Books Can't Do That!

BOOKS CAN’T DO THAT!

“Ashley, go clean your room.”

“Argh! I hate cleaning my room!”

Ashley stomped into her room. Her mother was always telling her to clean up her bedroom. She liked her room exactly the way it was — messy. But, according to her mommy, her room was a disaster zone. Just because she was a kid her mom figured that she could boss Ashley around. When she was grown up, no one could tell her to what to do! She would have the messiest room in the world!

Her mom popped her head into Ashley’s room.

“Come on, sweetie, make your bed, put your clothes away, and clean up the floor.”

“But I like it this way.”

“Ash, your room is a disaster. I’d like you to clean it up.”

“Fine!”

Ashley stomped over to her bed and threw the covers up.

“Done!”

Ashley’s mom looked over at her, disappointment clouding her face.

“Is that the way that we make beds?”

Ashley looked at the bed. It was messy.

“No.”

“Okay, so how about this — I’ll help you make your bed, then you can do the rest?”

Not exactly what Ashley wanted, but okay. Some help was better than no help.

“Fine.”

Together Ashley and her mother made the bed. They picked up the pillows and stuffies and arranged them the way that Ashley liked.

"You’ll do the rest, right?”

“Right.”

“Then when you’re finished we can go to the library.”

“Deal!” said Ashley, a huge smile appearing on her face.  

She loved the library. It was her favourite place. They had a library at school but it wasn’t the same. She loved her big library. There were so many books. And so many things to do. She remembered when she was a little kid and her mom would take her to the circle reading group. The librarian would read books out loud to all the kids in the circle. And after, if they wanted, the kids could take turns reading pages from the book to the librarian. Not all the kids would read from the book — some we too little to read, and some kids didn’t like reading out lout. Her mom said Ashley could read to the circle because she was a very good reader. In fact, she had been reading since she was really little. Maybe even when she was four!

But now she was excited because they were going to go to the library, and she was much older now, and could pick out her own books. She knew that she could get up to five books, and she always got all five.

Ashley rushed around her room putting her clothes away, straightening her cupboard.  

“Done!” she hollered.

Her mom came into the room, this time a big smile on her face.

“Fantastic, Ash! Let’s get ready to go to the library.”

Because Ashley’s older brother was out with her dad, that meant that it was just Ashley and her mother. Even though her mother could sometimes be bossy, Ashley still liked spending time with her.  

It was cold and snowy out, so her mom decided that it would be best if they drove, even though it was only a short walk. But Ashley was glad that her mom chose the car. Ashley wanted to get to the library as soon as possible.

The main library was an old building, almost scary to her eight year-old self. But she had been in it enough to know that it wasn’t really scary, and besides she never went into to the dark corners of the adult book section, she always only went to look at the kid books.

She loved the children’s section. It was all light and colour. There were posters of all her favourite authors, characters, and book covers. She’d read almost all of them! She skipped ahead of her mom, and looked around, her eyes taking in the room. There was an aisle labelled “New Releases.” Ashley always went there first.

“When you’re finished, come find me, and we can check your books out,” said her mom.

Ashley was hardly paying attention, her eyes were looking at all the new books.  

“‘Kay.”

Her eyes skimmed along the shelves. She had read some of the books already, but there were still a lot of new ones she hadn't. She looked at the titles carefully, choosing the covers that interested her first, then reading the description of each book on the back. There was one book that really caught her interest — Middle School Magic. The back cover said that it was about a middle schooler who learned magic and was able to cast spells on his friends. That intrigued Ashley.

What if I could cast spells on my friends? Or Ranger?”

Ranger was Ashley’s older brother. He was usually okay for a boy, but sometimes he acted as if he could tell her what to do just because he was older. Ashley smiled. She could cast a spell and get him to do all her chores. That would be the best!

The book went into her library tote bag. 

She continued to explore the shelf. She grabbed two of the fun books — The Day My Fart Followed Me Home, and How to Babysit a Grandma. Her friend Jules had read both of them and said that they were hilarious.

Scanning … scanning … stop! The Secret Zoo. Plop, right into the bag.  

Two more books left. What to choose … what to choose … She wandered along the row. Then she stopped. Another new magic book — The Magic Misfits! She read the back cover and dropped the book into her tote. The bonus was that this book was part of a series of four books. Three more books for later! Yay!

Done! Five books.

Ashley left the children’s section, and looked for her mother. She found her scanning the shelves in the adult section.

“Mom! I’ve got my books!”

“That’s great, Ash. I’m still looking, so why don’t you go find a chair, and I’ll find you.”

She returned to the children’s section and plopped down into a beanbag chair and pulled the Fart book from her tote. In just a few minutes she was laughing out loud. A story about a fart! That was so funny. Her brother farted ALL the time! But in this book his fart wasn’t smelly. He was a dragon. Amazing!

Right then her mother appeared in the children’s section.

“Ready?” she said smiling.

“Yup!”

Ashley looked at her mom’s bag. There was only one book in it.

“How come you’ve only got one book? You can get five, you know.”

“I’m busy at home, and I don’t have a lot of time to read. So, instead of being greedy, I only took one book.”

“You could read with me, in my room, before I go to bed, if you want.”

Her mom smiled. “I’d love to!” she said. “Deal.”

They headed to the checkout desk. Ashley placed her books on the counter, and put her library card on top of the pile.

The librarian pulled Ashley’s selections towards her, and started checking them out.  

“These books look like a lot of fun,” said the librarian, smiling at Ashley. “I see there’s a lot of magic in them.”

Ashley nodded. “I like magic.”

“You have to be careful with magic books,” she said. “Sometimes the magic gets out.”

The librarian and Ashley’s mom smiled. Ashley’s eyes widened.

“Really?”

“Yes. You have to be very gentle with magic books.”

They finished checking out their books and headed home.

“Mom, is there really a lot of magic in my books?”

“No, Ash, I think the librarian was just kidding with you.”

“Do you believe in magic?” Ashley asked.

Her mom paused. “Hmmm. I think I’m more of a magical thinker, but I’m not sure I believe in magic like spells and the rest.”

“I believe in magic,” declared Ashley. “And dragons, and fairies, and elves. And Orcs, but I don’t like them.”

Ashley’s mom had been reading her The Hobbit.

“My friend Jules’s mom wouldn’t let her read anything about magic. She says magic is from the devil, and that magic makes the Baby Jesus cry. Her mom won’t let any books about magic into their house. Or witches. Or ghosts. I know she would never read The Hobbit to her.”

Ashley’s mom knew that if you tell a child they can’t do something, that only makes them want to do it more. Jules was on track to become the leader of the local coven, with her mom to thank for telling her no, no, no.

“Parents sometimes want to protect their kids, Ash. I guess her mom is worried that it is bad for her.”

“Yeah, but she lets her read books about farts!  Which is worse? Magic or farts? I say farts, cuz they stink.”

Her mom smiled, said nothing.

“Can Jules come over today?”

“Sure. Good thing your room’s clean.”

When they got home, Ash called Jules.

“Wanna come over and read books? I’ve got two magic books.”

Ashely hadn’t told her mom that she let Jules read her books about magic.  

When Jules arrived they ran upstairs to Ashley’s room. Ashley had taken the books out of her bag, and laid them on the bed.  

“Ohhhh!” said Jules. “Two magic books!”

Which one do you want to read?” asked Ashley.

“Umm, how about the The Magic Misfits?

“Cool. It’s part of a series!” said Ashley. “I’ll read the Middle School Magic.”

The girls each grabbed their books, and started to read. They were so engrossed that they didn’t even notice that is was time for Jules to go home. Jules left before dinner. Both girls had liked the books they were reading. Magic books were fun, especially for Ashley. They made plans for Jules to come over tomorrow afternoon so they could read some more.

Middle School Magic made Ashely think that it would be fun to be magical. All the things that she would be able to do. She would learn a freeze spell so that she could stop Tommy Higgins before he could tease her. With the invisible spell she could sneak up on her family and surprise them. And flying. Flying! It would be so cool to be able to soar over the land. And combine that with an invisible spell, and she could go anywhere she wanted!

She piled up her books and thumped them down on the table beside her bed, thinking about magic spells. 

If only they were real …

She headed down to dinner when her mother called her.

After a bit of television — it was the weekend, and she could stay up a little later — she headed up to get ready for bed. Her mom came up later, and they read a chapter of the The Hobbit.

“Do you think dragons are real?” Ashley asked her mom.

“Hmmm. I’m not sure. Every time we read a book or see a show and there are dragons, it’s always written in olden times. I don’t think they are here now. But maybe long ago and far away.”

Ashley laughed. Long ago and far away was her mother’s way of saying that dragons were make-believe.

“I guess,” said Ashley. “If they were real, we’d hear about them on the news. Like ‘Dragon burns up forest by mistake.”

They both laughed. 

“Time for sleep, sweetie.”

Her mom leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.

“Night mom. Can I read?”

“Okay, but only for fifteen minutes.”

“Thanks. Night!”

After her mom had gone back downstairs, Ashley grabbed the Middle School Magic book, and turned to the page where her bookmark was.

“What?” said Ashley looking at the page. 

Right in the middle of the page was what looked like a teeny tiny book. Ashley was sure it hadn’t been there when she had stopped reading this afternoon.

She examined the teeny tiny book. It was flat and looked like any picture in any book, except it hadn’t been there before. She turned the page, and the back of the book was in the middle of that page. Turning back to the first page she looked closely.

She couldn’t believe her eyes.

How to Babysit A Grandma — it was exactly like the book she had checked out yesterday, only really small.

Ashley was so confused. How could one of her books be in another book? That didn’t make sense. She tapped on the small book.

And right before her eyes, it got bigger and bigger, until it filled the whole page of Middle School Magic. It became a book within a book!

“Oh boy,” said Ashley, staring at the book.

She turned the page. It looked like the inside of How to Babysit A Grandma.

Ashley leaned over and grabbed the real book. She turned to the first page. And it was the same, except the grandma in the book was waving at Ashley. Like she was real. Ashley slammed the book shut and put it back in the pile.

She picked up Middle School Magic and tried what she did on the iPad to make something smaller, pulling her thumb and forefinger together — it worked! Then she tried to drag the book to the bottom of the page, but it stayed where it was.

Ashley looked through Middle School Magic and found all four of the other books trapped in it. 

“Oh dear.”

She checked the big copies of the books.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no!”

They were all … all what? She wondered. What was that word … enchanted! Yes, they were all enchanted. All the animals in The Secret Zoo, who were already magic, were roaming around the book. She leaned in, and she could hear them roaring and chirping. She shut the book quickly, and put Middle School Magic on top of it to keep the animals inside.  

Before she could even open The Day My Fart Followed Me Home completely, Fart’s little green claws were making their way out of the book.

Ashley leaned very close and said, “Fart, you have to stay in the book. You can’t come out!”

“Okay!” said Fart, who disappeared between the pages.

Ashley was worried about opening up The Magic Misfits. There was already a lot of magic in the book. What would happen with double magic? She decided to leave the book alone.

“Lights out!” her mom called.

Ashley was so startled that she knocked over the pile of books. A chorus of “Ow!” “Ouch!” “Careful!” leaked out of the books.  

“Quiet!” whispered Ashley. “My mom will hear you!”

“Sorry!”

Ashley put the pile of books on the floor, and put her school backpack on it. She didn’t want anything escaping and getting lost in her room.

The next morning Ashley tentatively picked up Middle School Magic, and peeked inside. Sure enough, the teeny tiny books were still inside. What could she do? She was pretty sure that her mom and dad would not be too happy about her having enchanted books in her room. They might even make Ashley stop reading magic books, like Jules’s mom.

She went down to breakfast, still not knowing what to do with the books. Then it came to her. She needed to go back to the library!

“Mom, can we go back to the library?”

“We were just there, yesterday,” her mom said.

“Ranger didn’t get any books. And I really like reading in the children’s section.”

Ranger perked up. “Yeah! I’d like to see if they have any more graphic novels.”

Ashley’s mom looked at Ashley’s dad.

“I’m supposed to the gym today,” said her mom.

“I’ll take them,” volunteered her father.

After the kitchen was cleaned up, and Ashley’s mom had headed out to the gym, they walked to the library. Ashley had put a giant rubber band around the books. She didn’t want any of the stories leaking out all over her tote. When they got there, Ranger dashed off to the young adult section, her dad headed to the sports section, and Ashley approached the checkout desk.

I was the same librarian! The same librarian who talked to her about magic. Ashley was so happy.  

“Hello,” said the librarian. “You were here yesterday, weren’t you.”

“Yes.”

“What can I do for you today?”

Silently, Ashley pulled out Middle School Magic, and handed it over the counter.

“Look on page twenty-four,” was all Ashley said.

The librarian took the book and flipped to page twenty-four.

“Oh, I see,” she said, flipping through the entire book.

She looked at Ashley.

“Are all your books trapped in here?”

Ashley nodded. “And the other books are … alive.”

“Hmmm,” said the librarian. “We’ll have to fix that.”

She stuck out her hand, and Ashley handed her the rest of the books bound in the elastic band.

“Clever!” said the librarian. “We don’t want to lose any characters.”

Ashley watched as the librarian smacked each of the books against Middle School Magic. Then she shook out all the books. Nothing fell out. Then she turned to page twenty-four in Middle School Magic.

“That should do it!”

She turned the book so that Ashley could look. The teeny tiny book was gone! Ashley took the book and looked at all the pages. No more teeny tiny books!

“How did you do that?” Ashley asked.

“Well, you must have banged the books together, and the magic in Middle School Magic stole all the other books and made them magic. It happens all the time. I just banged them back to normal.”

Ashley just nodded her head, and put all of her books back in her tote.

She looked up to the librarian.

“I knew magic was real!”