Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet



Songs for December


Wynken, Blynken, and Nod

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night

Sailed off in a wooden shoe—

Sailed on a river of crystal light,

Into a sea of dew.

"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"

The old moon asked the three.

"We have come to fish for the herring-fish

That live in this beautiful sea;

Nets of silver and gold have we!"

Said Wynken,

Blynken,

And Nod.


The old moon laughed and sang a song,

As they rocked in the wooden shoe,

And the wind that sped them all night long

Ruffled the waves of dew.

The little stars were the herring-fish

That lived in the beautiful sea—

"Now cast your nets wherever you wish,—

Never afeard are we!"

So cried the stars to the fishermen three:

Wynken,

Blynken,

And Nod.


All night long their nets they threw

To the stars in the twinkling foam,—

Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,

Bringing the fishermen home;

'Twas all so pretty a sail, it seemed

As if it could not be,

And some folks thought 'twas a dream they'd dreamed

Of sailing that beautiful sea—

But I shall name you the fishermen three:

Wynken,

Blynken,

And Nod.


Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,

And Nod is a little head,

And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies

Is a wee one's trundle-bed.

So shut your eyes while Mother sings

Of wonderful sights that be,

And you shall see the beautiful things

As you rock in the misty sea,

Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three—

Wynken,

Blynken,

And Nod.



  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Week 18 Pinocchio Meets the Fox and the Cat Again from Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi George Washington and His Hatchet from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin Drummers and Carpenters from The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess The Clock Strikes and Maid-alone Stays from The Girl Who Sat by the Ashes by Padraic Colum The Dark Ages from The Discovery of New Worlds by M. B. Synge Elizabeth Ann Fails in an Examination (Part 3 of 3) from Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher The Idol Temple at Dan and Its Priest from Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
Wineland the Good (Part 2 of 2) from Viking Tales by Jennie Hall Mr. and Mrs. Crab from Seaside and Wayside, Book One by Julia McNair Wright The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf from The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter I Explore My Island from Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children by James Baldwin Little White Rabbit from Nursery Tales from Many Lands by Eleanor L. and Ada M. Skinner A Friend in Need Is a Friend Indeed from The Adventures of Prickly Porky by Thornton Burgess The Second Night from The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
A Bird's Experience, Anonymous Ariel's Song from The Tempest by William Shakespeare   The Fairies Have Never a Penny to Spend by Rose Fyleman Off the Ground by Walter de la Mare Over Hill, Over Dale by William Shakespeare There Was a Cherry-Tree by James Whitcomb Riley
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The Aesop for Children  by Milo Winter

The Milkmaid and Her Pail

A Milkmaid had been out to milk the cows and was returning from the field with the shining milk pail balanced nicely on her head. As she walked along, her pretty head was busy with plans for the days to come.

"This good, rich milk," she reused, "will give me plenty of cream to churn. The butter I make I will take to market, and with the money I get for it I will buy a lot of eggs for hatching. How nice it will be when they are all hatched and the yard is full of fine young chicks. Then when May day comes I will sell them, and with the money I'll buy a lovely new dress to wear to the fair. All the young men will look at me. They will come and try to make love to me,—but I shall very quickly send them about their business!"

As she thought of how she would settle that matter, she tossed her head scornfully, and down fell the pail of milk to the ground. And all the milk flowed out, and with it vanished butter and eggs and chicks and new dress and all the milkmaid's pride.

Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.


[Illustration]