Daisy
&
the big
mirror
Story created by the award winning children’s author Andy Blackford
Brought to you by Chad Valley Toys
E XPERTS HAVE PROVEN
that just 15 minutes open play every day can make
an enormous difference to the development
A
LL THE TOYS agreed, ‘Daisy was fine – until Emily
got the big mirror.’
‘Yup,’ said Misty the pony, ‘that’s when it all went wrong.’
Emily had pestered her mum for ages about the mirror.
‘I’m getting too tall,’ she complained. The little mirror on top
of my cupboard was fine when I was small. All of me would
fit into it. Now I can only see a bit of me at a time. I need a big
mirror so I can see all of me at the same time.’
In the end, her mum gave in. She took Emily to the Shopping
Centre in the town. The Centre was huge. There were so many
shops to see that Emily thought her head was going to explode.
Then, in the basement of one furniture shop, she saw the perfect
mirror. It stood on the floor and was even taller than she was.
And in it she could see all of herself, from the tips of her toes
to the top of her head. The frame was a pretty turquoise colour,
with little pink flowers.
‘That’s it, Mummy!’ she cried. ‘Please can I have that one?’
Her mum had to put down the back seats of the car so
the mirror would fit in. When they got home, Emily said,
‘Can we put it in my room straight away?’
Her mum sighed and smiled. ‘Come on, then!
You take one end and I’ll take the other. Be very
careful on the stairs.’
of your child. It sparks originality and curiosity.
Play lights up children’s imagination.
Enjoy your story together. It’s time to play.
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Soon the mirror was standing in Emily’s bedroom. ‘It does
look nice,’ admitted her mum. Emily was happy and excited.
‘Now I’m going to try on all of my dresses and see what they
look like in my new mirror!’
She could have spend all day looking at her clothes in the mirror,
but her mum called her down to lunch.
Her room has a complete tip – she’d left all of her dresses, skirts
and tops in a heap in the middle of the floor. Once she’d gone
downstairs, everything was still and quiet. Then suddenly the
heap began to move! Then a pretty little face popped out of the
top. It was Daisy, Emily’s doll. ‘Phew!’ she said to herself. ‘I was
afraid I might be stuck under that lot for the whole afternoon!’
She jumped down onto the floor and stretched and yawned.
Then out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Emily’s new
mirror. ‘Wow!’ she cried. ‘WOW! That’s brilliant!’ And she
paraded up and down, admiring her reflection.
She jumped when a voice said, ‘You look beautiful, Daisy!’
It was Misty the pony.
‘Do I?’ said Daisy.
Misty nodded. ‘Just like a model!’
Daisy blushed. ‘Oh, thank you, Misty!’
‘You look like one of those girls on the front of a magazine.’
Daisy smiled sweetly at herself in the mirror. And she
walked up and down again – then once more… ‘Like a model!’
she whispered to herself.
N
EXT DAY, Daisy got up so early it was still dark.
The family was still asleep. She spent a whole hour brushing
her hair and choosing a dress to wear. Then she went to find
Misty who was still asleep in her box. ‘Wake up, Misty!’ she said.
‘Wha-a-at?’ groaned Misty. ‘Is something wrong?’
‘No,’ said Daisy. ‘I just need you to give me a ride into the town.’
‘The TOWN?’ squeaked Misty. ‘But that’s miles! Why?’
‘Because,’ said Daisy, ‘I’ve decided to be a supermodel. You don’t
get supermodels in little villages like ours. They all live in big
towns. So I have to go to the town.’
‘But… but…’ said Misty. ‘What will Emily say?
She’ll miss you terribly!’
‘I know,’ said Daisy sadly. ‘And I’ll miss her,
too. But a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do.
When I’m a famous supermodel, I’ll come back
and visit, I promise. And you can all have your
picture taken with me. Now come on, Misty,
give me a ride please!’
They set off down the dusty drive towards the road with Daisy
riding Misty and her suitcases strapped over the pony’s back.
‘You’re too heavy,’ moaned the little horse. ‘I’ll never be able to
carry you all the way to the town!’
Daisy jumped to the ground. ‘Don’t worry, Misty – I understand.’
Now you might think that Daisy was just being kind, but really
it was because the dust was spoiling her dress and the breeze
was messing up her hair.
‘I know,’ she thought to herself, ‘I’ll ask Freddie to help me.’
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Freddie was a bright red fire engine who belonged to Emily’s
little brother, George. When Daisy reached the cottage,
she went upstairs to George’s room. George was asleep, but
Freddie was already awake and doing his morning exercises.
‘You have to keep in shape when you’ve got an important
job like mine,’ he told Daisy.
When she asked him to drive her to the town, he said yes
straightaway. ‘Always ready to help out in an emergency!’ he said.
Daisy threw her suitcases up onto Freddie’s back and climbed
into the cab – then off they went. Freddie was much faster than
dear Misty, and he couldn’t help showing off by switching
on his siren as he drove into the car park of the Shopping Centre.
Daisy had never seen so many shops – she thought her head
was going to explode. In the end, she picked the one with the
nicest clothes in the window.
‘Can I help you?’ asked the young assistant.
‘I’d like to be a supermodel, please,’ said Daisy.
The assistant stared at her. ‘A supermodel?’ she said.
Daisy smiled. ‘Yes please!’
‘Not just a model, then?’
‘Daisy frowned. ‘No, I don’t think so.
A super one would be best.’
‘Wait here,’ said the girl.
‘I’ll just fetch the manager.’
The manager was a kind lady who offered Daisy a seat and
a glass of milk. ‘So you want to be a model, I hear?’ she said.
‘Yes, please,’ replied Daisy. ‘A supermodel actually.’
‘Well, I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place, my dear.
We don’t have much call for that sort of thing in our little town.
You should really go to Paris. That’s the place for supermodels.
Daisy was disappointed. ‘Oh. I see. Can you get there by
fire engine?’
The lady laughed. ‘I suppose you could, but it would be much
quicker to fly!’
‘Fly?’ gasped Daisy. ‘But how would I…’ And then she had an
idea – a brilliant idea. ‘Thank you very much!’ she cried. ‘I’d love
to stay and chat but I’m afraid I must be going now.’
She rushed out into the car park. ‘Come on, Freddie! Drive me
home, please, as fast as you can!’
T
HAT MORNING, Emily had looked for Daisy everywhere.
‘I’m SURE I left her in my room,’ she said to herself.
Little Isabella the baby doll was upset because Daisy
wasn’t there. Emily had to give her lots of cuddles to keep
her from crying.
Then Misty told her, ‘I saw Daisy just now, up in George’s room.’
‘George’s room?’ frowned Emily. ‘What on earth is she doing
up there?’
‘She’s putting her suitcases in the aeroplane,’ Misty replied.
‘AEROPLANE?’ cried Emily. ‘What’s going on?’
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She raced upstairs to George’s room and sure enough, Daisy was
packing her suitcases into the hold of the big purple and white
jet plane. The aeroplane was almost ready to take off – the lights
were flashing and the engines were roaring.
Emily laughed and kissed her. ‘But they won’t like you –
they’ll only like your picture! All your friends, here at home –
we know the real you. And we don’t just like you, we love you!
Don’t we, Misty?’
‘Daisy!’ Emily shouted above the noise. ‘Where are you going?’
Misty nodded and gave a little neigh.
‘Paris!’ called Daisy. ‘I’m going to be a supermodel! I’ll be back
when I’m famous. Next week, probably!’
Emily said, ‘So I’ve got an idea. George will draw a beautiful
picture of you on his Magnetic Easel! Won’t you, George?’
‘Wait!’ shouted Emily.
‘Huh?’ said George. Emily made a scary face at him. ‘Oh yes –
sure. I’ll get it out right now!’
All the noise woke George. “What on earth is happening?”
he murmured sleepily, climbing out of bed.
Emily picked Daisy up gently. ‘Darling Daisy, you can’t just fly
off to a big strange city where nobody knows you! You’ll get lost
and you’ll have nowhere to stay and you’ll soon be very lonely
and very hungry!’
‘Hungry?’ frowned Daisy, who was very fond of her food.
‘Yes, and lonely. Think what it would be like – no Isabella,
no Misty, no me…’
Daisy suddenly sat down in a heap. She looked as if she was
going to cry. ‘But I want to be a supermodel! I was looking
in your new mirror and Misty told me I looked like a girl from
the front of a magazine!’
‘And so you do, Daisy! You look lovely! But why do you want
to be a model?’
‘So that people will like me!’
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‘Then we’ll get Mummy to take a photograph, and we’ll put
it up on the wall where all your friends can see.’
‘Really?’ said Daisy, blowing her nose. ‘That would be nice.’
‘Oh – and there’s something else,’ said Emily. ‘I’m going to ask
Mummy if she’ll take that mirror back to the shop. I don’t really
need one that big – and it’s caused nothing but trouble!’
‘Good idea!’ said Misty and Freddie and George, all together.
‘So why don’t you brush your hair and choose something nice
to wear,’ said Emily – and then George can get started!’
‘Alright then,’ said Daisy, happily. ‘Oh – and do you think I could
have a sandwich?’
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at www.argos.co.uk/chadvalley
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