Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Songs for December

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 43	Stirrings of Ambition from The Little Lame Prince by Dinah Maria Mulock	The Blind Men and the Elephant from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin	A Stranger and a Dandy from The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess	EARTH: THE SECOND STORY from The Forge in the Forest by Padraic Colum King Solomon and the Servitor of the Lord of Earth from The Forge in the Forest by Padraic Colum	Discovery of the New World from The Discovery of New Worlds by M. B. Synge	The Fire Bear from The Bears of Blue River by Charles Major	Absalom in the Wood; David on the Throne (Part 1 of 2) from Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
	Gazing at the Women from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis Master Hunt Brings Great News from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis Captain Newport's Instructions from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis	Flyaway Seeds from Outdoor Visits by Edith M. Patch	The Birds, the Beasts and the Bat from The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter	I Make a New Boat from Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children by James Baldwin	The Clever Turtle from Merry Tales by Eleanor L. Skinner	Unc' Billy Possum Wishes He Had Snowshoes from The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum by Thornton Burgess	The Teak-Wood Story from The Sandman: His Sea Stories by Willliam J. Hopkins
	How the Leaves Came Down by Susan Coolidge	Lady Moon by Richard Monckton Milnes		The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost	The Song of the Secret by Walter de la Mare	The Challenge of Thor by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow	Little Orphant Annie by James Whitcomb Riley

The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter

The Fox and the Stork

The Fox one day thought of a plan to amuse himself at the expense of the Stork, at whose odd appearance he was always laughing.

"You must come and dine with me today," he said to the Stork, smiling to himself at the trick he was going to play. The Stork gladly accepted the invitation and arrived in good time and with a very good appetite.

For dinner the Fox served soup. But it was set out in a very shallow dish, and all the Stork could do was to wet the very tip of his bill. Not a drop of soup could he get. But the Fox lapped it up easily, and, to increase the disappointment of the Stork, made a great show of enjoyment.

The hungry Stork was much displeased at the trick, but he was a calm, even-tempered fellow and saw no good in flying into a rage. Instead, not long afterward, he invited the Fox to dine with him in turn. The Fox arrived promptly at the time that had been set, and the Stork served a fish dinner that had a very appetizing smell. But it was served in a tall jar with a very narrow neck. The Stork could easily get at the food with his long bill, but all the Fox could do was to lick the outside of the jar, and sniff at the delicious odor. And when the Fox lost his temper, the Stork said calmly:

Do not play tricks on your neighbors unless you can stand the same treatment yourself.