The Secret Message
www.BillieBBrown.com
The Secret Message
published in 2011 by
Hardie Grant Egmont
85 High Street
Prahran,Victoria 3181, Australia
www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior permission of the publishers and copyright owner.
A CiP record for this title is available from the National Library of Australia
Text copyright © 2011 Sally Rippin
Illustration copyright © 2011 Aki Fukuoka
Logo and design copyright © 2011 Hardie Grant Egmont
Design and typeset by Stephanie Spartels
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter
One
Billie B Brown has one pair of bathers, seven seashells and a bucket and spade. Do you know what the B in Billie B Brown stands for?
Beach!
It is the summer holidays and Billie B Brown is at the beach.
Today Billie is going to make a sandcastle. She is going to make the biggest, most beautiful sandcastle you have ever seen.
Billie’s mum reads a book under a beach umbrella. Her dad reads the newspaper. Sometimes they even fall asleep. Can you imagine? They are absolutely no fun at all!
Billie puts on some sunscreen and sits out in the sun.
She starts to build a sandcastle. There’s a family with two girls nearby. The girls are building a sandcastle too. Their sandcastle is very big and very beautiful.
Billie feels a teensy bit jealous. She wishes her best friend Jack was here to help her.
‘Lunch!’ Billie’s mum calls. Just in time. Billie’s tummy is growling like a tiger!
Billie trudges up the beach to sit in the shade. Billie’s mum gives her a sandwich. Even though Billie has wiped her hands, her banana sandwich still tastes crunchy.
Billie’s dad says, ‘Would you like extra sand in your witch?’
He says that every time they eat lunch at the beach, but Billie still laughs.
Billie watches the other girls make their castle. One of them looks about the same age as Billie.
She has ginger hair and freckles and she is wearing pink and white polka-dot bathers. Billie wishes she had fancy bathers.
‘Why don’t you ask if you can play with them?’ Billie’s mum says.
Billie shakes her head. She feels shy.
She would love to play with those kids, but she is too scared to go over and ask them.
What if they don’t want to play with me? Billie thinks. What if they laugh at me or they are mean?
No, Billie decides. It is much safer just to play on my own.