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WINNIE IN SPACE_INSIDES copy 21/4/10 13:52 Page 4

Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul

Front endpapers by Kieran Rivers aged 7
Back endpapers by Bethany Crosbie aged 11
Thank you to Dunmore Primary School, Abingdon, Oxfordshire
for helping with the endpapers – K.P.
For Helen Mortimer – V.T.
For Molly Dallas – K.P.

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© Text copyright Valerie Thomas 2010
© Illustrations copyright Korky Paul 2010
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WINNIE IN SPACE_INSIDES copy 21/4/10 13:52 Page 6

Winnie the Witch loved to look

through her telescope at the
night sky.
It was huge and dark and
mysterious. ‘I’d love to go into
space, Wilbur,’ Winnie would say.
‘It would be such a big adventure.’
Wilbur, Winnie’s big black cat,
loved to be outside at night too.
He liked to chase moths and bats
and shadows.
That was enough adventure
for Wilbur.
WINNIE IN SPACE_INSIDES copy 21/4/10 13:52 Page 8

Then one night, when the moon

and stars were bright, Winnie
suddenly said, ‘Let’s go into
space right now, Wilbur!’
‘Meeow?’ said Wilbur.
‘But how will we get there?’
wondered Winnie. ‘We need
a rocket, and I don’t have a
rocket.’ Then she looked up
at the moon, and she had
a wonderful idea.
She waved her magic wand,
shouted,
WINNIE IN SPACE_INSIDES copy 21/4/10 13:53 Page 10

. . . and there, on the roof, was a

rocket. Winnie packed a picnic
basket, got her Big Book of Spells,
just in case, and ran up the stairs
with Wilbur.
Winnie shut her eyes, waved
her magic wand, and shouted,

10
9
87
6
5
4 . . .
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1 . . .
The rocket shot off
the roof and into space.
WINNIE IN SPACE_INSIDES copy

It went very very fast.

And it was hard to steer.
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‘Oops!’
Winnie nearly flew
13:53

into a satellite.
Page 12

‘Oops!’
Was that a
flying saucer?’

‘Oops!’
That was a
falling star, Wilbur!’

HOOSH!
W
WINNIE IN SPACE_INSIDES copy 21/4/10 13:54 Page 14

‘Meeow!’said Wilbur.
He put his paws over
his eyes.
‘We’ll find a lovely
planet for our picnic,
Wilbur,’ Winnie said.
Wilbur peeped out from
behind his paws. There were
little planets everywhere.
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‘Here’s a sweet little planet,’

Winnie said. ‘We’ll have our
picnic here.’

‘Purr!’ said Wilbur.

He loved picnics.

PLOP! The rocket landed.

All was quiet and peaceful. But
there were funny little holes
everywhere. Wilbur looked
down the holes. They seemed
to be empty . . .
Winnie unpacked the food.
There were pumpkin scones,
chocolate muffins, some cherries,
and cream for Wilbur.
Yum!
WINNIE IN SPACE_INSIDES copy 21/4/10 13:55 Page 18

A space rabbit hopped

over to try some cream.
Yuck! Then some of the space rabbits
hopped over to the rocket.
They sniffed it . . .
A little head popped out of a
hole, and then there were heads
everywhere.
‘Rabbits!’ said Winnie.
‘Space rabbits are coming
to our picnic!’
Another space rabbit
‘Meeow!’ said Wilbur. tried a pumpkin scone.
Horrible.

Chocolate muffins?
Disgusting.
Cherries?

Yuck!
WINNIE IN SPACE_INSIDES copy 21/4/10 13:55 Page 20

and took a bite. Then the rocket

was covered in space rabbits.
‘Oh no!’ shouted Winnie.
She waved her magic wand,
shouted,

and carrots and lettuces rained

down on the rabbits. But the
space rabbits didn’t like carrots
or lettuces.
‘Of course!’ said Winnie.
She waved her magic wand,
shouted,
WINNIE IN SPACE_INSIDES copy 21/4/10 13:56 Page 22

. . . and there was a giant

pile of metal.
Scrumptious!
But it was too late . . .
Saucepans,
wheelbarrows,
bicycles,
cars,
even a fire engine.
Yes! That was what
space rabbits liked.
WINNIE IN SPACE_INSIDES copy 21/4/10 13:56 Page 24

The space rabbits had eaten up

all of Winnie’s metal rocket.
‘Blithering broomsticks!’
shouted Winnie. ‘Now how will
we get home?’

‘Meeeow!’ said Wilbur.

Winnie looked at the giant pile
of metal. ‘Perhaps,’ she said.
‘Maybe. I wonder.’

She looked in her Big Book of

Spells. ‘Yes!’ she said.
Then she picked up her magic
wand, waved it five times, and
shouted,

There was a flash of fire, a bang . . .

 WINNIE IN SPACE_INSIDES copy

and there, on top of the giant

pile of metal, was a rattling,
roaring scrap metal rocket.
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Winnie and Wilbur climbed

up to the rattling, roaring
rocket and jumped in.
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VROOM!
The rocket blasted away.
It rushed and roared
through space.
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WHUMP!
The rocket landed in Winnie’s
garden.

‘That was an adventure, Wilbur,’

Winnie said. ‘But I’m glad we’re
home.’
‘Purr, purr, purr,’
said Wilbur.
He was very glad to be home.
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You probably know the names of

the nine planets in the solar system,
but can you remember the order
of the planets from the nearest to
the furthest from the Sun?

Winnie can help! Use her simple

mnemonic and you will never forget!

My very easy

Mercury Venus Earth

magic just simply

Mars Jupiter Saturn

uses nine planets

Uranus Neptune Pluto