Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Songs for March

The Sugar-Plum Tree

Have you ever heard of the Sugar-Plum Tree?
'Tis a marvel of great renown!
It blooms on the shore of the Lollipop sea
In the garden of Shut-Eye Town;
The fruit that it bears is so wondrously sweet
(As those who have tasted it say)
That good little children have only to eat
Of that fruit to be happy next day.

When you've got to the tree, you would have a hard time
To capture the fruit which I sing;
The tree is so tall that no person could climb
To the boughs where the sugar-plums swing!
But up in that tree sits a chocolate cat,
And a gingerbread dog prowls below—
And this is the way you contrive to get at
Those sugar-plums tempting you so:

You say but the word to that gingerbread dog
And he barks with such terrible zest
That the chocolate cat is at once all agog,
As her swelling proportions attest.
And the chocolate cat goes cavorting around
From this leafy limb unto that,
And the sugar-plums tumble, of course, to the ground—
Hurrah for that chocolate cat!

There are marshmallows, gumdrops, and peppermint canes,
With stripings of scarlet or gold,
And you carry away of the treasure that rains
As much as your apron can hold!
So come, little child, cuddle closer to me
In your dainty white nightcap and gown,
And I'll rock you away to that Sugar-Plum Tree
In the garden of Shut-Eye Town.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Week 33	Pinocchio Is Sold from Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi	The Ungrateful Guest from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin	Peter Gets a Lame Neck from The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess	The Sea-Maiden Who Became a Sea-Swan (Part 2 of 2) from The Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said by Padraic Colum	Prince Henry, the Sailor from The Discovery of New Worlds by M. B. Synge	How Balser Got a Gun (Part 1 of 2) from The Bears of Blue River by Charles Major	How David Spared Saul's Life from Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
	A Touch of Homesickness from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis Master Hunt's Preaching from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis Neglecting To Provide for the Future from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis	A Spider's Tower from Outdoor Visits by Edith M. Patch	The Ass Carrying the Image from The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter	I Am Again Alarmed from Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children by James Baldwin	The Straw Ox from Nursery Tales from Many Lands by Eleanor L. and Ada M. Skinner	The Runaway Cabbage from The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum by Thornton Burgess	Safe from The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
	A Sand Castle, Anonymous	The Wonderful World by William Brighty Rands		The Fairy Shoemaker by William Allingham	The Bees' Song by Walter de la Mare	Summer Woods by Mary Howitt	A Sea Song from the Shore by James Whitcomb Riley

Frederick Richardson's Book for Children by Frederick Richardson
[Illustration]

dropcap image FOX was digging behind a stump, and he found a bumble-bee. The fox put the bumble-bee in a bag and he traveled.

The first house he came to he went in, and he said to the mistress of the house: "May I leave my bag here while I go to Squintum's?"

"Yes," said the woman.

"Then be careful not to open the bag," said the fox.

As soon as the fox was out of sight, the woman took a little peep in the bag and out flew the bumble-bee, and the rooster caught him and ate him up.

After a while the fox came back. He took up his bag and he saw that his bumble-bee was gone, and he said to the woman: "Where is my bumble-bee?"

And the woman said: "I just untied the bag, and the bumble-bee flew out, and the rooster ate him up."

"Very well," said the fox, "I must have the rooster, then."

So he caught the rooster and put him in his bag, and traveled.

And the next house he came to he went in, and said to the mistress of the house: "May I leave my bag here while I go to Squintum's?"

"Yes," said the woman.

"Then be careful not to open the bag," said the fox. But as soon as the fox was out of sight, the woman just took a little peep into the bag, and the rooster flew out, and the pig caught him and ate him up.

After a while the fox came back, and he took up his bag and he saw that the rooster was not in it, and he said to the woman: "Where is my rooster?"

And the woman said: "I just untied the bag, and the rooster flew out, and the pig ate him."

"Very well," said the fox, "I must have the pig, then."

So he caught the pig and put him in his bag, and traveled.

And the next house he came to he went in, and said to the mistress of the house: "May I leave my bag here while I go to Squintum's?"

"Yes," said the woman.

"Then be careful not to open the bag," said the fox.

But as soon as the fox was out of sight, the woman just took a little peep into the bag, and the pig jumped out, and the ox ate him.

After a while the fox came back. He took up his bag and he saw that the pig was gone, and he said to the woman: "Where is my pig?"

And the woman said: "I just untied the bag, and the pig jumped out, and the ox ate him."

"Very well," said the fox, "I must have the ox, then."

So he caught the ox and put him in his bag, and traveled.

And the next house he came to he went in, and said to the mistress of the house: "May I leave my bag here while I go to Squintum's?"

"Yes," said the woman.

"Then be careful not to open the bag," said the fox.

But as soon as the fox was out of sight, the woman just took a little peep in the bag, and the ox got out, and the woman's little boy chased him away off over the fields.

After a while the fox came back. He took up his bag and he saw that his ox was gone, and he said to the woman: "Where is my ox?"

And the woman said: "I just untied the string, and the ox got out, and my little boy chased him away off over the fields."

"Very well," said the fox, "I must have the little boy, then."

So he caught the little boy and put him in his bag, and traveled.

And the next house he came to he went in, and said to the mistress of the house: "May I leave my bag here while I go to Squintum's?"

"Yes," said the woman.

"Then be careful not to open the bag," said the fox.

The woman was making cake, and her children were around her asking for some.

"Oh, mother, give me a piece," said one; and, "Oh, mother, give me a piece," said the others.

And the smell of the cake came to the little boy who was weeping and crying in the bag, and he heard the children asking for cake and he said: "Oh, mammy, give me a piece."

Then the woman opened the bag and took the little boy out, and she put the house-dog in the bag in the little boy's place.

And the little boy stopped crying and had some cake with the others.

After a while the fox came back. He took up his bag and he saw that it was tied fast, and he put it over his back and traveled far into the deep woods. Then he sat down and untied the bag, and if the little boy had been there in the bag things would have gone badly with him.

But the little boy was safe at the woman's house, and when the fox untied the bag the house-dog jumped out and ate him all up.