The Birthday Castle

by Dee Romito

  Welcome to ALADDIN QUIX!

  If you are looking for fast, fun-to-read stories with colorful characters, lots of kid-friendly humor, easy-to-follow action, entertaining story lines, and lively illustrations, then ALADDIN QUIX is for you!

  But wait, there’s more!

  If you’re also looking for stories with tables of contents; word lists; about-the-book questions; 64, 80, or 96 pages; short chapters; short paragraphs; and large fonts, then ALADDIN QUIX is definitely for you!

  ALADDIN QUIX: The next step between ready to reads and longer, more challenging chapter books, for readers five to eight years old.

  For the wonderful Heim teachers—Thank you for helping students construct strong foundations.

  And for Heidi Ginal, for always guiding children to build their curiosity and imaginations.

  Cast of Characters

  Caleb Rivers: Group organizer

  Mrs. Rivers: Caleb’s mom

  Jax Crawford: Caleb’s best friend

  Mr. Crawford: Jax’s dad

  Eddie Bell: A friend of Caleb and Jax

  Junie Wheeler: A neighbor

  Analise Stevens: A neighbor and the Fort Builders’ first client

  Mrs. Mohan: A neighbor and Kiara’s grandmother

  Kiara Pal: Mrs. Mohan’s granddaughter

  Amber & Dove: Jax’s twin sisters

  Mr. Rivers: Caleb’s dad

  1 The Big Idea

  Caleb Rivers stood in the bookstore, holding a special edition of the first Castle Quest book. It was the best book series ever, and the new cover was amazing! It would look great on top of his bookshelf.

  He had already saved some money from his eighth birthday last week. But it wasn’t enough. He needed ten more dollars.

  “Mom, please,” he said. “I’ll pay you back.”

  His mom wasn’t budging. “If you earn the rest of the money, you can buy it,” she said.

  But he didn’t have any ideas on how to earn the money.

  “You’re clever,” said Mrs. Rivers. “You’ll figure it out.”

  Caleb put the book back on the shelf. He started thinking of ways to earn money. But it was an empty list so far.

  He thought all the way home. He thought on the two-houses-down walk to his best friend’s house. (When he ran, it only took ten seconds to get there.)

  “Hi, Caleb!” Jax kicked a soccer ball into the net. It soared right through a hole in the back.

  “Hi. I need your help,” said Caleb.

  “For what?” asked Jax.

  “The new Castle Quest special edition,” he answered. “My parents said I have to save for it.”

  “How?” asked Jax. “A lemonade stand?” He laughed.

  “Don’t joke,” said Caleb. “My sister made five dollars doing that.”

  “So where is your list of ideas?” asked Jax. “I know you made a list.”

  It was true. Caleb liked things organized and all in one place.

  He shrugged. “That’s the problem. I can’t think of anything.”

  “What about pet sitting?” Jax asked.

  “Pet sitting?” Caleb tried to imagine it. “I do like pets.”

  But his house was full of pets already.

  “Or you could do extra chores. Or odd jobs,” said Jax.

  “What are odd jobs?” asked Caleb.

  “I don’t know,” said Jax. “But my mom has my dad do odd jobs around the house.”

  They both thought for a minute.

  “I could use some money for a new soccer net,” said Jax.

  Just then, a delivery truck pulled into Jax’s driveway. It said WILBUR’S APPLIANCES on the side.

  “We’re getting a new refrigerator,” said Jax.

  Caleb nodded. “Fridge boxes are the best.”

  The boys looked at each other.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” asked Jax.

  “I think I might be,” said Caleb.

  They ran inside.

  “Dad?” Jax called. “Can we have the refrigerator box?”

  Mr. Crawford smiled. He didn’t even need to ask what it was for. “Sure.”

  As soon as the box was empty, the boys dragged it into the garage. It was summer vacation, which meant they could build for as long as they wanted.

  * * *

  They got their supplies.

  Markers.

  Scissors.

  Duct tape.

  Extra boxes.

  They started marking where the windows would go.

  They measured a space for the door.

  They taped up the small boxes.

  The only thing they needed help with was cutting out the holes for the windows and doors. Mr. Crawford helped with that!

  Two hours later, they had the perfect fridge fort.

  “This looks amazing!” said Jax.

  “Yeah, if only we could get paid to build box forts,” said Caleb.

  Jax’s eyes got wide. “That’s it!” he shouted.

  “What’s it?” asked Caleb.

  “We could sell box forts!” Jax raised his arms in the air.

  “Do you think we could do that?” Caleb asked.

  Jax nodded. “Sure! But first we need a name for the business.”

  The boys wrote down some ideas.

  BOX FORTS ’R’ US

  BUILD A FORT (NOT A BEAR)

  DREAM FORTS 4U

  R2BOX2

  But it was the very last one that they liked the best.

  “Fort Builders, Inc.,” said Caleb. “That’s the one!”

  “What’s the ‘Inc.’ for?” asked Jax.

  “I don’t know,” said Caleb. “I think companies use it to sound fancy.”

  Jax took the pencil from Caleb and put a big circle around their new name.

  Fort Builders, Inc.

  2 Paints and Partners

  Caleb and Jax had a business idea. They had a company name. They just needed customers.

  But how would they let everyone know about their forts?

  “We need Eddie,” said Caleb.

  Jax agreed with a nod.

  They raced down the sidewalk but got there at the same time.

  “Hi, guys.” Their friend Eddie Bell was sitting on his steps with a sketch pad.

  “Hi, Eddie. We’re starting a fort-building business,” said Caleb. He liked getting right to the point.

  “And we need signs,” said Jax.

  “Ooh. I love making signs,” said Eddie. “I make them for Mr. Pohlman. I get paid and I get free candy!”

  Mr. Pohlman ran the dollar store around the corner.

  “Would you make signs for us?” Jax asked. “And maybe some flyers?”

  “You can help us advertise,” said Caleb. “Get the word out.”

  Eddie thought about it. “Keep talking,” he said.

  “We can’t pay you anything,” said Jax. “But you’d be a partner.”

  “And get one third of all the profits,” said Caleb.

  “Right,” said Jax. “There are three of us. We’ll split the money we make three ways.”

  Eddie smiled. “Well, I do need a new brownie pan.”

  Eddie wasn’t just great at art. He also made the most amazing brownies. The kind with gooey, melty chocolate chips.

  He traded them for comic books at Miss Saya’s bookstore, and for tokens at the local arcade. His brownies were world-famous (almost).

  “Come on, Eddie,” said Caleb.

  “It’ll be fun,” said Jax.

  “Okay. Count me in!” said Eddie.

  The boys high-fived to make him an official partner.

  * * *

  Eddie set a blue tarp down in case it got too messy. They each took a piece of poster board.

  As Jax
and Caleb mixed the paints, Eddie outlined the letters.

  “You paint the inside of the letters,” said Eddie. “I’ll draw a cool design when they’re done.”

  Caleb painted carefully. Not one speck was outside the lines.

  Jax’s sign was full of paint splatters, but he liked it that way.

  Just as Eddie finished outlining, Junie Wheeler from down the street walked by with her dog.

  “Hey, Junie!” Jax called. “We’re building box forts. Want one?”

  “Sure!” Junie shouted. “That’s so nice of you.”

  “Oh… we mean… not for free,” said Caleb. “It’s our new business.” He held up his unfinished sign.

  Junie’s smile faded. “I don’t have any money for it.” She shuffled through her bag and pulled out a small container. “Can I trade you? I have a fresh batch of slime.”

  Jax and Caleb didn’t think that trade was good at all. After Junie walked away, several other kids came by. But all the boys got were offers to trade for cookies, worms, coloring books, and half a sandwich.

  “We need to get these signs done,” said Eddie. “They’ll help us find the right customers.”

  Jax dotted the period after “Inc” in green. “Yeah, but we need one more thing.” He added a note at the bottom of his sign.

  CASH ONLY. SORRY, NO TRADES.

  3 Finding Customers

  The next day, Eddie came by. “I have the signs,” he said. “They finally finished drying!”

  They were BIG and BOLD and colorful.

  “These are great!” said Jax. “We should put them around the neighborhood.”

  They posted the signs on lampposts.

  They taped them to street sign poles.

  Mr. Pohlman and Miss Saya even displayed them in their store windows.

  LET US BUILD YOUR DREAM FORT!

  CALL

  FORT BUILDERS, INC. TODAY!

  555-0108

  “We should have a sample fort,” said Eddie. “We can put it outside with a sign.”

  “That’s a great idea,” said Caleb.

  The boys ran back to Jax’s house and dragged their fort to the sidewalk. Eddie put a big poster board sign in front of it.

  They sat and waited.

  And waited.

  “I don’t understand,” said Caleb. “Why can’t we get a customer?”

  “Yeah, people love forts,” said Jax.

  Just then, Analise Stevens rode by on her bike. She stopped in front of the box fort.

  “Can you make a castle?” she asked.

  “Sure,” said Jax. “Our fee is ten dollars.”

  “I can pay you with my birthday money when the fort is done,” she said. “I’m going to need it for my party on Saturday.”

  “A lot of kids will be at that party,” Eddie whispered to Caleb. “Everyone will know about our forts!”

  “But it’s already Thursday,” Caleb whispered back. “That only gives us two days.”

  Jax stood up and shook Analise’s hand. “We’ll get it done,” he said.

  Analise didn’t just want a castle fort, though.

  She wanted a pink castle fort.

  She wanted a pink castle fort with a pink drawbridge.

  It was a big project.

  The boys searched through their garages for supplies.

  They found duct tape.

  They even found pink paint.

  What they didn’t find were boxes.

  “We can’t build a box fort without a box,” said Eddie.

  “And we can’t build a castle fort without a bunch of them,” said Caleb.

  The boys sat down on Caleb’s porch.

  “Someone on this block must have boxes.” Jax stood up and looked down the street. “I say we go find them.”

  Mr. Hanifin didn’t have any boxes.

  Miss Tripi had just gotten rid of one last week.

  Mrs. Ritz only had a small box.

  But the boys weren’t giving up.

  “Hello, there,” said Mrs. Mohan as they got to her driveway. “Nice day to clean the garage.”

  There was a pile of flattened boxes in the corner of the garage.

  “Are you getting rid of those?” asked Jax.

  “Those boxes are for my granddaughter,” said Mrs. Mohan. “She makes all kinds of things with them.”

  So much for getting boxes.

  “But you can have them,” she said. “I can get more.”

  The easy thing would have been to say thank you and go. But Caleb thought they should do something nice for her, too.

  “We can help you clean,” he said. He could tell by her smile that Mrs. Mohan was happy.

  Caleb organized the tools.

  Eddie put the painting supplies in a bin.

  Jax swept the floor with a big broom.

  “Thank you, boys,” said Mrs. Mohan. “Please take whatever boxes you want.”

  The boxes were folded flat, but they were big and heavy.

  “Everybody, grab an end,” said Jax.

  Eddie walked backward down the street. Caleb and Jax carried the other side.

  “Tell me if I’m about to run into a tree,” said Eddie. “Or a big dog.”

  “All clear,” said Jax. “Let’s get this thing started!”

  4 Supplies Needed!

  The boys got the boxes to Caleb’s garage. It was time to start building!

  “How about if this box goes here?” asked Eddie. He grabbed the biggest box and put it in the center of the garage.

  “Sure.” Caleb helped him tape it up.

  “Remember, it has to look like a castle,” said Jax. He ripped a piece of pink tape. “I’ll work on the pointy top.”

  The boys stacked and taped. They moved and lifted.

  When they’d used up all the boxes, they stood back.

  “It sort of looks like a castle,” said Eddie.

  “Nice drawbridge,” said Caleb to Jax.

  The next step was to paint it pink.

  They set an old sheet on the ground. They gathered the brushes and paint cans.

  Jax painted one box panel.

  That’s when Analise rode up the driveway.

  “Wow,” she said. “It looks great!”

  The boys smiled. They’d done a good job.

  “But can you move the tower over here?” She pointed from one side to the other. “And add another window over there? And the drawbridge will work, right?”

  Caleb and Eddie looked at Jax. He was the master builder, after all.

  “I guess we can do that,” he said. “It’ll take us a little longer.”

  Analise patted the box fort. “Remember, I need it by Saturday. Twelve o’clock sharp.”

  Analise kept looking at the fort. “You know, it would be even better with purple tape,” she said. “You could line the edges with it.”

  Analise did not mention that before.

  “We don’t have purple tape,” Caleb said to Analise.

  “You promised me the box fort of my dreams,” she pointed out. “My dream fort has purple tape.”

  Well, “Let us build your dream fort” was their motto.

  “We’ll get it done,” said Eddie. They had to deliver what they had promised.

  After Analise left, the boys flopped into folding chairs.

  “I guess we should have planned for extra supplies,” said Eddie. “Even lemonade stands need to buy more lemonade.”

  “This is harder than I thought it would be,” said Jax.

  Caleb’s dad gave them a thumbs-up through the garage-door window.

  But it was more of a thumbs-down kind of day.

  * * *

  The boys met back at Caleb’s house on Friday.

  “My dad said he’d take us to the store for purple tape,” said Jax.

  “I have another idea,” said Eddie. “Mrs. Mohan gave us boxes. Maybe she’d let us clean some more to trade for tape.”

  It sounded like a pretty good idea. But it meant more cleaning and le
ss building. And the boys were running out of time.

  When they got to her house, there was rustling in the garage.

  “Hello?” Caleb walked up the driveway. Jax and Eddie followed.

  A girl with long, dark hair popped up from behind a shelf.

  “Hi,” said the girl. “My grandma is inside. She’s making laddoos.”

  The boys took a good sniff of the air. They didn’t know what laddoos were, but they sure smelled delicious.

  “I’m Kiara.” The girl stepped forward.

  “Oh, you’re the granddaughter who builds things with boxes,” said Jax. “She told us about you.”

  “That’s me.” Kiara wiped her hands on her shirt. “I was just finishing up a project.”

  Behind her was a model of a house. A little sign next to it said DESIGN BY KIARA PAL.

  “You made that?” asked Eddie. “It’s amazing!”

  Kiara smiled. “Thanks. I like to design things,” she said. “And I love coming to Nani’s house because she lets me build whatever I want.”

  Kiara walked over to a table. “Hey, is this yours?” She held up one of their signs.

  “Yeah, that’s us,” said Caleb. “But we’re having a little trouble. Our first customer wants a bunch of changes.”

  “We were hoping your grandma would give us some of her tape if we helped her again,” said Jax. He pointed to the three rolls of duct tape on the wall. Silver, black, and green.

  “There’s no purple, though,” said Eddie.

  “You need purple tape?” Kiara got up and went straight for a plastic bin. She lifted the top.

  “That’s Nani’s tape,” she said, pointing to the wall. “This is my tape.”

  The boys got up to look. It was full of duct tape!

  Blue.

  Orange.

  Yellow.

  Red.

  Striped.

  Zebra.

  Polka dot.

  PURPLE.

  “Will you trade us for the tape?” asked Jax.

  Kiara thought for a moment. “You need more than tape. It’ll fix this problem, but not the next,” said Kiara. “You need someone to help you plan each project.”