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Molly: The Tortoise that Lost Her Shell

by Elaine Spoors; Illustrated by Karen Middleton

22 pages; Saddle stitched; catalogue #07-2973; ISBN 1-4251-6450-1; US$13.46, C$13.46, EUR9.20, £6.95

Molly mysteriously loses her shell. She meets Lucy and together they search for the wise owl, the white rabbit and the Wizard who can magic her a new one.

About the Book

Molly the tortoise mysteriously loses her shell. She runs away from the cruel family that she lives with and she eventually finds shelter in a warm barn on a farm. Lucy the farmer’s daughter looks after her and her mam knits Molly a woollen jumper to keep her warm.

Molly and Lucy go on an adventure through spooky woods where they meet a wise owl who knows about a wizard who could magic her new shell. They find the wizard’s castle and the wizard tells them that he knows a spell for making a new shell, but he needs a special silver tooth that only the white rabbit has.

Lucy goes off to find the white rabbit, and despite an evil black rabbit who tries to stop them, they both get back to the wizard’s castle. While preparing the spell a magpie steals the silver tooth but Lucy cleverly gets it back. Now the wizard can carry out his spell and his magic words and candle smoke cause time to stand still. A blue mist fills the room as a new shell starts to form on Molly’s back.

At first she doesn’t believe it, but then she sees her reflection in a brass fire surround. Her new shell is even more colourful and beautiful than the one she lost. She is so happy, especially when Lucy tells her that she can live with her and her mam and dad on the farm, and be part of a happy family.

About the Author

Elaine Spoors (nee Maughan) was born in Newbottle, County Durham, England, on April 1st 1947. She married Gerry Spoors when she was 18 and together they had three children. They lived for most of their married life in Peterlee, County Durham where Elaine either worked or helped out at the local primary school. Together they raised thousands of pounds for the school.

Elaine loved children and often played with kids in the school yard and told them stories. She was known as Nanny Spoors to thousands of children over the years. When the school closed she missed the children a lot and decided to start writing down the stories that she had in her head. “Molly: The tortoise that lost her shell,” was the first of these stories and was inspired by the family pet tortoise, also called Molly.

Sadly, before the story was finished, Elaine died suddenly of a ruptured brain aneurysm. Gerry knew what Elaine had in mind so he finished it off and engaged an excellent illustrator, Karen Middleton, to bring Molly to life in pictures.

Elaine’s family have started a charity called the ‘Elaine Spoors Foundation’ to raise money to carry out research into the early detection and treatment of brain aneurysms, and any profits from ‘Molly’ will go to the charity.