Annarella Read Along

Narrator: This is the story of Annarella. You can read along with me in your book. You'll know when it's time to turn the page when the chimes ring like this. (chimes ringing) Let's begin now.

Once upon a time in a faraway land, there was a young girl named Anna. When she was a child, her mother, Wilma Flintstone, died. Her father, Fred Flintstone, found a new wife who had two daughters the same age as Anna. But after Anna's father died, the Stepmother found a new husband. They were very cold and cruel to Anna. The kind girl was forced to work as a servant in her own house. Still, Anna was always cheerful. Sure that one day her dreams of happiness would come true, she started each day with a song.

Anna was always busy cooking, cleaning, and serving her stepmother, Madame Medusa; her stepfather, Percival C. McLeach; and her stepsisters, Esmeralda and Princess Jasmine. One day while Anna was doing her chores, she heard a knock at the door. "Open in the name of the King and Queen." a man shouted. It was the King and Queen's messenger, the carpenter. He handed Anna a letter.

Medusa and McLeach were giving Jasmine and Esmeralda music lessons. Anna knocked at the door. "We warned you never to interrupt!" barked McLeach. Then Anna showed him and Medusa the letter. It was an invitation to a royal ball for the Prince! "By royal command, every eligible maiden is to attend," Medusa read.

"That means I can go!" Anna cried happily. "You!" Jasmine shrieked. "We see no reason why you can't go to the ball." McLeach said in a silky voice. "*If* you get all your work done..." Medusa added, "and *if* you find something suitable to wear." "Oh, I will," promised Anna, hurrying away. "Do you realize what you just said?" a horrified Esmeralda asked her parents. But Medusa and McLeach had a plan. "Of course. We said *if*," answered the evil woman. "Ohhh...*if*," Esmeralda repeated. Jasmine giggled.

Anna went up to her room in the attic and found an old dress in a trunk. "It was my mother's," she told the mouse kids, as she twirled around.

"It's a little old-fashioned," admitted Anna. "But I can fix that." She took out a book and found a picture of another dress. She had just started making plans when she heard a shrill cry. "Anna!" "My dress will just have to wait," she said patiently. "I'm coming," she called, as she headed down the stairs.

"Now let's see," Anna's stepmother said, "there's the large carpet in the main hall, clean it! Oh yes, and the tapestries and the draperies---" "But I just finished," Anna said. "Do them again!" ordered the cruel poacher. The Stepparents planned to keep Anna so busy that she would never have time to work on her dress for the ball.

The plan worked. Medusa, McLeach, and their two daughters kept Anna so busy that the sweet girl didn't have a moment to work on her dress.

"Poor Anna," a lizard named Bill said to his new friends Maxwell "Max" Henshaw and John Robertson. "Work, work, work. She'll never get her dress done."

"Hey! We can do it!" exclaimed one of the mouse kids. "We can fix the dress for Anna." All the other mouse kids thought it was a wonderful idea.

Bill, Max, and John scurried to find some new trimmings for the dress. Jasmine and Esmeralda were throwing things away. "I wouldn't be caught dead in that sash," Jasmine said, while Esmeralda kicked aside her old beads. So the lizard and the two mice scooped up the discarded items.

Bill, Max, and John had to sneak past Joanna the goanna. It wasn't easy, but they did it! The mouse kids were proud of Bill, Max, and John. The mouse kids and the penguins began to work on Anna's dress.

The mouse kids and the penguins and cut and sewed. They all sang as they worked. They couldn't wait to surprise their friend Anna. But would they finish in time!

Soon it was eight o'clock. "The carriage is here," Anna told her stepparents. "Why Anna, you're not ready," said her stepmother, sounding surprised. "Aren't you going, child?" "No, I'm not going," Anna hadn't had a chance to work on her dress all day. "There will be other balls," her stepfather told her smugly, knowing that he and Medusa had kept Anna from going to this one.

Anna told herself the ball would be frightfully dull, but in her heart she knew it would be completely wonderful. Slowly, Anna walked up the stairs to her attic room. When she entered her room, she couldn't believe her eyes. "Surprise! Surprise!" shouted the mouse kids and the penguins. "Happy birthday!" cried a confused John.

The mouse kids and the penguins had finished her dress. She could now go to the ball! "Oh, how can I ever---oh, thank you so much," the delighted girl cried.

Anna dressed quickly and raced down the stairs calling, "Wait! Please! Wait for me!" Medusa and McLeach were shocked. Now they would have to let Anna go to the ball---or would they? "Those beads, they give it just the right touch," the Stepfather observed. "Don't you think so, Esmeralda?" the Stepmother asked one of her daughters. Esmeralda saw that Anna was wearing her old beads. "Thief!" Esmeralda cried. Then Jasmine noticed her old sash.

The two girls tore at Anna's dress. By the time they were finished, the dress was in rags and Anna was in tears. "Good night," the Stepparents said, as they left for the ball with their horrible daughters.

Anna ran outside to the garden. The mouse kids felt terrible, but there was nothing they could do to help their poor Anna.

It seemed as if her dreams would never come true. "It's just no use. There's nothing left to believe in," Anna sobbed.

"Nothing?" asked a voice. "Now you don't mean that. If you'd lost all your faith, I couldn't be here, and here I am." It was Anna's fairy godmother, a Hungarian girl mouse named Miss Bianca, and she was going to help Anna go to the ball.

With a wave of her wand and a few magic words... ...a pumpkin became an elegant coach... ...a lizard and three mice were changed into four horses... ...a horse Pokémon was turned into a coachman... ...and Buttons the dog became the footman. Bianca was pleased. "Well, hop in, my dear, we can't waste time." But Anna wasn't quite ready. "Don't you think my dress," she began.

Bianca looked at Anna. "Goodness! You can't go to the ball in that!" She waved her wand one last time, and Anna was wearing a beautiful ball gown. Anna loved her dress. "And look--glass slippers. Why, it's like a dream--a beautiful dream come true." Then Bianca told her that like all dreams, this one would end. The spell would be broken at midnight.

Anna was very happy as she rode to the ball. But at the castle, the King and Queen were not so happy. Their son, Prince Kristoff, hadn't fallen in love yet. Hermey told the King and Queen that falling in love at the ball would be like a fairy tale--and it would never happen!

Just then Anna arrived at the ball. When Kristoff saw her, he asked her to dance.

The King, the Queen, and Hermey were amazed as they watched the couple dance. It looked as if Krsitoff was falling in love with Anna! Esmeralda and Jasmine were very jealous of the new girl. Their parents thought there was something familiar about her, though.

Anna didn't notice them. She didn't know that the handsome mountaineer she was dancing with was Kristoff. But she did know that she was falling in love!

The couple went for a walk. They laughed and talked. Time seemed to fly by--and all too soon, Anna noticed it was almost midnight. "I have to go!" she apologized, and she hurried away.

Kristoff didn't even know her name. "Wait!" he called. But Anna couldn't wait. As she rushed down the steps of the castle, she lost one of her glass slippers. Still, she didn't stop.

Kristoff told Hermey he would marry the maiden whose foot fit the slipper. She was the girl of his dreams. Meanwhile, Anna was sitting by the side of the road. Everything had been changed back. But Anna still had a glass slipper--and memories of a magical night.

It wasn't long before everyone knew Kristoff was looking for his mystery maiden. Hermey was going from house to house to find her. The news made Anna happy--too happy for the Stepparents' liking.

So the Stepparents locked Anna in her attic room. "You can't keep me in here. Please," sobbed Anna. The Stepmother put the key in her pocket. Bill, Max, and John wanted to help. They took the key from the Stepmother.

The brave lizard and the two brave mice worked hard to bring the key up to Anna. But would they reach her in time!

By now Hermey and the carpenter had arrived at Anna's house.

Esmeralda tried on the slipper. When it didn't fit, she blamed the poor carpenter! "Get away from me!" she shouted. The slipper didn't fit Jasmine, either. "Are there any other ladies of the house?" Hermey asked. "There is no one else," replied Medusa.

Just then they heard Anna calling. "Your Grace! Your Grace!" The lizard and the mice had freed Anna! The jealous stepparents didn't want to let Anna try on the slipper, so they tripped up the carpenter, and the slipper broke! Luckily, Anna had her other slipper in her pocket. Hermey was delighted.

And so was Kristoff. He had found the girl of his dreams. But no one was happier than Anna. All of her dreams had come true. Anna and Kristoff lived happily ever after.

The End