Free Lulu Bell and the Fairy Penguin by Belinda Murrell

Chapter 1
Pickles
    It was Tuesday morning and the Bell family was getting ready for school. Lulu Bell looked closely at the tortoiseshell cat by her feet.
    â€˜Pickles is looking very round,’ said Lulu. ‘I think she might pop!’
    â€˜That’s because she’s going to have kittens any day now,’ said Mum.
    Pickles stared at Lulu and meowed. She wanted more breakfast. Lulu strokedPickles and rubbed her plump tummy.

    Mum was making chicken-and-lettuce sandwiches. She dropped a chunk of chicken in the bowl for Pickles to gobble up.
    Lulu’s little sister Rosie was sitting on a stool at the bench. ‘I wonder how many kittens Pickles will have?’ she asked. ‘Maybe she’ll have twenty!’
    Mum laughed. ‘Dad thinks maybe four or five,’ she replied. ‘If Pickles were having twenty, she really would pop!’
    Lulu’s dad was a vet, and the family lived in the rambling house behind Shelly Beach Veterinary Hospital.
    Lulu went to the pantry to get outsome cereal for breakfast. The box felt very heavy. When Lulu shook it over her bowl, a pile of plastic action figures fell out.
    â€˜Oh no,’ wailed Lulu. She checked inside the box. ‘There’s no cereal left.’
    The kitchen door flew open and in darted a big brown dog. She was chased by a tiny superhero. A pair of bright brown eyes peered out from behind the hero’s black mask. He wore a cheeky grin.
    Lulu glared at her brother. ‘Gus, did you eat all the cereal?’ she asked. She waved the empty box and the handful of toys.
    The grin disappeared and Gus shook his head. He pointed at the big dog beside him.
    â€˜Jessie did,’ said Gus.

    Lulu wrinkled her nose. ‘How did Jessie get the cereal?’
    Jessie slunk away and hid under the table. Her ears drooped.
    â€˜Jessie naughty,’ said Gus. He stuck his thumb in his mouth.
    â€˜Do you mean you fed her the cereal, Gus?’ asked Lulu.
    Gus zoomed off, his antennae bobbing.
    Mum smiled at Lulu. ‘Never mind, honey bun,’ Mum said. ‘I’ll make yousome toast for breakfast. Rosie, why don’t you read your home reader out loud to us while the bread toasts?’
    While Rosie read from her homework book, Lulu worked on her latest drawing. She was making a book of flower fairy drawings. She had finished Fairy Rose and Fairy Daisy, and was now working on Fairy Lily.
    â€˜Lovely reading, Rosie. You are doing so well.’
    Rosie glowed with pride at her mother’s praise.
    Mum brought the toast to the bench and buttered it.
    â€˜How’s the drawing coming along, Lulu?’ said Mum. She peered at the drawing upside down from the other side of the bench. ‘I think the rose is my favourite fairy. I love the colour you’veused for her ball gown – blush pink with a tinge of palest yellow.’
    Mum was an artist, so she always encouraged the girls to draw and paint. Gus rarely sat still long enough to draw.
    â€˜Thanks, Mum,’ replied Lulu. She compared the three drawings. ‘I don’t know whether to make the Fairy Lily’s skirt white or pink.’
    â€˜Why not orange?’ suggested Mum. ‘The colour of a tiger lily?’

    Lulu picked out a bright orange pencil and looked at it closely. Mum was right. The orange was perfect. She carefully began to colour the skirt.
    Lulu thought about school. Yesterday Miss Baxter had hinted that she had a surprise announcement for the class. She had warned them that she needed lots of good arty ideas today. Lulu loved doing art. And she especially loved surprises. What could the surprise possibly be?

Chapter 2
Down the Hill
    While the girls munched their toast, Mum peeled two oranges. She cut up the fruit and put it in plastic snack containers.
    The girls packed their lunches and homework into their schoolbags. They found their hats and were ready at last.
    Lulu’s best friend Molly was waiting out the front with her