G’Nigel the Gnome
~
One sunny day, G’Nigel the Gnome was standing on the edge of
the patio where he always stood. He was feeling very tired and very grey.
G’Nigel wore a grey hat, a grey scarf, a grey shirt, a grey
waistcoat, a grey belt, grey trousers and grey Wellington boots. G’Nigel the Gnome
was so very grey.
Then, Nana brought the children out to play.
There were five children altogether: Two boys and three
girls.
The children were called: Daniel, Thomas, Bethany, Aimée and
Hannah. Nana called them her beautiful monsters!
All the children ran into the garden and onto the patio.
Nana told the children that her cats would give them some
magic to play with.
There were two cats.
One cat was called ‘Scrappy Doo’, and the other cat was named
‘Scooby Doo’.
Nana said, ‘Look after Granddad and my magic cats, children.
I’m going inside to make some cakes.’
Granddad decided to read his newspaper on the patio. He sat
down on his seat, placed his spectacles on the end of his nose, and soon fell
asleep with the newspaper across his face. Granddad was snoring.
The children ran around the garden laughing at Granddad snoring.
They looked for ‘Scrappy Doo’ and ‘Scooby Doo’ until they
found them.
With a curl of a tail and a whispered ‘Miaow’, Scrappy Doo
and Scooby Doo made ‘Magic’.
A sparkling ‘bubble’ appeared floating in the garden. It was
quite a big bubble and it floated in the air about three feet from the ground.
Of course, the bubble couldn’t be burst because it was a magic bubble.
‘Now, what shall we do?’ asked Daniel.
‘Let’s make G’Nigel happy,’ said Thomas.
‘Why do you call him ‘G’Nigel?’ asked Daniel.
‘Because he’s G’ G’ G’ Grey,’ laughed Thomas.
All the children joined in and laughed.
They all ran and touched G’Nigel, but nothing happened.
‘Watch me,’ said Bethany.
Bethany ran and touched the bubble with her fingers. The
bubble did not burst so Bethany ran and touched a red rose with her fingers.
Then she touched G’Nigel’s hat with her fingers and the hat
turned from grey to red.
‘Wow!’ They all said. ‘It’s magic.’
‘My turn! My turn!’ shouted Aimée.
Aimée ran and touched the bubble with her fingers.
Then Aimée ran and touched an orange on the table where Granddad
was snoring.
Aimée touched G’Nigel’s scarf with her fingers.
G’Nigel’s scarf changed from grey to orange.
‘Wow!’ They all said. ‘It’s magic.’
‘Me now!’ said Hannah.
Hannah ran and touched the bubble with her fingers.
Then Hannah touched a dandelion in the flowerbed with her
fingers.
Hannah ran and touched G’Nigel’s waistcoat.
G’Nigel’s waistcoat turned from grey to yellow.
‘Wow!’ They all said. ‘It’s magic.’
‘My turn now,’ said Daniel.
Daniel ran and touched the bubble with his fingers.
Then Daniel touched the grass.
Daniel’s fingers touched G’Nigel’s Wellington boots and the
Wellington boots changed from grey to green.
‘Wow!’ They all said. ‘It’s magic.’
‘Is it my turn now?’ asked Thomas.
‘Yes, it is,’ replied Bethany. ‘It’s your turn, Thomas. Why
don’t you try and see if the magic works for you?’
Thomas ran and tried to touch the bubble but the bubble just
floated higher into the sky.
Thomas could not reach the bubble!
Thomas was very sad.
Bethany was very sad too.
‘Oh, dear,’ said Bethany. ‘What can we do?’
Thomas looked around the garden.
He couldn’t find anything to stand on and reach the bubble.
‘I want to find blue,’ said Thomas.
All the children, Daniel, Thomas, Bethany, Aimée and Hannah
looked for blue.
But none of the children could find the colour blue.
Then Thomas looked up and thought again.
‘The Sky is blue,’ laughed Thomas.
All the children jumped and reached as high as they could
towards the blue sky.
All the children started to run.
They were all running as fast as they could.
The children were all trying to catch the bubble.
The bubble floated back down again.
They all followed Thomas.
Thomas touched the bubble with his fingers and then touched
G’Nigel’s trousers.
I wonder what colour the trousers will be.
Can you guess?
The trousers changed from grey to blue.
Wow!’ They all said. ‘It’s magic.’
‘Our turn now,’ said the girls.
Hannah, Bethany and Aimee ran and touched the pansies in the
flowerbed with their fingers.
Then they touched G’Nigel’s belt and it changed from grey to
indigo.
‘Wow!’ They all said. ‘It’s magic.’
‘Our turn now,’ said the boys.
Daniel and Thomas ran and touched the pansies in the
flowerbed with their fingers.
Then they touched G’Nigel’s shirt with their fingers and it
changed from grey to violet.
‘Look!’ said Daniel, ‘G’Nigel the Gnome is smiling.
‘G’Nigel isn’t grey anymore.’
‘You mean he’s not G’ G’ G’ Grey anymore,’ laughed Thomas.
All the children laughed with Thomas.
‘G’ Nigel must be very happy,’ said Daniel.
Then there was a big snore and Granddad dropped the newspaper
from his lap and woke up with a start.
‘Oh! What’s happened to G’Nigel?’ asked Granddad. ‘Someone
has made him all colourful’.
All the children laughed and G’Nigel... Well, G’Nigel just
winked at the children because it was magic.
‘The cake is ready,’ shouted Nana from the kitchen. Then Nana
appeared carrying a tray. On the tray there was a ‘rainbow cake’. It was made
from all different colours of icing.
‘I’m sure G’Nigel the Gnome smiled when he saw the rainbow
cake.
Can you remember how many boys and girls were playing in the
garden?
Count them out using your fingers.
It was the children’s fingers who made the colours change.
Do you remember the names of the children?
Can you remember what colours the children used to colour
G’Nigel the Gnome?
Good night Children everywhere.
Good night.
An extract from Monsters, Gnomes and Fairies
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