When Kati opened her favorite book she got a terrible surprise. The pages were filled with holes. Gone was the princess’s crown, gone were the dragon’s wings, and all that remained of the brave knight was his left boot.
“Who could have done this?” Kati asked. Then she heard a chomping sound. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. It was coming from inside the book.
Kati flipped to the last page. There she saw a green worm no bigger than her pinky. He had big round eyes and a little pink mouth. The worm licked his lips and took a great big bite out of “happily ever after”. Chomp!
“Mmmm. Delicious. I love happy endings,” the worm said. Then he saw Kati. “Uh, oh.”
The worm dove through a hole in the page. Kati turned the page and reached out her hand to grab him. But the worm was too quick. He popped out of the castle moat, slithered across the magic bridge and leaped through a hole in the sky. Kati slammed the book shut.
“Let me out,” the worm said.
Kati opened the book and dropped the worm into a glass jar. “You ate my favorite book,” she said.
“Was it your favorite too?” the worm asked. “I never would have guessed. There wasn’t a bite mark on it.”
“That’s because I don’t eat books. I read them,” Kati said.
Before the worm could say another word Kati put a lid on the jar. She shoved the jar in her backpack and rode her bike to the park. There she let the worm out under a bush.
“What am I supposed to eat now?” the worm asked...
