Popstar Girl

Grace

e n o h p o r c i M e l and the Mirac N O W AVA I L A B L E I N T H E S H O P S

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Grace

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e n o h p o r c i M e and the Miracl

FOTO-GEPERSONALISEERDE Personalised photobooks KINDERBOEKEN for children

This book is published by: Bookadoo International P.O. Box 517 1940 AM Beverwijk The NetherlandsFOTO-GEPERSONALISEERDE FUNNY MAGAZINES Copyright Š 2009 Bookadoo International B.V. All rights reserved.

Published in the Netherlands.

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Dear Grace, This lovely book has been made especially for you.

Enjoy the lovely pictures and the fun adventure

Kisses and cuddles from Mummy and Daddy

Grace

Grace et to g t ’ n a c ! p e e l s

T

rembling with excitement, Grace lies in bed. She now knows for sure what she

wants to be when she grows up: a pop star!

And not just any old pop star – no, she wants to be as big and famous as [FavoriteBand].

Grace wants to be the first famous pop star from [TOWN] and show her parents and friends

that she’s got real talent.

‘That’s what I’m going to be!’ she decided.

‘Hmmm’, muttered her Dad. ‘You can put that idea right out of your head.

Oh no. Just because her Dad has a boring job!

That’s not what she wants when she grows up.

She’s going to be a famous pop star. ‘But you can’t sing a single note.’ her Dad added. Hmph.

Like that’s important. I can practice, can’t I? Adults just don’t get it.

Grace would show her parents a thing or two.

With a sleepy smile, she falls into a deep,deep sleep....

for er school, Grace heads he next day, straight aft n’t be disturbed here. the attic. At least she wo starts up an old hairbrush and She locks the door, picks Grace d very out of tune. But singing. Very loudly, an ll and nks it’s going rather we doesn’t hear it. She thi re’s a dance routines until the d an s ng so r he s ce cti pra door. loud hammering at the tting cold.’ d calls. ‘Your dinner’s ge ‘Hey Madonna,’ her Da

T

Grace

ROCKS!

of

G f r a c e

on

E

very day she heads upstairs to practice. And to work on her ‘act’.

But every pop star needs a microphone. And Grace has to sort out the

stage design and a costume. Everything has to be just right, just as it is with [FavoriteBand].

‘Famous pop stars had to start somewhere too,’ she reminds herself. With a critical eye she looks at the result of her hard week’s work. She’s fashioned a microphone and her blackboard is chalked full with “Grace, THE BEST POP STAR IN THE WHOLE WORLD”. Aim for the moon and even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars. Her Grandma had once said to her.

N

ervously, Grace stands in the hallway. Mum and Dad are on the couch. ‘I’ve got a surprise for you, I’m going on stage’, she’d announced at breakfast.

‘Lovely, darling,’ her Mum laughed. ‘I love surprises’. Grace takes a deep breath, opens the door, stands in the middle of the room and clears her throat. Mum holds Dad’s hand tightly. Then she starts singing to her heart’s content, with her eyes shut. Grace gives it her all until she hears a strange sound. When she opens her eyes she sees Mum and Dad clapping, but laughing too. Tears are running down Mum’s cheeks, but she’s doing her best to pretend they’re not there.

‘Way to go! What a talent,’ gasps Dad. ‘Well done, darling’, Mum says. Angry, she stops singing. ‘You just don’t get it,’ she shrieks. She flings her guitar into the corner and storms out of the room.

Grace,

world’s greatest popstar

D

isappointed by her parents reaction, Grace walks the streets feeling down. “It’s

my biggest dream to be a pop star, but nobody will take me seriously. Great

pop stars don’t sing so out of tune that everybody falls about laughing!” She walks over to her Granny and Grandad’s house. Maybe they will appreciate her singing talent? Ten minutes later they are enjoying hot chocolate and biscuits in front of the fire. However, this is still not enough to cheer Grace up. “Why are you so quiet, what’s wrong?”, Granny asks worriedly. Grace tells her the whole story about her biggest wish to become a pop star and about her performance in the living room and about Mum and Dad’s tears of laughter. Talking about what happened makes her upset again. As she finishes her story, Grandad slips out of the room. They hear him digging around in the attic for some time before he comes back down the stairs. He is carrying a pretty box which he places on the table in front of Grace. “Here. This is for you.” he says smiling. “This should help you achieve your pop star dream.” She picks up the box in fascination. It’s quite heavy. What could it be?

S

he opens the box. Her mouth drops open. A microphone – a real microphone! Excited and delighted, she runs to

the stereo to plug it in. But then she remembers: I can’t sing a note. Carefully she blows into the microphone. It works!

‘Hello, I’m Grace,’ booms through the room. What a noise. It sounds great!

‘Let mehe…entertain you,’ Grace carefully sings into her new microphone. She can’t believe her ears! This sounds completely different, she thinks.

I’m not singing out of tune anymore. She tries it again. Wow, what a great voice. Is that me? She carries on singing with her eyes closed. Until she hears something. Mum and Dad are standing in the doorway. With tears in their eyes. Only not from laughing this time. ‘Grace, that sounds really fantastic!’ says Dad, with true emotion in his voice.

F

eeling like she’s on cloud nine, Grace walks to

turn on the TV and hear, “Are you any good at

in our fantastic Pop Star Competition! Send a vide

favourite song and who knows – you could be

her best friend’s house. They singing? Why not take part

o clip of yourself singing your

taking part in our grand TV finale in a month’s time! You’ll also win a recording cont ract and get to go on stage at the biggest stadium in the UK’ Grace sits bolt uprig ht. This is it. This is her chance.

Will you become the new idol?

Grace op on her bed. She turns on as n her bedroom, she puts her Dad’s lapt front of the webcam. She clears her many lights as possible and stands in says: ‘Hello judges! My name is Grace throat, picks up the microphone and s in the world.’ Then she closes her eye and I want to be the greatest pop star end of the song she takes a bow and and sings. As best as she can. At the ds her video clip to the competition. smiles into the camera. Done! She sen it’s just a matter of waiting and Her fingers are trembling slightly. Now hoping they like her performance!

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t’s there in black and

white. ‘Congratulatio ns Grace! You sent in excellent video clip an and we would be ho no ur ed to have you take pa our programme fina rt in le next Saturday.’ Sh e’s in the final! She’s perform! She can’t be actually going to lieve it. She clicks on the search engine an own name. Grace. He d types in her r video clip has been po ste d on lin e and it’s already be viewed 3000 times! en Children all across th

e world have seen he r singing with her m She starts to feel a w icrophone. eird sensation in her tu m m y.

It isn ’t really a nice feelin But it isn’t horrible ei g. ther. She doesn’t qu ite know what it is, but when Mum calls that dinner is re ady, she’s suddenly not very hungry.

Grace o t y a w r e h n o o i d u t s V T e h t

T

he strange sensation stays with her all week. Grace

has checked her bag three times already. The

miracle microphone rests on top of the fantastic new clothes Mum has bought her.

At the studio Grace is taken straight through by a very

busy-looking lady. She’s the TV Producer and talks as fast as she walks . ‘Here’s the dressing room,’ she points out. ‘Later on you’ll have to go to make-up.

Why don’t you get changed now.’ Grace does as she’s told.

Later, another busy-looking lady places her in a sort of dentist’s chair. The lady smears make-up all over her face. When Grace sees herself in the mirror she giggles a bit.

A

nd now the next contestant. She’s already an online sensation.

Her video clip has been viewed more than 6000 times, but can she do

it live? In front of this fantastic audience? Ladies and Gentlemen, Girls and Boys, here she is: Grace!’ Her knees are knocking as she is pushed forward onto the stage. ‘You have to go on’, whispers the TV Producer. With a dry mouth she steps forward into the bright light. Her right hand is clenched tight around the microphone. She hears the music and closes her eyes. And starts to sing. The whooping crowd at once falls silent. Feeling a bit more assured, she carries on singing and opens her eyes only to see lights and a long flight of stairs she must walk down. The room feels like one huge black hole. She places her right foot on the first step. All’s well. Feeling even more relaxed, she carries on singing and walks down the stairs. Once she reaches the gigantic stage she finds she can even smile a little into the camera. This is fun! Before she knows what is happening, she’s sung the last note and it’s all over.

T

he audience stands up to cheer, clap, whistle and stamp their feet.

Trembling, she walks to the wings and waves one last time to

the crowd. The strange sensation has disappeared. Then the presenter appears on the podium. The tension rises. The audience pushes and shoves, nearly all them have a camera in their hand. The countdown begins. To deafening applause Grace accepts the recording contract.

SHE’S WON! This is it.

The start of everything she’s ever dreamed of. The start of her new life as a Pop Star.

S

he’s never seen so many buttons. There must be at least a thousand here in the recording studio. She looks at the man sitting behind them. ‘This is a mixer,’ the

sound engineer kindly explains.

‘With this, I make sure your song sounds the best it can on the recording. However, with your voice we don’t need to worry about that too much!’ he says. Grace laughs. If only that were true. She holds the microphone and enters a small cubicle at the other end of the studio. Grace can see the mixer through a large window, and Mum sitting next to it. She sticks both her thumbs in the air to wish her ‘Good luck!’ Ever since she’s had the microphone, Mum’s been her biggest fan. She’s proudly told all her friends how well her daughter can sing.

‘Are you ready?’ asks the sound engineer. She nods. When she’s finished the sound engineer stands up and claps vigorously. ‘I’ve never experienced anything like it,’ he says.

‘I swear you’ve done it perfectly in one take.’ He looks at her Mum in amazement. ‘Your daughter has great talent.’ Mum nods in agreement. ‘My husband and I have always said so,’ she replies, as she winks at Grace.

Please close the door!

I

n a panic, Grace flings open all of the drawers in her bedroom. She crouches down and looks under her bed. How

can this have happened? She franticly looks under her desk and in all her bags and boxes. But finds nothing. She feels her lip begin to tremble. The magic microphone really has gone! She bites down hard on her bottom lip. Don’t cry. Keep looking. It must be here somewhere! But deep down she knows it’s no use. She’s searched the entire house three times. She’s checked the garage, the car and the recording studio. And nothing. But she was sure she had brought it home with her. It can’t just disappear like that, surely? She puts on her coat and goes out to find Granny and Grandad. They’ll make everything alright.

But then suddenly there is a very loud scream. “It’s really her!

I told you, didn’t I?” someone says behind her and for the next two hours she’s too busy handing out autographs and smiling for photographs to even think about her missing miracle microphone.

I

n a sleepy daze, Grace walks downstairs

a huge pile of fan letters waiting for her

over the world are sending her cards and

and ask her all sorts of questions. ‘If only

anymore,’ she panics. She didn’t sleep a

in her dressing gown. There’s on the mat! Children from all

letters. They want an autograph they knew that I can’t sing

wink last night. She doesn’t dare to even try it. Singing without her mira cle microphone. What am I supposed to do now? When she turns on the radio in the kitchen it booms out: ‘And now, time for the new single by Grace! She’s gone straight to number 1! The CDs are flying off the shel ves. And because we love it, we’re going to play it back-to-back!’ Sick with fear, she quickly turns off the radio.

NSG O S RETAO SSUIBNJERCDTOS SIP I HA SH S

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Grace

t r e c n o live in c

Grac

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earing that Grace is going to appear in concert, a group of

screaming fans has gathered outside the front door. They have been there

Grace LIVE IN CONCERT

for more than three nights! At her ticket shop Mrs. Brown sells her last ticket to the concert of the century with a shake of her head. Grace in concert at the largest stadium in the UK. She looks at her watch, it didn’t even take five minutes for the concert to sell out. She’s kept one ticket behind for herself. Her own child is a great fan, you see, and she is determined to go too.

A

bundle of nerves, Grace gets into

the black limo which has pulled up outside. She’s nev er seen such a long car. For a brief moment she forg ets all her worries. Even when the whole world finds out that her singing voice now sounds more like a wailing cat, they won’t be able to take this away from her. Inside the lim o, Grace can’t believe she’s about to perform without her mir acle microphone. Anxiously she peers outside. ‘I wish I could join in again’, she thinks as she sees her neighbourhood friends playing together. As the limo drives off, Grace closes her eyes and wishes for a miracle.

I

t’s now or never for Grace. After the audience have been calling for her for half an hour, and

it’s been announced three times that she’s ‘nearly here’, Grace has to go on stage. Trembling, she walks towards the enormous stage. The band is already playing, the lightshow sweeps overhead as she hears the frenzied crowd cheer. There, right in the middle of the stage, just a couple of metres away, the microphone awaits her.

She walks towards it slowly. Just another couple of seconds, then the whole world will know she’s not been very honest. That she can’t sing at all. As Grace takes her place it instantly becomes deathly quiet.

The band stops playing. She takes a deep breath and looks up.

Gr

IN CONCE RT ace

S

he shuts both eyes and opens her mouth. She starts to sing

She can barely bring herself to listen. A little bit more.... the

start clapping. It’s going well! She starts singing without her

softly. crowd

miracle microphone and nobody is laughing. She really can do it! She sees her Dad who looks extremely proud of her. He has his arm firmly around Mum and both have huge smiles on their faces. All at once her nerves are gone, now she gives it her all. Grace sings better than anyon e has ever heard before and even improvises a dance routine. We want more!

We want more! We want more! The crowd chants‌..

S

he awakes with a jolt. ‘Grace, it’s time for school, hurry up!’, her Mum shouts from downstairs. To school? Wait a minute, what

does she mean, school? She’s a pop star, they don’t have to go to school? She rubs her eyes, but doesn’t see any platinum records anywhere. No posters with her name on them. Slowly it sinks in. ‘It was all a dream. I dreamt I was a pop star.’ Angrily she gets out of bed. ‘That’s just great. Now I have to start all over again!’ She clears her throat and sings a few bars. There’s that wailing cat again!

Her Mum comes into the room. ‘Aren’t you dressed yet?’ she asks, all in a rush. ‘You’ll be late you know. And clear up this mess.’ She picks something up from the floor, puts it on his desk and turns to go downstairs. Grace looks at it. And her heart nearly stops beating.

There, in the middle of her desk. It’s really there. The miracle microphone!

Grace Grace

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