A little boy called Simon came to live in an old house near the sea. The house was very mysterious with lots of rooms and old furniture. Simon spent all day exploring the different places.
After a while, he got tired of being inside the house and went out into the garden. He found it was overgrown and would need a lot of gardening to make it beautiful again. It was full of birds and little animals, earthworms, snails, frogs, squirrels, mice, and perhaps there were snakes too! Turning over an old flower pot, he saw something shining. He picked it up and dusted it. It was a key!
He wondered what it would open and decided to try it out on all the locks he could find. He tried it on the garden gate, on the main door, the grandfather’s clock and what not. But the key did not seem to belong to any of those locks.
Then he remembered that the house had an attic. He ran up the stairs. The attic was open. He pushed open the door and went in. The place was full of stuff. He saw large chests and trunks, an old piano, a few broken chairs and a table, a gramophone, lots of clothes, cooking vessels and books, some tools. This place was perfect for a treasure hunt!
Then his eyes fell on a large blue book that was lying on top of a shelf. He found the book had a clasp and was locked. He tried the key. It fitted perfectly!
When he opened the book, a voice said, “Hello! Step in, won’t you?” He looked around. There was no one, so where did the voice come from? It was the book that spoke! It was a Magic Book! He looked at the cover again. It said ‘Book of Adventures’.
Simon stepped into the book. With a whizzing sound he found himself in a palace far away in a desert. There were strange music and lots of food. He ate some food. Suddenly, a servant came in and said, “Run! The giant is coming back! If he smells you, he’ll eat you up!”
Simon jumped out of the book quickly. He turned over the pages and saw that there were stories about the sea and pirates, about flying into space, about mysterious farms, magical cars that talked. He was delighted. The Magic Book would give him lots and lots of adventures and he would not be lonely any more!
