Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Songs for September

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 45	Helpless No More from The Little Lame Prince by Dinah Maria Mulock	The Inchcape Rock from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin	Honker and Dippy Arrive from The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess	AIR: THE SECOND STORY from The Forge in the Forest by Padraic Colum Bellerophon from The Forge in the Forest by Padraic Colum	Columbus in Chains from The Discovery of New Worlds by M. B. Synge	The Black Gully (Part 2 of 2) from The Bears of Blue River by Charles Major	Absalom in the Wood; David on the Throne (Part 2 of 2) from Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
	Stealing the Company's Goods from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis What the Thieving Led To from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis Fear of Famine in a Land of Plenty from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis	New Coats for Bluebirds (Part 2 of 3) from Outdoor Visits by Edith M. Patch	The Wolf and the Lamb from The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter	I Make a Bold Rescue from Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children by James Baldwin	The Jackal and the Alligator from Merry Tales by Eleanor L. Skinner	Farmer Brown's Boy Chops Down a Tree from The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum by Thornton Burgess	The Albatross Story from The Sandman: His Sea Stories by Willliam J. Hopkins The Derelict Story from The Sandman: His Sea Stories by Willliam J. Hopkins
	Romance by Gabriel Setoun	Norse Lullaby by Eugene Field		Hiawatha's Childhood by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow	Earth Folk by Walter de la Mare	The Winter Robin by Thomas Bailey Aldrich	The Raggedy Man 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.