A Treasure's Trove facts for kids

A Treasure's Trove: A Fairy Tale About Real Treasure for Parents and Children of All Ages is an exciting children's book written by Michael Stadther. It was published in 2004. This book is special because it's not just a story; it's also a real-life treasure hunt!

The "real treasure" was found by solving secret clues hidden inside the book. These clues led people to find fourteen special tokens. If you found a token, you could trade it for a unique jewel. Each jewel looked like an insect or a character from the story. You could also choose to get money instead, which was one-third of the jewel's value.

In 2005, a big movie company called Cruise/Wagner Productions bought the rights to make A Treasure's Trove into a film. There was talk about a movie trailer, but so far, no movie has been made.

The Story of A Treasure's Trove

The book tells the tale of twelve forest creatures. Their partners mysteriously vanish after a dark dust falls each evening, turning them into crystals. To save their friends and bring life back to their dying forest, the forest creatures team up with some brave helpers.

These helpers include Zac, a skilled woodcarver, and Ana, his kind wife who is part-elf and part-human. They are also joined by their shy, winged friend named Pook. Pook is a special creature inspired by the author's own dog! Together, they go on an adventure to rescue the crystallized creatures and heal the forest.

The Great Treasure Hunt

Inside the pages of A Treasure's Trove, readers found clues that led to fourteen hidden tokens. These tokens were carefully placed in parks all across the United States. If you found a token, you could exchange it for one of the beautiful jewels. Each jewel was designed to look like a character or creature from the book.

All of these unique jewels, which were worth a total of one million dollars, have now been found! The author later released another book that showed how to solve all the clues. Michael Stadther also created a new treasure hunt in another book called Secrets of the Alchemist Dar.

The Jewels of A Treasure's Trove

Some of the jewels were very old and special pieces. For example, there was a grasshopper jewel from the 1800s made in Russia, and also a snail and a ladybug jewel. The jewel for the villain, Rusful, was an uncut black diamond.

Most of the other jewels were custom-made by a jeweler named Robert Q. Underhill. He works at Jewelry Designs in Danbury, Connecticut. Michael Stadther chose him after seeing a beautiful hummingbird pin in his shop while looking for a gift for his wife.

Here is a list of the jewels, what they are made of, and where their tokens were found:

The beautiful jewels from A Treasure's Trove were shown to the public at the Carnegie Museum in 2004.