead while her hand rests flat on it, and rings of coral and blue ripple out between their hands.

Allison leans over the drum on both knees, her hands blurred with speed on the drumhead and her hair flying. Papa sits beside her without hurrying, one hand steady on the far edge of the drum, while loose coral and blue rings scatter through the air above them.

Allison sits cross-legged with her hands folded in her lap, looking up at Papa, who rests one hand on the drum and holds the other just above it. Rain streaks the window behind her, and wide rings spread out from the drum across the floor.

Allison lies asleep and smiling in cream pajamas, both hands resting on her chest over a soft pulse ring. Above her, a faint dreamlike picture shows Papa's hands on the drum.

The Crown That Was Too Big

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — The Crown That Was Too Big

The King's big gold crown slips down over Allison's eyes as she laughs with her arms out, and the King reaches to rescue it.

Allison sits cross-legged over a long paper map with her eyes closed and one hand gently curled, a lantern glowing beside her.

The long table is bare except for Allison's map, unrolled and weighted flat with small grey stones. The King leans over it in his blue robe and gold crown, both hands on the table, his eyes down on the long ochre road line. Allison stands at the near end with her hands on the table edge, looking up at his face, and his plain wooden cup stands on the bare wood past the edge of the map.

A line of small coral ribbon bows recedes down the long road toward the harbor while Allison ties the last bow and the King stands back with the map and his cup.

Allison and the King walk hand in hand at dusk down the long road, now glowing with a receding line of gold lanterns above the sea.

La ficha que viaja

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — La ficha que viaja

Amanece sobre un puerto pequeño. Por un malecón de piedra baja caminan el Abuelo, con gorra plana, bigote gris, camisa de lino clara y las manos detrás de la espalda, y la princesa Allison a su lado, con corona, vestido verde azulado y botas ocre, mirándolo. Sobre el muro hay una fila de pelícanos grandes y serios. En el agua, un barco grande de cuento con tres mástiles y banderas de colores, y un pescador de gorro azul saluda desde su bote. Gaviotas en el cielo rosado.

Bajo un limonero cargado de limones, en un patio de baldosas de barro, la princesa Allison, de rodillas sobre su silla, cuenta con un dedo los puntos de una fila de fichas blancas de dominó y guarda dos fichas en la otra mano. Frente a ella, el Abuelo, sentado, se toca el bigote con una sonrisa paciente. Mac duerme con la cabeza apoyada en la caja de madera abierta, y el mar brilla al fondo.

De noche, bajo el limonero y un farol encendido, tres jugadores rodean la mesa de madera: el Abuelo, que se toca el bigote; Andreas, vestido de blanco y sonriente, con sus fichas en las manos; y la princesa Allison, con su corona, que sostiene sus fichas y sonríe. Entre ellos serpentea una fila de fichas blancas con puntos negros, y en el centro hay una jarra de chicha morada con un vaso. A un lado, el Rey, con su túnica azul y su corona, mira con una taza en la mano. La Abuela observa desde la puerta iluminada de la cocina con un plato, y Mac duerme debajo de la mesa.

Al amanecer, en el malecón, la princesa Allison, de pie sobre el muro bajo con un poncho a rayas sobre el vestido y la pulsera de soga en la muñeca, levanta un brazo y saluda a un barco de banderas que se aleja por la boca del puerto. El Rey, con su corona y su túnica azul, la sujeta por la cintura con las dos manos. Junto a ellos, el Abuelo, con gorra, saluda con las dos manos, y la Abuela, un paso atrás, sostiene un pañuelo. Gaviotas vuelan sobre el cielo rosado.

Por la mañana, en el patio, la princesa Allison cuenta con un dedo las fichas blancas de dominó extendidas boca arriba sobre la mesa vieja, junto a la caja de madera abierta. El Abuelo, de pie detrás de su silla, apoya una mano en el respaldo; el Rey, sentado a la mesa con una taza, la mira; y la Abuela sale de la puerta azul de la cocina con un plato. Mac descansa en la rama del limonero, encima del farol, y el mar asoma detrás.

The Forever Den

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — The Forever Den

A white unicorn with a small gold horn drinks from a shallow stream in a sunlit birch wood, water dripping from her muzzle, while Mac the young cougar rests in the long grass beside her and Princess Allison stands very still at the right with her hands clasped, watching.

The King saws a board across a trestle outside a half-built wooden den of bare pale timber, its roof beams still open to the sky, while Princess Allison holds the far end of the board steady; Mac lies in the grass, the unicorn watches from among the birches, and Allison's crayon plan lies on a stone in rainbow stripes.

Under a deep blue evening sky the finished den stands painted in rainbow plank stripes flecked with gold, its wide doorway open on a dark and completely empty inside; the unicorn lies folded in the grass outside, and Princess Allison sits thinking with her hand at her chin beside the crouching King, with Mac at the path's edge.

Inside the den, its rainbow plank walls flecked with small gold sparks, Princess Allison sits on a grey wool blanket with the unicorn folded beside her and one hand resting on her pale mane. Glass jars stand on a wooden shelf in the corner, a cushion leans against the wall, and Mac sleeps in a square of sunlight near the wide doorway, where clover trails over the doorframe. Beyond the doorway, four small visitors stand far off in the sunlit garden.

At night the rainbow den glows warm from within while the King holds up a lantern and Princess Allison, barefoot in cream pajamas, leans into the wide doorway to whisper goodnight; inside, the unicorn lies awake in the grey wool with Mac curled asleep against her.

The Friends Who Did Not Match

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — The Friends Who Did Not Match

Allison stands at the edge of the small clear spring in the evening light, bending down delighted to greet a tiny coral-pink axolotl, the King beside her, while the cougar walks the top of the wall beyond.

Allison and the King sit quietly at the far end of the old wall at dusk, a courteous stretch of stone between them and the great cougar, whose head is turned partway toward them in the lantern glow.

By lantern light at the spring, the King kneels to set a flat grey stone in place at the water's edge while Allison reaches up to tie her coral ribbon to the lantern post. The little axolotl swims in the clear water below, and the cougar rests on top of the wall above, head up and turned toward the work.

Allison and the King walk home hand in hand down the lantern road under the first stars, her rolled paper in her free hand. A coral ribbon is tied to the lit lantern post beside them, the cougar sits on the wall above, and the little axolotl smiles from the spring below.

The King's Day Off

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — The King's Day Off

The King's cup sits full, still, and without steam on the windowsill while Allison reaches toward it, concerned; beyond the window the King strides across the courtyard carrying a bench.

Allison sits at a small table by lantern light, delighted, drawing her plan: a chair shape, a wavy line, and a cup with three curls of steam.

The King sits under a teal blanket by the sunny window while Allison offers him a plain cup with both hands.

The King reclines under the willow with his eyes open and crown beside him while Allison sits nearby; the boat string rests loose in her open hand and the coral-sailed boat floats on the calm stream.

The King crouches to Allison's height at the warm doorway as she holds her rolled next-month plan; behind them the plain cup stands empty and clean on the sill in lantern light.

The Longest Royal Wait

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — The Longest Royal Wait

A small brown bird sits in a nest inside the unlit lantern. Allison and the King watch from a step back, his taper lowered, while the other lanterns glow along the road.

Allison sits cross-legged on her bedroom floor in her nightclothes, chin in one hand and an orange crayon in the other, over a big sheet of paper with one scribbled nest circle in the middle. A lit lantern stands on the floor beside her, and through the dark window a line of small gold lights shines across the water.

Allison draws on a small paper beside the unlit nest lantern with its coral bow and sitting bird. Farther down the road, the King lights another lantern.

Three baby birds with their mouths wide open crowd the nest inside the lantern glass while the brown mother bird stands on the rim above them. Allison beams up at them with one hand at her chest and a blank sheet of paper down at her side, and the King stands beside her with his lit taper raised against the sunset.

The whole lantern road glows harbor to gate with no gaps as Allison and the King walk home hand in hand past the newly relit bend lantern, its coral bow still on the post.

The Name She Drew

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — The Name She Drew

A girl in a teal dress with a coral sash and a small gold crown kneels up at a low wooden table, drawing with a blue crayon on a big sheet of paper. The paper already holds an orange stick figure with both arms up, rows of blue rain dots, and a creature with a wide green smiling face and a long looping mane scribbled in many colors. Rain falls past a tall stone window behind her and a lit lantern stands at the far corner of the table, with loose crayons scattered across the wood.

The girl walks a wet lane in a coral coat over her teal dress, holding a brown ledger flat against her chest, past rose bushes bent low with water. Beside her walks a taller figure in a wide brown rain hat and a long moss-green coat, the face hidden under the brim. At a small wooden stall on the right a woman in an apron tips a jug and pours golden honey into a row of filled jars. Long straight strokes of rain fall against a dark sky.

The girl stands in an open stone gateway in the rain, wearing a coral and ochre coat over her teal dress and her small gold crown. A man in a deep indigo robe over ochre, wearing a simple gold crown, has crouched all the way down to her eye level with one hand held open toward her. Ivy covers the walls on both sides and the wet ground shines.

Inside a wooden den with plank walls painted in muted rainbow stripes, the girl kneels on a grey wool floor and holds one hand out toward a cream-white unicorn with a small gold horn, which lies with its legs folded and its nose reaching toward her fingers. A tawny young cougar rests on the left. A striped cushion lies flat in the foreground. Through the wide doorway a figure in a broad hat stands out in the rain, and a lantern hangs from the roof beam.

Inside the den at night, a man in an indigo robe and gold crown sits on the floor with his hand resting on the girl's head. She holds up her drawing so it faces out: a wide green smiling face with a small gold horn and two purple ears, a pink oval body, four green legs, and a big looping mane scribbled in many colors, all in wobbling crayon. A woman in a green coat writes into an open ledger whose pages carry rows of small wobbling marks. The cream-white unicorn lies at the left with its nose down toward the drawing, a tawny cougar sleeps on the boards, and a lantern glows on the plank wall.

La olla que no se deja sola

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — La olla que no se deja sola

Al final de un camino de tierra, una casa blanca con la puerta azul y una mecedora en el corredor. La Abuela, con el pelo plateado recogido, vestido de flores, delantal y chaqueta ocre, espera en la puerta con los brazos abiertos. La princesa Allison corre hacia ella con los brazos extendidos, y el Rey, con su túnica azul y su corona, camina un paso detrás con dos bolsas de viaje. Mac descansa en una rama alta del limonero cargado de limones, con la cola colgando, y el mar asoma detrás.

En la cocina, con la ventana grande llena de mar, la princesa Allison está subida a un banquito y menea la olla con la cuchara de madera, con la lengua fuera de tanta concentración. La Abuela, muy cerca, le apoya una mano en el hombro y sostiene una raja de canela en la otra. Un rizo largo de cáscara de limón y un limón descansan sobre la mesa de madera, Mac mira desde la ventana y la llama del fogón es pequeña y azul. En la pared, junto al fogón, hay un azulejo con una flor azul.

La princesa Allison, subida a un banquito junto a la ventana abierta, sujeta todavía la cuchara de madera y mira sonriendo un velero pequeño y blanco en la boca del puerto. Detrás, la Abuela, tranquila, retira la olla del fuego con un trapo mientras un hilo fino de humo sube de ella. Mac, sentada en el suelo de baldosas, levanta la cabeza.

Al atardecer, junto a la puerta azul, Andreas, un marinero joven vestido de blanco con una bolsa de lona al hombro y la gorra en la mano, lleva a la princesa Allison sobre los hombros; ella se agarra a su pelo, encantada. La Abuela sonríe desde la puerta secándose las manos con un trapo, y en la repisa de la ventana de la cocina espera un platón de arroz con leche. Un farol de pared brilla y un limonero en maceta asoma a un lado.

Un dormitorio encalado de noche, con una ventana en arco abierta a un mar oscuro y a unas luces lejanas del puerto. La princesa Allison, en pijama de color crema y sin corona, sonríe con los ojos casi cerrados mientras la Abuela, sentada en el borde de la cama, le aparta el pelo de la frente. El Rey observa desde la puerta con los brazos cruzados y una sonrisa, y Mac duerme enroscada en un cuadrado pálido de luz de luna sobre el suelo.

Princess of the Month

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — Princess of the Month

Princess Allison sits at the breakfast table, smiling up at the Queen, who stands at the tall wooden dresser with both hands on a glass jar of honey and three gold keys at her sash. A round loaf waits on a plate in front of Allison, beside a clay jug and a bowl of fruit. A tall arched window is still deep blue with early morning, and a lantern burns overhead.

Princess Allison stands at the threshold of the gleaming training hall while Mac the young cougar sits calmly in the exact middle of the floor; beyond them one princess curtsies to an empty doorway, one pours tea by the cup shelves, one waits at the storeroom door, and Keeper Quill turns to welcome her.

Teacups lie scattered across the hall floor and a wooden tray leans tipped beside the long tea table, which is still set with cups. Princess Allison stands in the middle of the room holding a small brass bell, her face dismayed. Mac rests one heavy paw on a runaway cup, and three princesses lean in behind her, wide-eyed with their hands reaching toward the mess.

At the open great door a small princess in green arrives with her hair in a low bun while Petronella holds a deep curtsy with her chin lifted toward her, eyes up, and Princess Allison holds out the second cup with Mac sitting at her side.

The hall blazes with lanterns while the Queen, three gold keys at her sash, keeps an arm around Princess Allison, who wears the soft old award sash; one princess pours tea down the long table, another holds a deep curtsy, one carries lanterns, the small princess holds her cup, Keeper Quill stands on her step with the closed ledger, and Mac lounges on a bench.

The First Day of Princess School

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — The First Day of Princess School

Princess Allison sits at her small table in warm lantern light, chin in hand, her orange crayon paused over a mostly empty map, while the lantern road glows far off through the dark blue window.

The King crouches to Allison's height at the sunny school gate, her satchel tied with a coral ribbon, while Queen Marigold waits in a warm robe at the open gate behind them.

In a bright classroom Allison happily holds up her crayon drawing of a little boat with a coral sail, while a quiet girl with a long dark braid at the next desk turns toward it with a beginning smile.

Allison sits on the sunny lip of the courtyard fountain, a paper across her knees and an orange crayon in her hand, her satchel with its coral ribbon on the stone beside her. Maren, with the long dark braid, and curly-haired Juniper sit on the ground facing her, turned toward the drawing. Other children play across the bright courtyard behind them.

Allison and the King walk home hand in hand down the glowing lantern road at dusk, her map held against her chest and his cup in his free hand.

The Queen's Keys

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — The Queen's Keys

Princess Allison kneels on the garden path with her paper and orange crayon, looking up at a small ivy-curtained wooden door in the stone wall, its keyhole shaped like a tall flower, with the fountain and bean rows behind her.

Princess Allison holds up her drawn plan while the Queen, in her deep evergreen gown, sits on a stone garden bench reading it with full attention, her hands folded over the ring of gold keys in her lap.

Allison sits at a wooden desk redrawing her plan with an orange crayon, her gold crown set beside the paper and four season boxes drawn in green, gold, blue, and orange, while small pictures of the castle gate, the bakery hatch, and a bird house float above like thoughts.

Allison leans into the small brown door with one hand flat on the planks beside its iron lock, smiling as she pushes, while the King reaches above her to test the top hinge. The Queen stands a step back with a finger at her chin and three gold keys at her sash. A brass bell hangs on a hook beside the door, and a basket holding an oil can and a folded cloth waits in the leaves below.

At dusk the small brown door stands open with a coarse mat on its stone step and a lantern lit on the wall above. Allison stands between the King and the Queen and smiles up at the Queen, who reaches one finger toward the brass bell on its hook, three gold keys at her sash. The King holds his cup raised, and the lane runs off behind them between low hedges under the last orange light.

Room on the Map

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — Room on the Map

Princess Allison stands just inside a warm morning classroom with her satchel on, looking in surprise at a new desk, bare except for one blank sheet, beside a shelf of rolled maps.

Allison holds her big paper map open across the desk toward a dark haired boy in a green coat, seen from behind as he takes its far edge in both hands. Drawn on the paper are paths and buildings, a green courtyard, and a blue fountain with three small figures beside it.

In the lantern-lit map room, rain streaking the tall window, Allison asks her question at the big map table with one finger raised, other children crowding in behind her, while the maps teacher, seen from behind with spectacles pushed up into his wild grey hair, turns to her with a pen in one hand and the other resting on the map.

On the wet golden lip of the courtyard fountain after rain, Allison holds her orange crayon out to the new boy as he draws on the map in his lap, while two friends share bread and jam on the far lip.

Allison and the King walk home hand in hand down the lantern road at dusk after rain, a small cup and her rolled map together in her free hand and a second cup in his, with every puddle holding its own small light.

The King Who Crossed the Storm

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Cover — The King Who Crossed the Storm

Princess Allison stands in her pajamas at a tall arched window, one hand on the stone sill, watching rain slant across the dark blue night. Her small gold crown sits by itself on the sill, and a lit lantern stands on the floor by her bed.

Allison lies on her stomach drawing a crayon map by lantern light while the King watches warmly from the doorway with his cup.

Allison and the King cross wet courtyard stones at first light, her map in hand, steam trailing from his cup in the wind.

The King stands in the stream beside a fallen log, reaching for the little boat with its coral sail, while Allison directs from the bank, holding a plain cup with both hands.

The mended boat dries on the windowsill beside a lantern while Allison, tucked in bed, smiles at the King raising his cup in a goodnight toast at the door.

The Storm That Stayed Inside

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Cover — The Storm That Stayed Inside

Princess Allison sits on a low stone stair with her arms folded and her brows pulled down, scowling straight ahead. A snapped orange crayon in two pieces and a torn sheet of paper lie on the step beside her, and a cloudless blue sky fills the tall window across the room.

Allison stands with her arms crossed in a long bright hall, her face turned up and away. A few steps behind her the King waits with a small smile, holding his own cup in one hand and a second, smaller cup in the other.

Allison and the King sit side by side on the wide stone stair, both looking ahead rather than at each other. She is grinning, with her cup held in both hands. Her small cup has no steam while his adult coffee still steams.

In golden afternoon light Allison leans against the King's arm on the stair, holding the mended drawing with its bright coral patch on her knees.

Allison sleeps smiling beneath the mended drawing on her wall while the King stands at the window with his cup, the lantern road glowing under a clear indigo night.

The King Who Went Out Early

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Cover — The King Who Went Out Early

A girl in cream pajamas kneels on a window seat in a stone tower bedroom before sunrise, holding a small grey river stone in both hands and smiling out through a tall arched window; beyond the glass a lamp-lit gatehouse stands with its heavy wooden gate shut, above misty blue hills and a gold sunrise.

By lantern light on a wooden bedroom floor at night, Princess Allison in her teal overdress, coral sash and gold crown draws with an orange crayon on a sheet of cream paper: one arched gate shape in orange with a short stack of coloured strokes below and to the right of it. A stuffed rabbit sits in a basket beside her and a far lantern glows through the dark window.

In a sunlit cottage yard the King in his indigo robe and gold crown points up at a patched slate roof while a woman in an apron and coral headscarf looks up beside him. At the empty wooden cart a bearded man in a flat cap holds a dapple-grey horse by the bridle, and Princess Allison sits on the cart edge with a completely blank sheet of paper on her lap and her chin propped on one hand.

On a dark country road lit by a receding line of gold lanterns, Princess Allison lies back against a grey wool bale in the loaded cart with her gold crown set down beside her and a coral blanket over her, eyes closed and smiling, a page covered in coloured crayon marks resting on her chest. The King drives from the bench ahead, seen from behind, and the cart is full of flour sacks, an open barrel of salt, stacked slates and a keg.

At sunrise a heavy wooden gate stands open. Princess Allison, in her ochre coat over cream pajamas with no crown, keeps one hand on the iron latch and looks up smiling, while the King crouches to her height and places a small grey river stone into her open palm. His plain clay cup sits on the stone wall, and a cart with two horses waits on the misty road beyond.

Princess Sela and the Palace of Small Repairs

5 illustrations · Read the book

Cover — Princess Sela and the Palace of Small Repairs

Princess Sela stands alone on the long carpet of a quiet throne room, an empty throne on the step behind her. Rain runs down the tall arched windows, and a cream cat with dark ears watches from a window seat.

A drip falls from a damp patch on the kitchen ceiling toward an empty metal bowl on the counter. Ivo points up at the patch while Princess Sela holds her notebook open in both hands, and Nim sits on the floor between them.

Sela crouches at the foot of a wide stair and ties a rose ribbon between two green posts, closing off the step where a strip of purple carpet has lifted loose. Nim sits beside the ribbon with one white-tipped paw forward, and Ivo stands nearby holding a plain card in both hands.

Princess Sela sits cross-legged on a round rug with Nim and her marked-up notebook. Reminders from her list float around them: a drip falling into a bowl, an arched window, a door hinge, a wall hook beside a strip of purple curtain, and a torn page tucked into a folder.

The queen tucks Princess Sela beneath a warm quilt while Nim sleeps at the foot of the bed. The paper leaf crown rests on a shelf beside a closed book, and rain streaks the dark window.