Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Songs for November

The Cupboard

I know a little cupboard,
With a teeny tiny key,
And there's a jar of Lollypops
For me, me, me.

It has a little shelf, my dear,
As dark as dark can be,
And there's a dish of Banbury Cakes
For me, me, me.

I have a small fat grandmamma,
With a very slippery knee,
And she's the Keeper of the Cupboard
With the key, key, key.

And when I'm very good, my dear,
As good as good can be,
There's Banbury Cakes, and Lollypops
For me, me, me.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Week 47	A Little Snow Bird from The Birds' Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin	Whittington and His Cat (Part 2 of 2) from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin	Some Merry Seed-Eaters from The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess	Which Is Best from Fairy Tales Too Good To Miss—Into the Woods by Lisa M. Ripperton	Follow the Leader from The Discovery of New Worlds by M. B. Synge	A Castle on Brandywine (Part 1 of 2) from The Bears of Blue River by Charles Major	The Angel with the Drawn Sword on Mount Moriah from Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
	Turpentine and Tar from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis The Making of Clapboards from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis Providing for the Children from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis	Broad Leaves in Fall from Outdoor Visits by Edith M. Patch	The Hares and the Frogs from The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter	I Am Called Governor from Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children by James Baldwin	The Sailor Man from The Golden Windows by Laura E. Richards	Happy Jack Squirrel Makes an Unexpected Call from The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum by Thornton Burgess	The Runaway Story from The Sandman: His Sea Stories by Willliam J. Hopkins
	Aladdin by James Russell Lowell	Wizard Frost by Frank Dempster Sherman		The Merman by Alfred Lord Tennyson	Many a Mickle by Walter de la Mare	Thanksgiving Day by Lydia Maria Child	Thanksgiving Day by Lydia Maria Child

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.