Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Songs for December

The Land of Story-Books

At evening when the lamp is lit,
Around the fire my parents sit;
They sit at home and talk and sing,
And do not play at anything.

Now, with my little gun, I crawl
All in the dark along the wall,
And follow round the forest track
Away behind the sofa back.

There, in the night, where none can spy,
All in my hunter's camp I lie,
And play at books that I have read
Till it is time to go to bed.

These are the hills, these are the woods,
These are my starry solitudes;
And there the river by whose brink
The roaring lions come to drink.

I see the others far away
As if in firelit camp they lay,
And I, like to an Indian scout,
Around their party prowled about.

So when my nurse comes in for me,
Home I return across the sea,
And go to bed with backward looks
At my dear land of Story-Books.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Week 23	Pinocchio Flies with a Pigeon to the Ocean from Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi	How Napoleon Crossed the Alps from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin	A Robber in the Old Orchard from The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess	The King of the Birds (Part 1 of 2) from The Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said by Padraic Colum	A Spanish Hero from The Discovery of New Worlds by M. B. Synge	The New Clothes Fail (Part 2 of 2) from Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher	Saint Columba (Part 2 of 2) from Our Island Saints by Amy Steedman
	We Make Sail Again from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis The First Island from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis Captain Smith Accused from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis	Mr. Crab and His Friends from Seaside and Wayside, Book One by Julia McNair Wright	The Travelers and the Purse from The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter	I Harvest My Grain from Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children by James Baldwin	Munachar and Manachar from Nursery Tales from Many Lands by Eleanor L. and Ada M. Skinner	Buster Bear Gives It All Away from The Adventures of Prickly Porky by Thornton Burgess	At Home from The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
	Bumble-Bee and Clover, Anonymous	Little Blue Pigeon by Eugene Field		The Caterpillar, Anonymous	The Little Green Orchard by Walter de la Mare	Hark! Hark! The Lark! by William Shakespeare	Dandelion by Nellie M. Garabrant

The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter

The Dog, the Cock, and the Fox

A Dog and a Cock, who were the best of friends, wished very much to see something of the world. So they decided to leave the farmyard and to set out into the world along the road that led to the woods. The two comrades traveled along in the very best of spirits and without meeting any adventure to speak of.

At nightfall the Cock, looking for a place to roost, as was his custom, spied nearby a hollow tree that he thought would do very nicely for a night's lodging. The Dog could creep inside and the Cock would fly up on one of the branches. So said, so done, and both slept very comfortably.

With the first glimmer of dawn the Cock awoke. For the moment he forgot just where he was. He thought he was still in the farmyard where it had been his duty to arouse the household at daybreak. So standing on tip-toes he flapped his wings and crowed lustily. But instead of awakening the farmer, he awakened a Fox not far off in the wood. The Fox immediately had rosy visions of a very delicious breakfast. Hurrying to the tree where the Cock was roosting, he said very politely:

"A hearty welcome to our woods, honored sir. I cannot tell you how glad I am to see you here. I am quite sure we shall become the closest of friends."

"I feel highly flattered, kind sir," replied the Cock slyly. "If you will please go around to the door of my house at the foot of the tree, my porter will let you in."

The hungry but unsuspecting Fox, went around the tree as he was told, and in a twinkling the Dog had seized him.

Those who try to deceive may expect to be paid in their own coin.