Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Songs for April

Little Jack Horner



The Little Disaster



My Pretty Maid



The Ploughboy in Luck

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

The Dog, the Cock, and the Fox

A Dog and a Cock, who were the best of friends, wished very much to see something of the world. So they decided to leave the farmyard and to set out into the world along the road that led to the woods. The two comrades traveled along in the very best of spirits and without meeting any adventure to speak of.

At nightfall the Cock, looking for a place to roost, as was his custom, spied nearby a hollow tree that he thought would do very nicely for a night's lodging. The Dog could creep inside and the Cock would fly up on one of the branches. So said, so done, and both slept very comfortably.

With the first glimmer of dawn the Cock awoke. For the moment he forgot just where he was. He thought he was still in the farmyard where it had been his duty to arouse the household at daybreak. So standing on tip-toes he flapped his wings and crowed lustily. But instead of awakening the farmer, he awakened a Fox not far off in the wood. The Fox immediately had rosy visions of a very delicious breakfast. Hurrying to the tree where the Cock was roosting, he said very politely:

"A hearty welcome to our woods, honored sir. I cannot tell you how glad I am to see you here. I am quite sure we shall become the closest of friends."


[Illustration]

"I feel highly flattered, kind sir," replied the Cock slyly. "If you will please go around to the door of my house at the foot of the tree, my porter will let you in."

The hungry but unsuspecting Fox, went around the tree as he was told, and in a twinkling the Dog had seized him.

Those who try to deceive may expect to be paid in their own coin.