Beatrice More and the Perfect Party Read online

  Text copyright © 2019 Alison Hughes

  Illustrations copyright © 2019 Helen Flook

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Hughes, Alison, 1966–, author

  Beatrice More and the perfect party / Alison Hughes; illustrated by Helen Flook.

  (Orca echoes)

  Issued in print and electronic formats.

  ISBN 978-1-4598-1709-8 (softcover).—ISBN 978-1-4598-1710-4 (PDF).—ISBN 978-1-4598-1711-1 (EPUB)

  I. Flook, Helen, illustrator II. Title. III. Series: Orca echoes

  PS8615.U3165B42 2019 jC813'.6 C2018-904689-9

  C2018-904690-2

  Simultaneously published in Canada and the United States in 2019

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2018954110

  Summary: In this illustrated early chapter book, Beatrice plans a spectacular party for her little sister, inspite of her family's attempts to help.

  Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

  Cover artwork and interior illustrations by Helen Flook

  Edited by Liz Kemp

  Author photo by Barbara Heintzman

  ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS

  orcabook.com

  Printed and bound in Canada.

  22 21 20 19 • 4 3 2 1

  Orca Book Publishers is proud of the hard work our authors do and of the important stories they create. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it or did not check it out from a library provider, then the author has not received royalties for this book. The ebook you are reading is licensed for single use only and may not be copied, printed, resold or given away. If you are interested in using this book in a classroom setting, we have digital subscriptions that feature multi user, simultaneous access to our books that are easy for your students to read. For more information, please contact [email protected].

  http://ivaluecanadianstories.ca/

  For my children, for not caring that their parties were never perfect

  —AH

  Contents

  Chapter One: The Calendar

  Chapter Two: The Planners

  Chapter Three: The Research

  Chapter Four: The Guests

  Chapter Five: The Decorations

  Chapter Six: The Idea

  Chapter Seven: The Gift

  Chapter Eight: The Hiding Spot

  Chapter Nine: The Schedule

  Chapter Ten: The Big Day

  Chapter Eleven: The Party

  An Excerpt from “Beatrice More Moves In”

  Chapter One

  CHAPTER ONE

  The Calendar

  Beatrice was sitting at her desk, making a list. The list was called The List of Lists I Need to Make.

  She had a stack of paper and all her list-making supplies handy: a ruler (for underlining), a blue pen (for regular list items), a red pen (for special ones) and a stapler (because her lists often ran over many pages).

  She had already written:

  1. How to Deal with Possible Frustrations in Third Grade (e.g., gunky water fountains, classmates who chew with their mouths open, messy coat/boot areas, etc.)

  2. Things That Need to Be Organized (e.g., the spice cupboard, the front closet, my thoughts and dreams, etc.)

  3. Ways My Lazy Dog, Edison, Can Get More Exercise (e.g., fun games, use of whistles, any kind of treat, etc.)

  4. The Many, Many Ways I Need to Help My Little Sister Get Ready for Kindergarten (e.g., practicing reading and spelling, using a hairbrush, avoiding being weird, etc.)

  5. Important Things Happening in July and How to Prepare for Them

  Beatrice paused. Today was June 30. They had moved into their new house only two weeks earlier. It seemed like longer than that. She had already made two good friends in the neighborhood—Sue and Jill. Beatrice had gotten her family unpacked and organized the very first day they moved in. But she noticed that the house was slowly getting messy again.

  There was no getting around it—her family was simply never going to be as neat or as professional as she was.

  Beatrice looked around her room and smiled with relief. No mess here. Her room was perfectly tidy and organized.

  What is happening next month? she wondered. She reached for the calendar and flipped the page to July. Only one date, Saturday, July 14, was neatly circled twice in red pen.

  Beatrice was shocked.

  “Sophie’s birthday! How could I have forgotten? I usually start planning birthday parties months in advance! This move has put me off schedule.”

  Beatrice ran out of her room. There was no time to lose. She had to start planning this minute, this second! But where was Sophie? The planning had to be a secret. She wanted Sophie’s party to be a surprise.

  Beatrice tiptoed quietly across the hall to Sophie’s room and put her ear to the door. She heard Sophie talking to her favorite toy, Mrs. Cow, who was actually a crabby-looking doll, not a cow.

  “We gots to ride this stuffed frog because we got no horse, that’s why, Mrs. Cow!” Sophie explained. Then there was a huge crash. Beatrice jumped, then knocked at the door.

  “Sophie? Sophie? Are you okay?”

  “I’N OKAY, BEE!” Sophie yelled. “YOU CAN’T RIDE A FROG WITHOUT HIM BEING A SLIPPERY LITTLE SUCKER SOMETIMES, YOU KNOW! WANNA RIDE?”

  “Uh, maybe later,” said Beatrice. She ran downstairs to find her mother.

  CHAPTER TWO

  The Planners

  Beatrice found her mother in the kitchen, taking something burned out of the oven.

  “Hi, Bee,” she said cheerfully. “Want a square? They’re ready to go. A teensy bit overdone maybe. But I’m sure we could chip them out of the pan—”

  “Mom, we need to plan Sophie’s birthday party,” Beatrice exclaimed. “It’s in two weeks. Less than two weeks, if you don’t count today and you don’t count the actual day! Twelve days!”

  “Gosh,” said her mother, “you’re right!” She chipped at the squares. Small burned pieces flew into the air. Their dog, Edison, gobbled them up as they fell and then licked the floor just to make sure. His tail wagged at this fun game.

  “Anyway,” said Beatrice’s mother, “seeing as we don’t know many people yet, maybe we should just have a family party for Sophie. Something simple.”

  Beatrice took a deep breath. “Mom,” she said in a quiet voice, “Sophie is the best sister in the whole world. I have a long list that proves this!” She didn’t mention that Sophie was also on her list of People Who Make Me Feel Like Exploding, because everyone was on that. “She deserves a spectacular party, a perfect party!”

  “Well, who am I to argue with one of your lists?” Her mother smiled, but she looked a little worried. “What do you have in mind, Bee?”

  “I brought down a list I made several months ago. It’s called Fantastic Birthday Party Ideas.”

  “Uh, okay, let’s hear it,” said her mother.

  “Number one is Shuttle to the Moon. That would indeed be fantastic,” Beatrice said, “but it probably would take more than twelve days to arrange.”

  “Probably.”

  Beatrice ran her finger down the list.

  “Deep Sea Diving?”

&nb
sp; Her mom shook her head. “No sea around, Bee, deep or otherwise.”

  “Hmmm. So, I guess Luxury Cruise is out too?”

  “Let’s think a little bit smaller,” suggested her mom.

  “Hot Air Balloon Ride? Skydiving? Horse-Drawn Carriage? Private Circus? A Room Full of Puppies?”

  “Even smaller, Bee. You know Sophie. She likes little things. Simple things. She’ll be happy with a regular birthday party.” She saw Beatrice’s face and said quickly, “And by regular, I of course mean an extra-special birthday party, with all the usual birthday things.”

  “Well, obviously it’ll be a surprise party with decorations, cake, balloons, games and prizes, right? Right?”

  “Absolutely,” Beatrice’s mom said, looking relieved. “That sounds great. I’ll make one of my famous birthday cakes!” Her mother chipped more burned squares out of the pan.

  Beatrice opened her mouth, then closed it again. She swallowed. Her mother’s birthday cakes were famous—famous for being lumpy, burned messes. But she put a lot of love into baking them, and Beatrice felt a little sorry for her that they were never successful.

  “Excellent,” Beatrice said bravely. “Now we have to have a theme. You can’t have a party without a theme. What should it be? Magic? Cats? Soccer? And a color. We’ll have to get matching decorations in Sophie’s favorite color.”

  Beatrice paused. Her own favorite color was purple. Everyone knew that. But Sophie’s?

  “What’s Sophie’s favorite color, Mom?”

  “Hmmm. I’m not sure,” said her mother. “I don’t think she’s ever picked one.”

  “Everyone has a favorite color. I’ll find Sophie and do some research,” said Beatrice.

  There was a crash in the living room.

  Beatrice and her mom looked at each other.

  “Sophie?” called her mom.

  There was a loud thunk, thunk, thunk.

  “It’s okay, everboddy!” Sophie yelled. “That big crash wasn’t actually my body! Or even my head!”

  Beatrice closed her eyes.

  “Okay, I’ll go find out about her favorite color and what she wants for her birthday,” said Beatrice.

  “And I’ll look for a new cake recipe!” Beatrice and her mother high-fived.

  “Party planners on the job,” Beatrice said. Her mother winked.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The Research

  Beatrice found Sophie at the bottom of the stairs, stuffing toys back into a garbage bag.

  “I chucked my bag of toys down the stairs and it essploded,” she explained.

  “Exploded,” corrected Beatrice.

  “Ex-essploded,” said Sophie. “Good thing I thunked those down personally.” She pointed to another bag filled with books.

  Beatrice helped Sophie pick up toys.

  “Why do you always bring so much stuff with you, Sophie?” Beatrice asked. Her little sister always messed up every room she played in.

  Sophie shrugged. “Makes it cozy. I like my stuffies. And my books.”

  Beatrice remembered that she was supposed to be finding out Sophie’s favorite color and what she wanted for her birthday.

  “What toys do you like most of all?” she asked.

  “Oh, all kinds o’ stuff.”

  “But what kinds of stuff?”

  “Big stuff. And little teeny stuff. Also stuff in the middle of those.”

  “No, what I mean is, what is your very favorite thing to play with?” Beatrice was trying to be patient.

  “Mrs. Cow!” Sophie pointed to her crabby-looking baby doll. “Or Mr. Cow!” She hugged a ratty, worn yellow rabbit.

  “Yes, yes, we all know about the Cows (who aren’t cows at all). But how about something other than them?” said Beatrice, gritting her teeth.

  “Super-Pig?” suggested Sophie, pointing at the goldfish in the bowl, which she had named.

  Beatrice growled softly to herself.

  “He’s a fish, Sophie. A live fish.”

  “A fun fish!”

  Beatrice stared over at the sluggish goldfish, who swam slowly in circles around and around his bowl. She would never have described Super-Pig as fun.

  “I mean, what are your favorite kinds of toys. Building toys? Dolls? Crafts? Dress-up clothes? Stuffies? Models?”

  “Yup. Those kinds. Hey, Bee!” Sophie said with a delighted laugh. “Your eye’s doing that twitchy thing again. I love that twitchy little eye. Twitchy, twitchy, twitchums!”

  Beatrice put up her hand to calm her eye.

  “Let’s talk about colors, Sophie. You draw and color a lot. You must have a favorite color. Mine’s purple.”

  “Everboddy knows that, Bee.”

  “But what’s your favorite color?”

  Sophie rubbed up her fuzzy hair, thinking.

  “Rainbow,” she said finally.

  “Rrrrr, Sophie, rainbow is not a color!” Beatrice snapped. Then she remembered that Sophie was just little, and she took a deep breath. “A rainbow is a group of colors, Sophie! Seven colors. Here’s a sentence I use to remember the seven colors of the rainbow: Really Organized Young Girls are Brilliant, Imaginative and Very professional. See? Each letter stands for a color of the rainbow—Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo (which is a deep blue) and Violet. So out of all those colors, what one color in the rainbow is your very favorite?”

  Sophie tapped her chin with one finger and squinted her eyes.

  “Those are all my very favorite colors,” said Sophie. “Plus black.” She sat down in the middle of her mess of toys. “Hey, Bee, my sentence is going to be”—Sophie squinted her eyes—“Roosters cOck-a-doodle-doo Yelling Gorilla Babies In Velvety…blankets! Get it? That’s how roosters lullaby. Baby gorillas, at least.”

  “Good sentence, Sophie,” said Beatrice. This has not been successful at all, she thought.

  Sophie grabbed one of her books off the floor. “I love books. Books and little baby gorillas.”

  Beatrice left Sophie and went upstairs to her room. She wrote a list of Possible Presents for Sophie’s Perfect Party:

  Big, teeny and in-between-sized stuff

  Every toy Sophie already has (especially Mr. and Mrs. Cow)

  Any other toy in the world

  Another fish

  Something with every color of the rainbow

  A baby gorilla

  Books

  It was a weird list. Beatrice saw that right away. Still, she felt more professional having written it down on paper.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The Guests

  Beatrice, Jill and Sue walked to the park.

  “So here’s our mission,” Beatrice said. “We need to find kids to invite to Sophie’s birthday party. Any kids that are close to Sophie’s age. I printed up thirty invitations. Mom says Sophie plays with kids at the park, so we need to find them, tell them about the party and make them promise to come!”

  “Okay, Bee,” said Sue through a mouthful of apple. “Bunch of little kids. Party. We’re on it.”

  Beatrice scanned the playground, looking for small people. Scouting for possible party guests.

  “I see some!” she said. “Come on, let’s go!”

  Beatrice ran up to a little girl who was heading for the swings.

  “I got here first!” the little girl shrieked, grabbing the swing.

  “I wasn’t trying to take your swing, little girl,” said Beatrice. “I’m inviting you to a fun party!” She smiled at the girl’s mother. “Excuse me, but I was wondering if your little girl plays with my sister, Sophie. We’re new here.”

  “Sophie? No, I don’t—”

  “She’s super nice, and she can’t help her fuzzy, messy red hair,” Beatrice explained.

  “I’m sure she’s sweet—”

  “So will your daughter come to her birthday party? Saturday, July 14? Here’s an invitation, and here is my business card, just so you know we’re a very professional family.”

  “Uh…”

  “Gr
eat!” said Beatrice. “See you there!”

  “One guest already,” she said to Jill. Beatrice squeezed Jill’s arm excitedly.

  “Wow, that was quick!” said Jill. “I’ve been trying to catch up with this little guy. He’s fast, and now he thinks we’re playing tag.”

  A little boy in a blue soccer shirt raced past and tapped Jill on the arm. “You’re it!” he screamed and took off.

  “This is hard work,” Jill shouted over her shoulder. Beatrice was grateful for her speedy friend.

  “Bee!” Sue called. “Over here. I got one!” Sue was hauling a grinning little girl across the playground. The little girl waved.

  “Sue, maybe we better not actually pick them up,” said Beatrice.

  “Oh, it’s okay. This is Kayley. I babysit this squirmy little squirt and her brother. Kyle’s tearing around here somewhere. They live down the block.”

  “Hi, Kayley! Great job, Sue! Two more guests!”

  “Just letting you know that Kayley eats a lot—”

  “There’s going to be cake, right?” Kayley demanded. “Lots of cake?”

  “Oh, yes, a beautiful, big, perfectly baked cake,” Beatrice said. At least I hope that’s what it is, she thought.

  “And Kyle talks. A lot,” said Sue. “Here he comes now.”

  “Hey, why does Kayley get a ride, Sue?” a little boy with spiky hair said. “I want a ride. I want exactly as long a ride as Kayley got, and then maybe even a little bit more of a ride because I’m a little bit older and I should get—”

  Kayley started screaming in protest.

  Beatrice wondered if Sophie would actually want these two at her party. But a party needed guests, so she handed them each an invitation.

  Kyle and Kayley were giving her a headache, so she went and handed out invitations to all the parents standing around the playground.

  She noticed a quiet little girl playing by herself in the sand. Her brown hair was even messier than Sophie’s.

  Doesn’t anyone brush their hair? Beatrice wondered. The little girl hummed to herself as she shoved sand into a giant pile.