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Lucy Lancaster Has a Secret
Book #1 of Lucy Lancaster
By Willow Coven
Illustrated by Priscilla Burris
Table of Contents
About The Book
Lucy Lancaster, Heidi Heckelbeck’s best friend, discovers her own magic in this first book in a chapter book series full of magical mishaps and everyday childhood adventures.
Lucy Lancaster is good at being a lot of things. She’s a best friend, a stellar student, and a budding Super Flag Tag athlete. But there is one thing she hadn’t planned on being: magic!
One day, mayhem breaks out after Lucy develops a mysterious case of the hiccups that have the magical power to make her dreams and nightmares come true. Luckily, a fellow witch lends a hand, and Lucy learns how to cast her very first spell and get things back under control!
With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Lucy Lancaster chapter books are perfect for beginning readers.
Lucy Lancaster is good at being a lot of things. She’s a best friend, a stellar student, and a budding Super Flag Tag athlete. But there is one thing she hadn’t planned on being: magic!
One day, mayhem breaks out after Lucy develops a mysterious case of the hiccups that have the magical power to make her dreams and nightmares come true. Luckily, a fellow witch lends a hand, and Lucy learns how to cast her very first spell and get things back under control!
With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Lucy Lancaster chapter books are perfect for beginning readers.
Excerpt
Chapter 1 SEIZE THE DAY
Lucy Lancaster was the first student to arrive at her second-grade classroom in Brewster Elementary. Just like she had been first yesterday. And just like she would be first tomorrow!
“Good morning, Mrs. Welli,” Lucy said to her teacher.
Then she went over to the classroom’s fish tank and looked through the glass. There were plants, coral, and shimmering gravel. And so many kinds of fish!
“Good morning, fishies,” Lucy said. “Ready for breakfast?”
Feeding the fish was one bonus of getting to class early.
Lucy sprinkled just the right amount of fish food into the tank. As she closed the lid, a little bit of water splashed on her glasses.
She pulled a small cloth from her pocket to clean off the water. It had star patterns all over it, which matched the stars on her frames. She always carried the cloth around to be prepared for moments like this.
Lucy looked through her sparkling clean glasses and noticed some containers sitting on the back table.
“Wow! Are those caterpillars?” she asked.
“Yes,” Mrs. Welli answered. “We’ll be observing how caterpillars transform into butterflies.”
This was another bonus of getting to class early. Being the first to learn about new science units!
“Ooh, I love butterflies!” said someone behind Lucy. She didn’t even have to turn around to know it was the voice of Heidi Heckelbeck.
“Hi, Heidi! I like your headband,” Lucy said.
“I like yours, too.” Heidi giggled.
It wasn’t hard to tell that Lucy and Heidi were best friends.
Especially when they wore matching headbands to school!
Heidi waved to the caterpillars.
“I hope we’ll see them make cocoons,” she said.
“A caterpillar doesn’t make a cocoon,” said Bruce Bickerson. He put down his backpack before joining Heidi and Lucy at the back table.
Bruce was Lucy’s other best friend. He and Lucy had been buddies since even before Lucy met Heidi.
“A caterpillar makes a chrysalis,” Bruce explained.
“Chris-uh-liss,” Lucy repeated. “Bruce, is there anything you DON’T know?”
Bruce grinned. “I don’t know!”
When class finally started, Mrs. Welli had an announcement.
“I’m going to break you all into pairs,” she explained. “Each pair will get their own caterpillars to observe.”
A partner! Lucy thought, tapping her toes with excitement.
Then Mrs. Welli announced, “Lucy Lancaster and Bryce Beltran, you two will be working together.”
Oh no. In that moment, Lucy wished she had a magic wand.
If she had one, she would magically become partners with Heidi. Or Bruce. Or anyone else.
But magic wasn’t real. So Lucy had no choice.
She was stuck with Bryce.
Lucy Lancaster was the first student to arrive at her second-grade classroom in Brewster Elementary. Just like she had been first yesterday. And just like she would be first tomorrow!
“Good morning, Mrs. Welli,” Lucy said to her teacher.
Then she went over to the classroom’s fish tank and looked through the glass. There were plants, coral, and shimmering gravel. And so many kinds of fish!
“Good morning, fishies,” Lucy said. “Ready for breakfast?”
Feeding the fish was one bonus of getting to class early.
Lucy sprinkled just the right amount of fish food into the tank. As she closed the lid, a little bit of water splashed on her glasses.
She pulled a small cloth from her pocket to clean off the water. It had star patterns all over it, which matched the stars on her frames. She always carried the cloth around to be prepared for moments like this.
Lucy looked through her sparkling clean glasses and noticed some containers sitting on the back table.
“Wow! Are those caterpillars?” she asked.
“Yes,” Mrs. Welli answered. “We’ll be observing how caterpillars transform into butterflies.”
This was another bonus of getting to class early. Being the first to learn about new science units!
“Ooh, I love butterflies!” said someone behind Lucy. She didn’t even have to turn around to know it was the voice of Heidi Heckelbeck.
“Hi, Heidi! I like your headband,” Lucy said.
“I like yours, too.” Heidi giggled.
It wasn’t hard to tell that Lucy and Heidi were best friends.
Especially when they wore matching headbands to school!
Heidi waved to the caterpillars.
“I hope we’ll see them make cocoons,” she said.
“A caterpillar doesn’t make a cocoon,” said Bruce Bickerson. He put down his backpack before joining Heidi and Lucy at the back table.
Bruce was Lucy’s other best friend. He and Lucy had been buddies since even before Lucy met Heidi.
“A caterpillar makes a chrysalis,” Bruce explained.
“Chris-uh-liss,” Lucy repeated. “Bruce, is there anything you DON’T know?”
Bruce grinned. “I don’t know!”
When class finally started, Mrs. Welli had an announcement.
“I’m going to break you all into pairs,” she explained. “Each pair will get their own caterpillars to observe.”
A partner! Lucy thought, tapping her toes with excitement.
Then Mrs. Welli announced, “Lucy Lancaster and Bryce Beltran, you two will be working together.”
Oh no. In that moment, Lucy wished she had a magic wand.
If she had one, she would magically become partners with Heidi. Or Bruce. Or anyone else.
But magic wasn’t real. So Lucy had no choice.
She was stuck with Bryce.
About The Illustrator
(c) Priscilla Burris
Priscilla Burris is the illustrator and author-illustrator of many books for children. She attributes her love of children’s books and library visits to the East Los Angeles Library. Priscilla loves her role of creating characters and stories for readers everywhere. She lives in sunny Arizona, where she finds the sunrises and sunsets awe-inspiring.
Product Details
- Publisher: Little Simon (February 12, 2025)
- Length: 128 pages
- ISBN13: 9781665963978
- Ages: 5 - 9
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Raves and Reviews
"Lucy's sweet perspective on controlling what you can (like your first spell) and rolling with the rest lends a gentle social-emotional learning lesson to this series starter."
– Booklist, 12/1/2024
"This series opener is perfect for early and relucant readers...The illustrations are full of animation and expression. This is a good read-aloud, even for youngsters to read to their adults."
– School Library Journal, 12/1/24
"Engaging characters, a well-crafted setting, and quick pacing perfectly suit the target audience..."
– Kirkus Review, 11/1/24
"This series spinoff still brings the magic."
– Kirkus Reviews, 11/1/2024
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): Lucy Lancaster Has a Secret Hardcover 9781665963978
