Pop Star Princess by Janey Louise Jones Read Free Book Online

concentration, nerves and fun for Poppy, and when they finished, everyone in the audience stood up and clapped and cheered.
    â€œAgain! Again! Encore!” called the audience.
    Daisy looked over to the judges, who all nodded. So the girls sang it all over again. Finally they left the stage to a rowdy standing ovation.
    The moment when the judges revealedtheir decision came quickly. Johnny McDonald stood up, reading from a sheet in front of him. He began the torturous in reverse order.
    â€œIn third place, we have little Blossom Darling with
Ballet School Rap
. It was sweet, original and we liked it – you’ve got real potential, so keep at it. In second place is Caves ’n’ Rocks. What a great boy band, really promising. Keep going, guys! But in first place, the band that will be going to the finals in the City, by unanimous decision of the judges, is . . . the Beach Babes with their brilliant song,
Chocolate Sundae Girls
!”

    The crowd’s reaction sounded likethunder. Poppy thought she would faint as they went back on stage and sang their song for a final time.

    There was a huge fuss after the results, with cameras flashing and reporters crowding around. But as she was smiling and laughing with the rest of the band, Poppy saw Lilac and her family slip off and walk away quietly, all looking very sad, especially Lilac.
    â€œMum,” said Poppy as she was being tucked into bed later that night, exhausted from all the excitement and the celebrations, “why do there have to be winners and losers – it means that the winner is happy and the loser is sad. I don’t like other people to feel sad.”
    â€œI know what you mean, Poppy. But we all have a mixture of happy times and not so happy times. We should never set out to make other people unhappy though, never, and if you lose something, you should always try to be happy for the winners, just like Lilac was for you in the end. Did you see her clapping and cheering?”
    â€œYes, Mum,” said Poppy, yawning. “but she looked so sad after the competition, and even though what she did was wrong, I don’t want her to be sad.”
    â€œI’m sure she’ll feel better soon, darling. What Lilac did was wrong and it was braveof her to confess, but it is always better to be honest in the first place and then, hopefully, you’ll never feel the way Lilac is feeling right now.”
    Poppy nodded drowsily and reached out to hug her mother. “I just can’t wait for all those free chocolate sundaes Fleur promised us!”
    Mum giggled. “My little pop star princess,” she said, feeling very proud of her eldest daughter, and not just because she had won the contest.

About the Author
    Janey was born in Edinburgh and grew up by the seaside just outside the city. Janey published the first two Princess Poppy books herself (with her own illustrations) and the books were so popular that Random House Children’s Books soon bought the series and re-packaged the books. The series is now going from strength to strength, including picture books, activity books and sumptuous gift books. Janey has also written two Princess Poppy novels for young readers,
Pocket Money Princess
and
A True Princess,
both of which have been very successful.
    Janey read English at Edinburgh University specializing in the Victorian novel. Following this she became a teacher – a career that she absolutely adored – and then, with her husband, set up The Jelly Club, which has become an extremely successful chain of children’s activity centres in Scotland. She still very much enjoys visiting schools and talking to children to find out what they like doing and what makes them laugh. Janey and her husband live in Edinburgh with their three sons.

POP STAR PRINCESS
    AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 407 09811 1
    Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
    an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
    A Random House