Persephone & the Unicorn's Ruby

Little Goddess Girls 10

Joan Holub, Suzanne Williams, Yuyi Chen

• Publisher: Aladdin
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781665904070
• eBook ISBN: 9781665904094

Join little Persephone on a sweet adventure in this tenth Little Goddess Girls story—part of the Aladdin QUIX line! Persephone and Aphrodite are continuing the quest to try and find some missing jewels. They end up meeting a lost bunny in their travels, who is looking for the Castle of What-Ifs. The girls end up in a magical, delicious land, where they meet a unicorn made of chocolate, with a very special crown—one that might be the key to finding one of the missing jewels!

1

Treasure Hunt

“I see it! I see the signpost!” called Persephone. She bounced on her toes in excitement. “The Hello Brick Road splits into two directions up ahead!”

“Yay! I see it too,” said her friend Aphrodite.

They both ran up the Hello Brick Road toward the signpost. The road was made of orange, blue, and pink bricks. It led to places all over Mount Olympus—this magic land where the two girls lived. Right now, they hoped the road would lead them to a treasure. Two stolen jewels!

Persephone reached the signpost first. Her curly red hair swung around her shoulders as she came to a sudden stop.

Oops! She’d stopped so fast that Aphrodite bumped into her from behind. The small crown Aphrodite wore atop her shiny golden hair fell off. And Persephone dropped her silver cane. It had been given to her by Hestia, a tiny flying goddess. It was magic!

Persephone caught the crown before it could hit the ground. She handed it back to her friend.

“That was a lucky catch! Thanks,” Aphrodite said as she put on her crown.

Persephone grinned and patted the four-leaf clovers that grew in her hair. They were the same color as her green eyes. “Yeah, good thing Zeus gave me these lucky clovers. Without them I probably couldn’t have caught it!”

Zeus was a boy about eight years old—the same age as both girls. Yet he was the super-duper powerful king of the Greek gods!

Not long ago, he’d given Persephone the gift of good luck. This made her even better at a magical skill she’d always had—growing plants. In addition to the clovers, flowers grew in her hair. And on her dress!

Aphrodite’s crown had been a gift from Zeus too. It was not only pretty. It also helped her remember to think before she said things that might hurt others’ feelings.

Persephone glanced up at the signpost again. One sign pointed east. It read: TO THE CASTLE OF WHAT-IFS. The other pointed south. It read: TO THE KINGDOM OF CUT-UPS.

She looked over at Aphrodite. “Which way should we go first?”

“Ooh! Pick me!” said the What-Ifs sign.

“No! Pick me!” said the Cut-Ups sign.

Persephone grinned. Here in Mount Olympus, many objects and creatures could speak!

“Give us a minute to think,” she told the signs. She wondered if Athena or Artemis had found any jewels yet. They were Aphrodite’s and Persephone’s other two best friends, who were also searching for treasure. The girls had all first met a few weeks ago. And they’d already had lots of fun and magical adventures together since then!

Aphrodite looked both ways. Then she said to Persephone, “Maybe we should split up? That way, we could each go down a different road to hunt for both jewels at the same time.”

All four friends had begun their treasure quests earlier that morning, after a mermaid statue had asked Athena for help. Help in finding four jewels—a missing pearl, ruby, emerald, and diamond! Each had been stolen from Thunderbolt Tower. Which was where Zeus lived in Sparkle City, high atop Mount Olympus.

The mermaid knew who the thieves were—Four Magic Winds! The East Wind had whisked away the ruby and hidden it in the East. The South Wind had blown the emerald to the South. So Persephone and Aphrodite had come here, hoping to find them.

Meanwhile, Athena was hunting for the mermaid’s black pearl in the North. It had been whirled away by the North Wind. And Artemis had gone west, because the West Wind had huff-puffed the diamond there.

“It would be more fun to stick together,” Persephone said. She missed their other two friends and didn’t want to go off by herself.

“But splitting up would save time,” said Aphrodite.

Before they could agree on a plan, a sweet little voice spoke to them. “Hello. My name is Adonis Bunnyboy.”

“Huh?” said Persephone. She saw no one up ahead.

“Look down,” Aphrodite said to her. To both girls’ surprise, a snow-white bunny with blue eyes was hopping around their feet! He wore a rainbow-colored ribbon tied into a bow at his neck. The best way to make friends on the Hello Brick Road was to say hello to someone. This bunny must want to be friends!

2

Cutest Bunny Ever

“Hello, Adonis. I’m Persephone,” Persephone told the white bunny.

“And I’m Aphrodite. I like your ribbon!” said Aphrodite.

Adonis smiled. “Thanks.” The bunny stood up on his two back legs and looked at them both. “...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Cast of Characters
• Chapter 1: Treasure Hunt
• Chapter 2: Cutest Bunny Ever
• Chapter 3: The What-Ifs
• Chapter 4: Chocolate Unicorn
• Chapter 5: Red Ruby
• Chapter 6: Happy Hugs
• Word List
• Questions
• Author’s Note
• About the Authors and Illustrator
• Copyright