Product Description

The Shell of Laughter, which is the source of all laughter on earth, has been stolen. It is the job of Staid, the elf, to distribute laughter all over the world using trade winds, siroccos, Zephyrs, jet streams, the Chinook, and other winds. Along with a leprechaun, a hedgehog, a witch, and several fairy friends, Thistle must help Staid recover the Shell of Laughter from Killjoy Crosspatch â€" the evil Spirit of Sorrow. During this adventure, the fairies meet a wood gnome, unicorns, and a bobolink bird. They also learn what laughter is made of.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1633699 in Books
• Published on: 2005-11-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 56 pages

From the Author
The Fairy Chronicles is a series of modern fairy tales full of magical creatures, both good and evil, and heroic characters who participate in dangerous missions to protect nature and fix serious problems. Ideal for all ages, reading levels ages 7 to 12, the stories include a diverse set of fairy characters and a wide variety of other magical creatures such as trolls, brownies, witches, dwarves, gnomes, elves, unicorns, goblins, wizards, dragons, ogres, magic gargoyles, gremlins, demons, nymphs, giants, and many more.

Each story has some sort of problem to be solved such as recovering the stolen Shell of Laughter, helping to break an evil curse, solving the mystery of the Magic Snowglobe, rescuing kidnapped bat fairies, trying to locate missing human shadows, or helping a dragon complete a dangerous quest. Characters and readers learn interesting things such as why fairies fear jigsaw puzzles, what the trolls’ favorite foods are, how dragons are born, why the flamingo stands on one foot, the reason human beings have a shadow, what the grasshopper uses buttons for, where courage comes from, how hope is spread around the world, and what causes nightmares. The Fairy Chronicles are stand-alone books and can be read in any order.

Visit fairychronicles.com for more information about the series.

About the Author
J.H. Sweet lives in South Texas. She has a degree in English from Texas State University. In addition to recording stories the fairies have told her, she enjoys hiking, photography, knitting, and basketry.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Excerpt from pp. 26-27

As the fairies and Madam Robin traveled with Staid through the woods, he told them more about his job. “I have only made one mistake in a hundred years,” he said. “I caught the same trade wind twice and distributed double the laughter in Mexico. It was not a good thing. People were laughing at funerals, at solemn church services, and at very serious tragic play performances. I had to meet with Mother Nature to explain.”

Staid shivered a little and went on. “She was in undertow form when I talked to her. Even though I can’t drown or die, it was still very frightening.”

The fairies nodded understandingly, and Madam Robin chirped sympathetically. None of them had ever met Mother Nature. She was the guardian of magical creatures and supervisor of all nature activities. Mother Nature was very busy, extremely powerful, and was often in dangerous forms like blizzard, earthquake, and lightning. No one could ever know when she would be in a safe form like cloud, rainbow, or mist.

As she flew alongside Madam Robin, Thistle looked up the Shell of Laughter in her fairy handbook. She read the entry aloud to Dragonfly and Marigold who were close by:

“The Shell of Laughter: The Shell of Laughter is the source of all laughter on earth. It is actually a factory that produces laughter, like a manufacturing plant. Inside, the shell is divided into sections called chambers. Each chamber contains a key ingredient or component of laughter. The components of laughter include the following: buried treasure, the sound of puppies barking, a two-part joke, bubbles, Christmas snow, soprano wind chimes, eighteen tickle feathers, and birdsong.”

The fairies and Madam Robin all smiled, delighted to learn what laughter was made of. But Staid didn’t smile. He simply frowned and stared. Then he frowned some more. It seemed he took his job so seriously that he never smiled. In fact, he had not smiled or laughed for over one hundred years.

Customer Reviews

What is Laughter?
It is a pretty cute idea this book puts forth, that laughter is made of things like bubbles, tickle feathers, birdsong, and other things, all mixed up in correct proportions inside the manufacturing plant of the Shell of Laughter. The fairies have to figure out what has happened when the shell goes missing, and they have to go on a mission to get the shell back. I also like the idea that laughter is spread by various winds. My daughter liked the hedgehog best in this story. I only wish the books of this series had illustrations. That is pretty much the only thing I would change about this book. Otherwise, the story is wonderful.

Jessie Fraser, mom, reader of children's stories, forever kid at heart

well written for the imagination
I baught these books for my daughter who just learned to read she will be in first grade this year and just loves fairies. She loves these books as well as drawing and pretending shes the characters in the stories. I would highly recommend it to any one whose child can read at least at a 2nd grade level and loves fairies and using their imagination.

Fun Fairies
I like fairies alot. My mom got me this book. The fairies are cute. Thistle is Grace and she gets along with brownies.
The shell is fun. Part of the shell is a joke. You will know what I mean when you read it. I read it twice.
I like it a lot. Unicorns like apples.