After a fun morning of glittery craft, and with instructions from Cassie’s Dad to clean up the house for the rent inspection, Cassie and Lina are looking after Bella the bearded dragon. They learn that when Bella is cold, she won’t move at all; it’s when she warms up that she gets active. So, while they are getting the lights in her tank set up, the girls put Bella down, confident she won’t go anywhere. Despite the girls’ delight in Bella, Gus is unimpressed with the lizard. ‘She’s so ugly,’ he insists. ‘Cats are far better looking.’ He’s even more disgusted when she sneezes golden glitter all over him. At first, Cassie and Lina like the glitter Bella sneezes, but it soon seems as if Bella is allergic to Gus. Every time he comes close, she sneezes more glitter. It’s beginning to get messy. Then Gus disappears taking Bella to the bathroom so she can look at herself in the mirror. When the girls realise Bella is missing, they call for Gus and he arrives grumpy and completely covered in gold glitter. It seems that Bella’s allergies are getting worse. The girls hurry to the bathroom to retrieve her but despite there being glitter everywhere, Bella is nowhere to be seen. Cassie’s brother’s habit of leaving the heat lights on must have warmed Bella up so she has crawled away out of sight. Flustered at her brother’s forgetfulness, Cassie closes the toilet lid and Gus settles down on it for a nap. The girls search for Bella in the bathroom to no avail, but when they startle Gus, he leaps into the air and lands heavily on the cistern, accidentally flushing the toilet. The girls are distraught, assuming Bella has fallen into the toilet and been flushed away. They give up hope and return to cleaning the house for the quickly approaching rent inspection. But as they get to work, they notice new splashes of gold glitter and realise that Bella hasn’t been flushed after all. She’s somewhere nearby, and they’re going to need Gus’ help to find her. One sneeze of golden glitter later and Bella is rescued from under the fridge, just in time for the rent inspection. Gus saves the day once more.
Author:
Ella Shine LOVES pets of all kinds. She lives in Sydney, Australia with her three cats, four bunnies, parakeet, bearded dragon and an imaginary ant farm for company. When shes not writing stories for children she can be found dreaming up adventures and hunting for the unexpected with at least one of her pets in tow! (And when shes not doing any of the above, Ella Shine is simply the super fun pen name of two real authors writing books together, chapter by chapter.)
Illustrator:
Lisa Flanagan has illustrated over a dozen books for children of all ages. She loves being creative and exploring outside. When she was little, Lisa had a budgie that couldnt fly but walked on the floor like a person. You needed to be very careful where you stepped!
* Humorous series fiction thats fun for adults to read too.
* Australian setting and characters.
* Themes: friendship, responsibility, risk-taking, problem solving, family and community, unconditional love.
* Multicultural flavour with BIPOC character.
* Teachers notes available.
Publicity:
* The authors and illustrators do 2-5 school visits per year at which they talk about the series.
