Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet



Songs for November


The Caterpillar

Brown and furry

Caterpillar in a hurry,

Take your walk

To the shady leaf, or stalk,

Or what not,

Which may be the chosen spot.

No toad spy you,

Hovering bird of prey pass by you;

Spin and die,

To live again a butterfly.


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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 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.


[Illustration]

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.