Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Songs for December


Five Eyes

In Hans' old Mill his three black cats

Watch the bins for the thieving rats.

Whisker and claw, they crouch in the night,

Their five eyes smouldering green and bright:

Squeaks from the flour sacks, squeaks from where

The cold wind stirs on the empty stair,

Squeaking and scampering, everywhere.

Then down they pounce, now in, now out,

At whisking tail, and sniffing snout;

While lean old Hans he snores away

Till peep of light at break of day;

Then up he climbs to his creaking mill,

Out come his cats all grey with meal—

Jekkel, and Jessup, and one-eyed Jill.

  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
First row Previous row          Next row Last row
The Aesop for Children  by Milo Winter

Belling the Cat

The mice once called a meeting to decide on a plan to free themselves of their enemy, the Cat. At least they wished to find some way of knowing when she was coming, so they might have time to run away. Indeed, something had to be done, for they lived in such constant fear of her claws that they hardly dared stir from their dens by night or day.

Many plans were discussed, but none of them was thought good enough. At last a very young Mouse got up and said:

"I have a plan that seems very simple, but I know it will be successful. All we have to do is to hang a bell about the Cat's neck. When we hear the bell ringing we will know immediately that our enemy is coming."

All the Mice were much surprised that they had not thought of such a plan before. But in the midst of the rejoicing over their good fortune, an old Mouse arose and said:

"I will say that the plan of the young Mouse is very good. But let me ask one question Who will bell the Cat?"

It is one thing to say that something should be done, but quite a different matter to do it.


[Illustration]