Parent Guide - The Enchanted Slumber

In this fairy-tale themed mystery, a knight, a troll, a librarian and a dragon need the help of a brave and clever kid to help them wake a princess who has been asleep for 699 years. The Enchanted Slumber was written by a Mom, illustrated by a Mom and designed by a Mom. The story has strong messages about love, friendship and working together to face seemingly insurmountable tasks.


Please note that envelopes are numbered on the back. Due to supply issues some envelope and paper colors may vary from what is listed in this guide.

Installment #1

What is in it?
-Blue envelope 6” x 9”
-2 page letter on blue paper from a knight
-Smaller red envelope sealed with blue wax
-“Noble mission” on parchment paper 

What is happening in the story?
Kids get a letter from a knight asking for help to wake a princess who has been sleeping for 699 years. A separate wax-sealed envelope contains the “Official Rules and Guidelines to Accepting This Noble Mission.” This is signed by the knight and there is a space for kid(s) to sign as well. 

What is there to be solved?
There is a cipher at the bottom of the noble mission.

Need a hint?

The key for the cipher comes in installment #2, but if you want to look it up yourself it is called “Templar Cipher”.

Just give me the answer!

The cipher translates to: What little it takes for a heart to break what effort for it to mend

Installment #2

What is in it?

-Kraft envelope 6” x 9”

-2 page letter on yellow paper from a troll

-1 page of troll riddles

-1 page photocopied book excerpt with a sticky note from a librarian

-Green coin envelope that contains a necklace etched with cipher code


What is happening in the story?

Kids get a letter from a troll who guards a bridge. No one ever crosses the bridge but he stays to guard the sleeping princess. He is worried that she will run out of time and so he walks to a village and finds a library. The librarian helps him write this letter asking for help. The librarian includes a photocopied page of a book with some history about knights and this particular quest, as well as the answer key for the cipher that came in the previous letter.


What is there to be solved?

The troll sends three riddles he would ask if you were to try crossing his bridge and the necklace is etched with cipher code. 


Need a hint?

If you cannot figure out the riddles the answers will arrive in the next installment (#3). The clue on the necklace can be solved with the cipher key in the book excerpt that comes in this installment.

Just give me the answer!

Riddle #1: Nothing.

Riddle #2: The letter “M”.

Riddle #3: A Post Office.

The cipher on the necklace says: THE ANSWER

Installment #3

What is in it?

-Purple (or other color) envelope 6” x 9”

-2 page letter on cream paper from the knight

-Old looking note, folded in four, written in cipher

-Small gold bag containing a mysterious object


What is happening in the story?

The knight tells the librarian that he has a strange object similar to the one that the troll sent you. He also sends answers to the troll’s riddles from the last installment (#2). He encloses the strange object and a mysterious note written many years ago by a queen. She hopes that you can undo what she was not able to.


What is there to be solved?

The old note and the cipher on the necklace needs to be deciphered.


Need a hint?

The note is written in a substitution cipher. The answer key comes in the next installment (#4).The message on the necklace is solved with the templar cipher key that came in the book excerpt (installment #2).

Just give me the answer!

The cipher on the necklace says : ALWAYS


The old handwritten note says:

What little it takes

For a heart to break

What effort for it

To mend?

Three pieces of gold

United again

Time, the truth and

The tenderness

Of friends

Queen Leonora

In the year 1366

I am so sorry

I hope you can undo

What I cannot

Installment #4

What is in it?

-White envelope 6” x 9”

-3 page letter on green paper from the troll

-Smaller #10 business sized envelope

-1 page letter from an ogre

-2 pages of information about ciphers


What is happening in the story?

Kid(s) get another letter from the troll. The librarian gave him a book about a witch and a queen who cast a spell on a princess. He also sends another page of riddles and asks that you mail the answers back so he can get a library card. There is also a “top secret” envelope from an ogre, who is the troll’s cousin. It contains information about solving ciphers.


What is there to be solved?

The troll sends three more riddles and asks that you mail the answers back to him.


Need a hint?

The answers to the riddles come in the next installment (#5).

Just give me the answer!

Riddle #1: One (the last one).

Riddle #2: There is no math on Thursday.

Riddle #3: Lunch and Dinner.

Installment #5

What is in it?

-Green envelope 6” x 9”

-2 page letter on gray paper from a dragon

-Smaller blue envelope 5” x 7” sealed with red wax

-Small note from a dragon

-Small red envelope that contains another “strange object”


What is happening in the story?

Dragon writes to tell the story about how he and the princess were friends, and how sad and lonely he has been since the princess fell into her enchanted sleep. A knight comes to visit him because he read in a book that they must work together to break the spell. Dragon sends the third curious object and asks you to solve a riddle.


What is there to be solved?

There is a riddle written in a number cipher and a cipher is etched into the third necklace. 


Need a hint?

The cipher is created using a “Polybius Square”. There are instructions for how to solve it in the cipher info sent by the ogre in the last installment (#4).

Just give me the answer!

The cipher translates to: The rich want it, the poor need it, the wise know it, the kind show it. Answer: LOVE


The cipher on the 3rd necklace says: LOVE

Installment #6

What is in it?

The final installment contains a hardcover book. Inside are two wax-sealed envelopes, one containing a thank you note from the princess and a necklace. The second contains a final mission.


What is happening in the story?

The book tells the story about the queen and the witch who cast the spell on the princess almost 700 years ago. Kid(s) become the unsuspecting hero of the story when they put the pieces together and save the day. The princess is grateful, and she encloses a thank you message and a gift. But happy endings don’t come so easily. The princess is awake but the world is not how she left it. The friends must work together to inspire the princess with the power of love.


What is there to be solved?

The final installment wraps up the story and there are no puzzles to be solved. 


Just give me the answer!

The answer is always love.