The Naughtiest Unicorn at Christmas. Pip Bird

      

       For Seb – LB

       For my parents – RLO

       For Emma – David O’Connell

      Cover and interior illustrations by David O’Connell

      Special thanks to Liz Bankes and Rebecca Lewis-Oakes

      Text first published in Great Britain in 2019

      by Egmont UK Limited

      The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN

      Text copyright © 2019 Egmont UK Ltd

      Illustrations copyright © 2019 David O’Connell

      First e-book edition 2019

      ISBN 978 1 4052 9594 9

      Ebook ISBN 978 1 4052 9705 9

       www.egmont.co.uk

      A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

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      Contents

       Cover

       Dedication and Copyright

       Title Page

Chapter One: Snow Much Fun!

       Chapter Two: A Winter Wonderland

       Chapter Three: The Realm of the Theatre . . .

       Chapter Four: The Rehearsals Begin

       Chapter Five: The Christmas Quest

       Chapter Six: A Snowy Surprise

       Chapter Seven: Party Preparations

       Chapter Eight: Showtime!

       Chapter Nine: Wishes, Gifts and Festive Fun!

       CHRISTMAS COOKIES

       CHRISTMAS JOKES

       Back series promotional page

      ‘Look, there’s some snow!’ cried Mira excitedly as she leapt out of the car in the leisure-centre car park.

      Her sister Rani stepped out of the car and peered over, wrinkling her nose. ‘That,’ she said, ‘is slush.’

      Mira bent closer to the small pile of snow, which was a bit slushy. And grey. ‘There’s definitely some specks of white,’ she said. She had been so excited when she looked out of the window the night before and saw snowflakes falling. Mira’s mum and dad said it wouldn’t settle, but Mira was sure that she could find some to play with. It was the week before Christmas, and she had spent days planning fun things to do, ALL of which involved snow.

      ‘You couldn’t even get a snowball out of that,’ said Rani, as Mira reached towards the slushy puddle.

      ‘Time to go!’ said their mum quickly. ‘You don’t want to be late for Unicorn School.’

      And Mum was right – Mira absolutely did not want to be late for Unicorn School! Unicorn School was the best thing ever. You were paired up with your UBFF (Unicorn Best Friend Forever) and you went on quests and magical adventures. And even the ordinary lessons were a million per cent better than the ones at normal school because the unicorns were there!

      Mira, Rani and Mum walked over to the corner of the car park, where the magic portal to Unicorn School lay hidden behind some bushes. There was a queue of children waiting for their turn to go through. Everyone was wearing brightly-coloured festive jumpers.

      Christmas was Mira’s favourite time of year. She loved seeing her breath in the chilly air, the way trees sparkled with frost and being cosy inside with a mug of hot chocolate. (She had a feeling that her greedy unicorn, Dave, would enjoy the hot chocolate, too.)

      Mira quickly looked through her school bag to make sure that she had everything. There were LOTS of pairs of thick woolly socks (added by her mum), treats for Dave, her pencil case, and something very important: The Legend of the Snow Unicorn.

      Every year at Christmas time, Class Red performed a play of The Legend of the Snow Unicorn, and before they went home at the end of the last visit their teacher, Miss Glitterhorn, had given them each a script to learn. Mira knew the whole thing off by heart and she was secretly hoping that she and Dave would get the lead roles of Snow Unicorn and Snow Child!

      It was nearly time to go through the portal and Rani said Mum had to go where the other parents were all standing huddled together, so Mum gave them each a hug and a kiss and told them for about the eightieth time to wrap up warm.

      ‘Will there be snow at Unicorn School?’ Mira asked her sister.

      ‘Only if you do the snow dance,’ said Rani.

      ‘What’s the snow dance?’ said Mira.

      Rani