Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Songs for November

Bunches of Grapes

"Bunches of grapes," says Timothy:

"Pomegranates pink," says Elaine;

"A junket of cream and a cranberry tart

For me," says Jane.

"Love-in-a-mist," says Timothy:

"Primroses pale," says Elaine;

"A nosegay of pinks and mignonette

For me," says Jane.

"Chariots of gold," says Timothy:

"Silvery wings," says Elaine;

"A bumpity ride in a wagon of hay

For me," says Jane.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Week 46	A People To Serve from The Little Lame Prince by Dinah Maria Mulock	Whittington and His Cat (Part 1 of 2) from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin	Peter Discovers Two Old Friends from The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess	The Horse from The Forge in the Forest by Padraic Colum	A Great Mistake from The Discovery of New Worlds by M. B. Synge	On the Stroke of Nine from The Bears of Blue River by Charles Major	Saint Cecilia from In God's Garden by Amy Steedman
	The Unhealthful Location from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis Gathering Oysters from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis Preparing Sturgeon for Food from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis	Good-by Robins (Part 3 of 3) from Outdoor Visits by Edith M. Patch	The Wolf and the Sheep from The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter	I Have an Anxious Day from Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children by James Baldwin	The Pig Brother from The Golden Windows by Laura E. Richards	Where Unc' Billy Possum Was from The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum by Thornton Burgess	The Lighthouse Story from The Sandman: His Sea Stories by Willliam J. Hopkins
	A Good Thanksgiving by Marian Douglas	Foreign Children by Robert Louis Stevenson		America by Samuel Francis Smith	November by Walter de la Mare	Snow-Flakes by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow	They Didn't Think by Phoebe Cary

The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter

The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

A Town Mouse once visited a relative who lived in the country. For lunch the Country Mouse served wheat stalks, roots, and acorns, with a dash of cold water for drink. The Town Mouse ate very sparingly, nibbling a little of this and a little of that, and by her manner making it very plain that she ate the simple food only to be polite.

After the meal the friends had a long talk, or rather the Town Mouse talked about her life in the city while the Country Mouse listened. They then went to bed in a cozy nest in the hedgerow and slept in quiet and comfort until morning. In her sleep the Country Mouse dreamed she was a Town Mouse with all the luxuries and delights of city life that her friend had described for her. So the next day when the Town Mouse asked the Country Mouse to go home with her to the city, she gladly said yes.

When they reached the mansion in which the Town Mouse lived, they found on the table in the dining room the leavings of a very fine banquet. There were sweetmeats and jellies, pastries, delicious cheeses, indeed, the most tempting foods that a Mouse can imagine. But just as the Country Mouse was about to nibble a dainty bit of pastry, she heard a Cat mew loudly and scratch at the door. In great fear the Mice scurried to a hiding place, where they lay quite still for a long time, hardly daring to breathe. When at last they ventured back to the feast, the door opened suddenly and in came the servants to clear the table, followed by the House Dog.

The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

The Country Mouse stopped in the Town Mouse's den only long enough to pick up her carpet bag and umbrella.

"You may have luxuries and dainties that I have not," she said as she hurried away, "but I prefer my plain food and simple life in the country with the peace and security that go with it."

Poverty with security is better than plenty in the midst of fear and uncertainty.