Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet



Songs for June


Five Eyes

In Hans' old Mill his three black cats

Watch the bins for the thieving rats.

Whisker and claw, they crouch in the night,

Their five eyes smouldering green and bright:

Squeaks from the flour sacks, squeaks from where

The cold wind stirs on the empty stair,

Squeaking and scampering, everywhere.

Then down they pounce, now in, now out,

At whisking tail, and sniffing snout;

While lean old Hans he snores away

Till peep of light at break of day;

Then up he climbs to his creaking mill,

Out come his cats all grey with meal—

Jekkel, and Jessup, and one-eyed Jill.


  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
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The Aesop for Children  by Milo Winter

The Hare and the Tortoise

A Hare was making fun of the Tortoise one day for being so slow.

"Do you ever get anywhere?" he asked with a mocking laugh.

"Yes," replied the Tortoise, "and I get there sooner than you think. I'll run you a race and prove it."

The Hare was much amused at the idea of running a race with the Tortoise, but for the fun of the thing he agreed. So the Fox, who had consented to act as judge, marked the distance and started the runners off.

The Hare was soon far out of sight, and to make the Tortoise feel very deeply how ridiculous it was for him to try a race with a Hare, he lay down beside the course to take a nap until the Tortoise should catch up.

The Tortoise meanwhile kept going slowly but steadily, and, after a time, passed the place where the Hare was sleeping. But the Hare slept on very peacefully; and when at last he did wake up, the Tortoise was near the goal. The Hare now ran his swiftest, but he could not overtake the Tortoise in time.

The race is not always to the swift.


[Illustration]

The Hare and the Tortoise