Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Songs for May


The Land of Counterpane

When I was sick and lay a-bed,

I had two pillows at my head,

And all my toys beside me lay,

To keep me happy all the day.


And sometimes for an hour or so

I watched my leaden soldiers go,

With different uniforms and drills,

Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;


And sometimes sent my ships in fleets

All up and down among the sheets;

Or brought my trees and houses out,

And planted cities all about.


I was the giant great and still

That sits upon the pillow-hill,

And sees before him, dale and plain,

The pleasant land of counterpane.

  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Week 19 Pinocchio Is Robbed from Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi Grace Darling from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin Some Unlike Relatives from The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess How He Came To Know What the Birds Said from The Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said by Padraic Colum King Arthur and His Knights from The Discovery of New Worlds by M. B. Synge Betsy Starts a Sewing Society (Part 1 of 3) from Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher How Ruth Gleaned in the Field of Boaz from Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
Who I Am from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis
Left Alone in the World from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis
An Idle Boy from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis 		Mr. Crab and His House from Seaside and Wayside, Book One by Julia McNair Wright The Gnat and the Bull from The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter I Get Ready for Winter from Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children by James Baldwin The Pear Tree from Nursery Tales from Many Lands by Eleanor L. and Ada M. Skinner Jimmy Skunk Takes Word to Mrs. Peter from The Adventures of Prickly Porky by Thornton Burgess Shelter from The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Sweet and Low by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Seven Times One by Jean Ingelow 		  Mr. Moon by Bliss Carman Some One by Walter de la Mare Lullaby for Titania by William Shakespeare All Things Bright and Beautiful by John Keble
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Frederick Richardson's Book for Children  by Frederick Richardson

[Illustration]

dropcap image ITTY Mouse and Tatty Mouse both lived in a house.

Titty Mouse went a-leasing, to gather up the fallen ears of corn, and Tatty Mouse went a-leasing.

So they both went a-leasing.

Titty Mouse leased an ear of corn, and Tatty Mouse leased an ear of corn.

So they both leased an ear of corn.

Titty Mouse made a pudding, and Tatty Mouse made a pudding.

So they both made a pudding.

And Tatty Mouse put her pudding into the pot to boil.


[Illustration]

But when Titty went to put hers in, the pot tumbled over and scalded her to death.

Then Tatty sat down and wept; then a three-legged stool said:

"Tatty, why do you weep?"

"Titty's dead," said Tatty, "and so I weep."

"Then," said the stool, "I'll hop," so the stool hopped.

Then a broom in the corner of the room said:

"Stool, why do you hop?"

"Oh!" said the stool, "Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and so I hop."

"Then," said the broom, "I'll sweep," so the broom began to sweep.

"Then," said the door, "Broom, why do you sweep?"

"Oh!" said the broom, "Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and so I sweep."


[Illustration]

"Then," said the door, "I'll jar," so the door jarred.

"Then," said the window, "Door, why do you jar?"

"Oh!" said the door, "Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, and so I jar."

"Then," said the window, "I'll creak," so the window creaked.

Now there was an old bench outside the house, and when the window creaked, the bench said: "Window, why do you creak?"

"Oh!" said the window, "Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, the door jars, and so I creak."

"Then," said the bench, "I'll run round the house." Then the old bench ran round the house.


[Illustration]

Now there was a fine large walnut-tree growing by the cottage, and the tree said to the bench: "Bench, why do you run round the house?"


[Illustration]

"Oh!" said the bench, "Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, and so I run round the house."

"Then," said the walnut-tree, "I'll shed my leaves."

So the walnut-tree shed all its beautiful green leaves.

Now there was a little bird perched on one of the boughs of the tree, and when all the leaves fell, it said: "Walnut-tree, why do you shed your leaves?"

"Oh!" said the tree, "Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, the old bench runs round the house, and so I shed my leaves."

"Then," said the little bird, "I'll moult all my feathers," so he moulted all his pretty feathers.

Now there was a little girl walking below, carrying a jug of milk for her brothers' and sisters' supper, and when she saw the poor little bird moult all its feathers, she said: "Little bird, why do you moult all your feathers?"


[Illustration]

"Oh!" said the little bird, "Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, and the door jars, and the window creaks, and the old bench runs round the house, the walnut-tree sheds its leaves, and so I moult all my feathers."

"Then," said the little girl, "I'll spill the milk," so she dropt the pitcher and spilt the milk.


[Illustration]

Now there was an old man just by on the top of a ladder thatching a rick, and when he saw the little girl spill the milk, he said: "Little girl, what do you mean by spilling the milk? Your little brothers and sisters must go without their supper."

Then said the little girl: "Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, the old bench runs round the house, the walnut-tree sheds all its leaves, the little bird moults all its feathers, and so I spill the milk."

"Oh!" said the old man, "then I'll tumble off the ladder and break my neck," so he tumbled off the ladder and broke his neck.

When the old man broke his neck, the great walnut-tree fell down with a crash, and upset the old bench and house, and the house falling knocked the window out, and the window knocked the door down, and the door upset the broom, and the broom upset the stool, and poor little Tatty Mouse was buried beneath the ruins.