FREE INTERACTIVE STORY · AGES 8–10
The Book of Bubbles: a free interactive story
In the Underwater Library, one old book keeps floating off its shelf and leaving a trail of bubbles behind it. Our hero, visiting for the day, makes two choices to solve the mystery with the librarian, and each path ends with a different discovery about the book.
- Reading age 9
- 2 short chapters, 2 choices and 4 endings
- About 3 minutes
- Mystery
Read the story
Choose your hero
Paint it your way
Chapter 1The escaping book
The Underwater Library sat on the sea floor inside a great bubble of air, and its shelves curled up into domes and shell-shaped halls.
Mr Dorado, the librarian, wore a waistcoat with a fish embroidered on the pocket and spoke in a whisper, even when nobody else was there.
“We have a problem,” he whispered to Maya. “One of our oldest books will not stay on its shelf. Every morning I find it somewhere new, with a trail of bubbles behind it.”
The book was called The Tides of Long Ago. It had a cover of faded green leather, and it smelled faintly of salt.
As if it had heard its name, the book wobbled on its shelf, slid out and drifted towards the door, puffing tiny bubbles from between its pages.
What happens next is up to your child
What should Maya do?
Questions for grown-ups to ask
Did you spot it?
- EasyWhere was the library?Answer: On the sea floor, inside a great bubble of air.
- MediumWhat clue showed that the book had moved?Answer: A trail of bubbles behind it.
- HarderWhy did the book keep drifting off? Give the answer for the path you read.Answer: It was trying to visit its oldest reader, the turtle; or an octopus living in it was making it swim.
Talk about it
- Is there a book you would read again and again for eighty years? Why?
- In two endings, the library changes to help readers. What would make your library or school better for every reader?
Words to talk about
- embroidered
- Decorated with a pattern sewn in thread.
- spine
- The back edge of a book, where the pages are joined.
- startled
- Suddenly surprised.
- loyal
- Always there for someone or something you care about.
Reading it together
The Book of Bubbles is a gentle mystery at Litsee’s reading level for age 9. The two first paths lead to two completely different explanations, so it is worth reading both and asking which one the clues pointed to more strongly.
Two endings are about making reading possible for someone who finds it hard: reading aloud, and big print. That is a good way into talking about how libraries help every reader.
If your child enjoys it, visit your local library together and ask to see the large-print and audiobook shelves.
About this story
- Reading age
- 9 (ages 8–10). Written for Litsee’s reading level for age 9, where sentences are mostly 10–18 words long.
- Length
- 2 short chapters, 2 choices and 4 endings. Each way through is 303–319 words.
- Reading time
- About 3 minutes for a 9-year-old reading on their own, at Litsee’s pacing of 120 words a minute for that age. Reading aloud to your child is usually quicker.
- Book band
- Roughly Grey, if your child’s school uses book bands (schemes differ; see our book bands guide).
- Characters
- Mr Dorado, the librarian, a young octopus called Ink, an old sea turtle
- Theme
- Mystery