Achoo!
Ember the Fire Dragon had big news for her friend Gus.
“I have big news . . .” she began. Then she sneezed!
ACHOO! Sparks shot from her nose.
PAUSE AND THINK: What is the problem in the story?
Art by Carolina Vázquez
The Missing Jewel
By Tracey West
From the February 2026 Issue
Learning Objective: Students will retell the events of a fiction story.
Lexiles: 460L
Featured Skill: Character
Standards
“I think those pink flowers made you sneeze,” said Gus the Mushroom Dragon.
“Maybe,” Ember said.
“Did you have big news for me?” Gus asked.
“I did,” Ember said. “The Jewel of the Hill is missing! The big dragons are looking for it.”
“That is bad!” Gus cried.
“The jewel is very important.
It helps protect Dragon Hill.”
“We have to try to help!” said Ember.
She ran off.
“Wait!” Gus cried. “How can we help? We are just small dragons.
“We can look for clues,”
Ember said.
She stopped. “Look!”
“Those are squirrel footprints!” said Gus.
Ember and Gus followed the footprints.
They led to a squirrel.
“Do you think she has the jewel?” Ember asked
Suddenly, the tree moved.
It was a Tree Dragon!
“Hi, I’m Twig,” he said. “I saw the squirrel hide something shiny. Look in that hole over there.”
“Thanks, Twig!” Gus said.
Ember and Gus found the hole.
“It is dark in there,” said Gus.
Ember frowned. “I wish I could use my sparks to light things up.”
“I have an idea,” Gus said. He ran off.
Gus came back holding some pink flowers. He put the flowers under Ember’s nose.
Ember sneezed. Sparks shot out.
ACHOO!
“Great thinking, Gus!” Ember said.
She sniffed the flowers again. She aimed the
sparks inside the hole.
The sparks lit up the hole.
Gus saw the yellow jewel. He grabbed it.
“Yay!” Ember cheered. “We found the jewel.”
Based on the Dragon Hill book series by Tracey West
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Text-to-Speech