Heidi Heckelbeck Is the Bestest Babysitter!

by Wanda Coven

  Magic! she thought. I can perform a dazzling magic trick!

  Heidi loved to use her witching skills. She hopped off of the sofa and raced to her bedroom. Then she reached under her bed and pulled out her trusty Book of Spells and Witches of Westwick medallion.

  She thumbed through the pages and found a chapter called Marvelous Magic Tricks. Then she put her finger on a trick called Rainbow Confetti Fountain. She read over the spell.

  Have you ever wanted to perform magic tricks for your friends and fellow witches? Perhaps you’re the kind of witch who loves to entertain children. If you like to be festive and show off your witching skills, then this is the spell for you!

  Ingredients:

  4 sheets of colored paper cut into long strips

  A pinch of red chili pepper flakes

  A dollop of whipped cream

  1 package of blue raspberry Cracklers

  Combine the ingredients in a top hat. Hold your Witches of Westwick medallion in one hand and place your other hand over the hat. Chant the following spell:

  Important note: As soon as you’ve chanted the spell, remove your hand from the hat.

  Heidi ran through the list of ingredients. “I’m pretty sure we have all this stuff,” she said to herself. She knew her dad had some Cracklers candy in his lab. He had used them in his Sizzling Soda recipe.

  Heidi got right to work. She opened her desk drawer and pulled out four sheets of colored paper: red, yellow, blue, and white.

  Then she hurried downstairs. Nobody was around. She quickly placed a pinch of red chili pepper flakes into a snack bag and zipped it. Then she grabbed a tub of whipped cream from the fridge and put all the ingredients into a shopping bag, along with a spoon.

  Next she snuck into the lab and borrowed a package of blue raspberry Cracklers from her dad’s secret-ingredients drawer.

  Well, she said to herself triumphantly, we might just win this pizza-movie party after all! Then she smuggled everything up to her room.

  “I’m SO excited!” Heidi said on the night of the fair. She skipped across the Brewster Elementary playground. She had on Henry’s silver silk cape, a top hat, and her Witches of Westwick medallion around her neck.

  “Me too!” agreed Laurel, skipping along beside her. “It’s so fun to come to school AT NIGHT.”

  “It’s kind of weirdly magical,” said Bruce.

  Heidi hopped through the hopscotch squares.

  “I LOVE magic!” said Heidi. She couldn’t wait to perform her special trick.

  Heidi, Laurel, and Bruce set up their activity stations in the classroom next to the gym. Mrs. Noddywonks helped them arrange tables and chairs. She had made a sign for each station: There was BICKER’S BEAKERS for the science lab, THE HANDPRINT ART STUDIO for Laurel’s station, and THE MAGIC HATTERY for Heidi’s station. She had also helped the children make a sign that said THE LITTLE EXPLORERS’ MUSEUM. Each station had a table and balloons. Bruce and Laurel’s stations both had tents. Heidi had a small platform stage that faced the circle-time rug.

  Heidi laid a red velvet cloth across her table. She set her magic ingredients on top—then she noticed her whipped cream wasn’t whipped cream at all! It was actually FLIFFY FLUTTER MARSHMALLOW BUTTER! She looked at the clock. Well, it’s too late now. Let’s hope it works!

  When the museum was all set up, the Little Explorers went to the gym to see the other booths. First they stopped by Lucy and Natalie’s dunk tank.

  “So, who is crazy enough to get dunked?” asked Bruce.

  Lucy smiled and looked at someone behind them.

  “I AM!” said a man.

  The kids whirled around.

  “Principal Pennypacker!” Bruce squealed.

  Both Laurel and Heidi squealed, too!

  The principal was dressed like a clown.

  “You kids look surprised!” he said.

  “We ARE!” said the children.

  Principal Pennypacker laughed. “Well, I’m doing it for my favorite cause—our school!”

  “Wow, Lucy, I’ll bet your booth wins the prize with HIM in the tank!” said Heidi.

  Lucy pumped her fist. “Let’s hope so!” she said.

  Then the Little Explorers visited the other booths.

  “Look!” shouted Heidi, pointing her finger. “Melanie and Stanley are running the ticket booth!”

  Melanie looked up when she heard her name. She had a stack of tickets in her hand. She waved them at Heidi as if it were a stack of hundred-dollar bills.

  “That’s right, and I have ALL the tickets,” she said proudly. “Which means WE’RE going to win the pizza-movie party!”

  Heidi looked at Bruce and Laurel and then back at Melanie.

  “But don’t you know the ticket booth gives the tickets to the customers?” asked Heidi.

  “Heidi’s right,” said Laurel. “You’ll be collecting money—not tickets!”

  Melanie looked at the stack of tickets in her hand. It hadn’t occurred to her that she’d have to give them all away.

  “But we’ll get the tickets back at the end—isn’t that right, Stanley?”

  Stanley shrugged. He had just gone along with what Melanie had told him.

  “I think Heidi and Laurel might be right,” he said uncomfortably.

  Melanie smacked herself in the forehead with the palm of her hand. “Why didn’t you TELL ME?!” she cried.

  Melanie threw the tickets down, and tears welled in her eyes.

  Heidi spoke up. “For what it’s worth, Melanie, I think handing out tickets makes you one of the most important booths. Thank you for helping everyone out.”

  Sniffling, Melanie took a deep breath, dried her eyes, and calmed down. “Thanks, Heidi,” she said in a low voice.

  Heidi smiled and turned to Bruce and Laurel. “Okay, Little Explorers, let’s go have some fun!”

  A long line of parents with younger children formed outside the Little Explorers’ Museum. Heidi stood at the door and collected tickets in an empty coffee can. Then Mrs. Noddywonks led the children to the craft table and science lab. She had to set up extra tables and chairs to handle the crowd.

  Laurel got the kids right to work. They pressed their palms into pie tins filled with paint. Then they made handprints on their papers. Laurel showed them how to make handprint flamingos and kissing fish. Then she hung the finished artwork with clothespins on a line made from kitchen string.

  Using a remote control, Bruce picked up all kinds of toys with the Bicker Picker-Upper. The children shrieked with laughter when he picked up a pair of underwear. Then Bruce rolled a ball across the floor.

  “Fetch!” he commanded.

  With a push of another button on his remote control, the Bicker Barker bounded after the ball.

  “Again! Again!” the kids shouted. Bruce had his robot dog bring the ball to each child so everyone could play robo-fetch.

  Then it was Heidi’s turn. The children sat down on the rug in front of the stage. Bruce and Laurel joined them. Heidi hopped onto her stage and slipped on a pair of white gloves. Mrs. Noddywonks stood beside the stage with an electric piano. She pushed a button and a short drumroll played.

  Heidi looked at her audience and raised her arms.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages! I, the Great Heidini, shall now perform the most spectacular, mega-magical, super-special, amazing trick!” she said dramatically.

  Mrs. Noddywonks pushed another button, and the sound of horns played Ta-da!

  Heidi pulled off her hat and set it on the table.

  “And for this trick, we will need to use several magnificently magical ingredients!”

  Mrs. Noddywonks pressed the Ta-da! button again.

  “First I’ll place these special strips of colored paper into my hat!” Heidi held the shreds of paper up. They looked like a rainbow pom-pom! Then she plopped the paper inside.

  Mrs. Noddywonks pressed another button that went Cha-ching!

  “And now I shall add a pinch of .
. .” Heidi paused. She didn’t want to reveal the actual ingredients for the spell. With a smile and in her best dramatic voice, Heidi continued, “Red-hot dragon scales!”

  Cha-ching! went the keyboard. The kids in the audience murmured and leaned in closer. They were excited to see what Heidi would do next.

  “We need a dollop of fairy dreams!” Heidi crossed her fingers and placed the Fliffy Flutter in the hat.

  Cha-ching!

  “And last but not least, bright blue mermaid pearls!” She dropped in the Cracklers and they sizzled.

  Cha-ching!

  “And now I, the Great Heidini, will chant the mystical magic words!” said Heidi.

  Mrs. Noddywonks pressed the drumroll button.

  Then Heidi placed one hand over the hat and the other hand on her medallion. She looked up at the ceiling and shut her eyes. Oh, please let this work! she said to herself.

  Then Heidi chanted the spell: “Calling all friends! Calling all dreamers! Bring forth a fountain of confetti and streamers!”

  The hat began to quiver and quake. She quickly removed her hand and stood back. POOF! A fountain of streamers and confetti rained down on the audience.

  “Ooooh!” exclaimed the children. “Aahhhhh!”

  A strip of glittering paper landed in front of each child.

  The children picked up the sparkly pieces of paper. Each one had something written on it.

  “Mine says ‘Grow your own dinosaur!’ ” said a boy with spiky brown hair. “I LOVE dinosaurs!”

  “Mine says ‘Fly like a superhero!’ ” said a girl with blond curls. “Wow, I’ve always wanted to FLY!”

  “I have one that says ‘Sing like a superstar!’ ” said a girl with pigtails. “What should we do with them?”

  Wow, thought Heidi as she jumped down from the stage. The spell worked, but the Fliffy Flutter Marshmallow Butter gave it a new twist. Heidi decided to turn it into an activity for the kids.

  “Well, this is a build-your-own-magic-spell workshop!” Heidi said.

  “How does it work?” asked Mrs. Noddywonks.

  “Everyone should make up a magic spell to go with your slip of paper,” said Heidi. “Make up the ingredients and invent a magic rhyme.”

  “How clever!” exclaimed Mrs. Noddywonks.

  Everyone clapped and cheered for Heidi. Then the children began to make up their spells. Laurel and Bruce ran up to Heidi.

  “Heidi, HOW in the world did you DO THAT?” asked Laurel.

  “Yeah,” said Bruce. “That was like REAL magic!”

  Heidi smiled craftily. “A true magician must never reveal her secrets!”

  “Congratulations to the students of Brewster Elementary!” said Principal Pennypacker. “I’m happy to say we’ve raised enough money for our new music program!”

  The children clapped and whistled.

  “And now it’s time to announce a winner for the booth that collected the MOST tickets. As you all know, the winner will get a special pizza-movie party!”

  Then they watched Mrs. Crosby hand Principal Pennypacker an envelope.

  Lucy grabbed Heidi’s arm. “I hope it’s YOU!” she whispered.

  “No, I hope it’s YOU!” Heidi excitedly whispered back.

  They squeezed each other’s arms as Principal Pennypacker announced the winner.

  “It was a very close race, but the prize goes to . . . the Little Explorers’ Museum!”

  “I KNEW IT!” said Lucy as everyone hooted and clapped again.

  “Will the winners please stand up?” asked the principal.

  The Little Explorers’ team members jumped up and hugged one another. All the children cheered even louder.

  The next Friday night, Heidi, Laurel, and Bruce invited the families who had visited the Little Explorers’ Museum to an extra-special-thank-you pizza-movie party at the school. Henry and Lucy came too.

  And as it turned out, the party fell on the same night that Heidi’s parents were going out to the wedding. She and Henry didn’t need a babysitter after all! But Heidi had fun watching over the kids at the party.

  “Wow,” said Henry with a mouthful of pizza. “You sure are the bestest babysitter.”

  “You’re the bestest magician, too!” added Laurel. “What’s your secret?”

  Heidi blushed.

  “Oh, it’s nothing,” she said. “I just always like to keep a few good tricks up my sleeve—that’s all.”

  “Ho hum.” Heidi sighed as she doodled a daisy on her science folder.

  Heidi was having a ho-hum morning. She had on a ho-hum outfit. All her favorite clothes were in the wash. She had eaten a bowl of ho-hum oatmeal for breakfast. Henry got the last waffle. And now Heidi and her whole class had to sit and wait for their teacher Mrs. Welli.

  Soon the classroom door squeaked open. Principal Pennypacker followed Mrs. Welli to the front of the room.

  Mrs. Welli smiled and clasped her hands. “Principal Pennypacker has a special announcement to make,” she said. Then she stepped to one side.

  The principal patted the tufts of hair on either side of his head and said, “Good morning, class. I have exciting news. Next week the second grade will go on a field trip to the botanical gardens.”

  The class cheered.

  “You’ll take the school bus to get to the gardens,” he explained. “Then you’ll see flowers, you’ll see trees shaped like animals, and you’ll even get to play hide-and-seek in a hedge maze. At the end of the morning you’ll have a class picnic in a fairy garden, followed by ice-cream bars.”

  “Yay!” sang the class as they bounced up and down in their seats.

  And just like that, Heidi’s morning had changed from ho-hum to a real humdinger!

  has always loved magic. When she was little, she used to make secret potions from smooshed shells and acorns. Then she would pretend to transport herself and her friends to enchanted places. Now she’s able to visit other worlds through writing. Wanda lives in San Jose, California, with her husband and son. They have three cats: Hilda, Agnes, and Clawdia.

  has illustrated numerous books and materials for children, parents, and teachers. She enjoys painting cakes and creating art for products, which include murals, greeting cards, and rubber stamps! Priscilla lives with her family in Southern California.

  Little Simon

  Simon & Schuster

  New York

  Visit us at

  simonandschuster.com/kids

  authors.simonandschuster.com/Wanda-Coven

  authors.simonandschuster.com/Priscilla-Burris

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  LITTLE SIMON

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  First Little Simon paperback edition December 2015

  Copyright © 2015 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Also available in a Little Simon hardcover edition.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. LITTLE SIMON is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and associated colophon is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or business@simonandschuster.com. The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  Designed by Ciara Gay

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Coven, Wanda.

  Heidi Heckelbeck is the bestest babysitter! / by Wanda Coven ; ill
ustrated by Priscilla Burris. — First Little Simon paperback edition.

  pages cm. — (Heidi Heckelbeck ; 16)

  Summary: Heidi teams up with her friends to create a babysitting station at the Brewster Elementary fair, but when things do not go as smoothly as planned, Heidi turns to her Book of Spells to find the perfect magical solution.

  ISBN 978-1-4814-4631-0 (hc) — ISBN 978-1-4814-4630-3 (pbk) —

  ISBN 978-1-4814-4632-7 (eBook)

  [1. Witches—Fiction. 2. Babysitters—Fiction. 3. Magic—Fiction.]

  I. Burris, Priscilla, illustrator. II. Title.

  PZ7.C83393Hk 2015

  [Fic]—dc23

  2015015520