To Charo Romeu, who knows how to look at the world through the holes in the air. - Carmen Gil To my niece Carla and my nephews Miguel and Rodrigo, hoping that their dreams fill up with holes like the ones in this story. - Mónica Carretero -
The Box of Holes Text © Carmen Gil Illustrations © Mónica Carretero This edition © 2013 Cuento de Luz SL Calle Claveles 10 | Urb Monteclaro | Pozuelo de Alarcón | 28223 | Madrid | Spain www.cuentodeluz.com Title in Spanish: La caja de los agujeros English translation by Jon Brokenbrow ISBN: 978-84-15784-44-9 Printed by Shanghai Chenxi Printing Co., Ltd. xxxx 2013, print number xxx All rights reserved
Carmen Gil
The Box of Holes
Illustrated by M贸nica Carretero
Andrea arrived home with a big smile on her face. In her hands she held the box of holes that Mr. Gordon had sold her.
Her mom, however, was anything but happy. “Andrea, holes aren’t anything! That box is empty!” “It isn’t empty,” insisted the little girl, and she ran off to her bedroom, clutching the box tightly against her chest.
She opened it carefully, put her hand inside, and felt as though hundreds of butterflies were fluttering in her heart. Andrea took a hole from inside the box and looked at it inquisitively. It was shaped like a peanut, or an oak leaf.
Suddenly, she heard a tiny, angry voice. “That’s mine!” It was a mouse with big ears, and he was running around one of the legs of the chair. “I work for the Tooth Fairy, and what you just pulled out of that box is one of the holes from my favorite cheese.” Andrea was amazed. Imagine talking to a mouse who collects teeth!
The mouse grabbed his hole and ran off down the hall, grumbling to himself: “Don’t make me waste my time. I’ve got lots of dollar bills to stick under hundreds of kids’ pillows. I’m in a real rush!” After watching the little mouse mutter his way down the hall, Andrea went back to her room.
Hidden pages
Andrea’s mom doesn’t understand how an old box full of holes can be of any use, but her daughter is just over the moon about her latest acquisition—and rightly so! When she takes off the lid, the little girl pulls out holes in all shapes and sizes that lead her to discover remarkable characters who fill her room with amazing stories.
The Box of Holes is a bewitching tale that shows us how our imaginations can fill in many gaps in our lives, bringing smiles to our faces that we should never, ever give up as lost.