Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Songs for September

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea 
In a beautiful pea-green boat:
They took some honey, and plenty of money 
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above, 
And sang to a small guitar,
"O lovely Pussy, O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are, 
You are! 
What a beautiful Pussy you are!"

Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl, 
How charmingly sweet you sing!
Oh! let us be married; too long we have tarried: 
But what shall we do for a ring?"
They sailed away, for a year and a day, 
To the land where the bong-tree grows; 
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood, 
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose, 
His nose, 
With a ring at the end of his nose.

"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling 
Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will."
So they took it away, and were married next day 
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince and slices of quince, 
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon, 
The moon, 
They danced by the light of the moon.

	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

The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter

The Tortoise and the Ducks

The Tortoise, you know, carries his house on his back. No matter how hard he tries, he cannot leave home. They say that Jupiter punished him so, because he was such a lazy stay-at-home that he would not go to Jupiter's wedding, even when especially invited.

After many years, Tortoise began to wish he had gone to that wedding. When he saw how gaily the birds flew about and how the Hare and the Chipmunk and all the other animals ran nimbly by, always eager to see everything there was to be seen, the Tortoise felt very sad and discontented. He wanted to see the world too, and there he was with a house on his back and little short legs that could hardly drag him along.

One day he met a pair of Ducks and told them all his trouble.

"We can help you to see the world," said the Ducks. "Take hold of this stick with your teeth and we will carry you far up in the air where you can see the whole countryside. But keep quiet or you will be sorry."

The Tortoise was very glad indeed. He seized the stick firmly with his teeth, the two Ducks took hold of it one at each end, and away they sailed up toward the clouds.

Just then a Crow flew by. He was very much astonished at the strange sight and cried:

"This must surely be the King of Tortoises!"

"Why certainly—" began the Tortoise.

But as he opened his mouth to say these foolish words he lost his hold on the stick, and down he fell to the ground, where he was dashed to pieces on a rock.

Foolish curiosity and vanity often lead to misfortune.