Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet



Songs for July


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 41 Through the Skylight from The Little Lame Prince by Dinah Maria Mulock The Barmecide Feast from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin Mourner the Dove and Cuckoo from The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess WATER: THE FIRST STORY from The Forge in the Forest by Padraic Colum
The Story of Ys from The Forge in the Forest by Padraic Colum
Christopher Columbus from The Discovery of New Worlds by M. B. Synge Borrowed Fire (Part 1 of 2) from The Bears of Blue River by Charles Major David's Handsome Son and How He Stole the Kingdom (Part 1 of 2) from Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
Captain Newport's Return from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis
Gold-Seekers from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis
A Worthless Cargo from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis
The Yellow Spider from Outdoor Visits by Edith M. Patch The Wild Boar and the Fox from The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter I Am Pleased with My Man Friday from Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children by James Baldwin The Story That Had No End from Merry Tales by Eleanor L. Skinner Unc' Billy Possum Is a Prisoner from The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum by Thornton Burgess The Christmas Story from The Sandman: His Sea Stories by Willliam J. Hopkins
The Twilight by Madison Cawein
One, Two, Three by Henry C. Bunner
  Pigwiggen Arms Himself by Michael Drayton Silver by Walter de la Mare Cradle Song by Richard Watson Gilder When the Frost Is on the Punkin by James Whitcomb Riley
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The Aesop for Children  by Milo Winter

The Lion and the Mouse

A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion's nose. Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.

"Spare me!" begged the poor Mouse. "Please let me go and some day I will surely repay you."

The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally let the Mouse go.

Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a hunter's net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse knew the voice and quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free.


[Illustration]

"You laughed when I said I would repay you," said the Mouse. "Now you see that even a Mouse can help a Lion."

A kindness is never wasted.