Author’s Note: The following story first appeared in Kingdom Ascension and will be available only on Tell A Fairy Tale Day 2024. If you’ve arrived at this page any day after February 26, 2024, you’ll need to buy the book to read the story. The back story is “The Little Match Girl” character from Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale of the same name is called Valencia. She lives in a magical place called Kingdom. She has four sisters, all fairytale characters. On her quest to become queen, Valencia made the acquaintance of The Bremen Town Musicians and later asked them to come and live with her at her purple palace.

Ticklish

Written by Jim Doran. Illustrated by Dan Johnson.

Blurb: Events crash together when an old friend passes away in his sleep as important dignitaries come to the palace. Queen Valencia must deal with her sorrow, but why does she keep laughing at the most inappropriate moments?

(For more information, consider visiting the Kingdom Ascension page or buying Kingdom Ascension.)