Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Songs for December

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea 
In a beautiful pea-green boat:
They took some honey, and plenty of money 
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above, 
And sang to a small guitar,
"O lovely Pussy, O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are, 
You are! 
What a beautiful Pussy you are!"

Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl, 
How charmingly sweet you sing!
Oh! let us be married; too long we have tarried: 
But what shall we do for a ring?"
They sailed away, for a year and a day, 
To the land where the bong-tree grows; 
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood, 
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose, 
His nose, 
With a ring at the end of his nose.

"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling 
Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will."
So they took it away, and were married next day 
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince and slices of quince, 
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon, 
The moon, 
They danced by the light of the moon.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Week 48	Drooping Wings from The Birds' Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin	Casabianca from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin	Some More Friends Come with the Snow from The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess	Why the Sea Is Salt from Fairy Tales Too Good To Miss—Into the Woods by Lisa M. Ripperton	Discovery of the Pacific from The Discovery of New Worlds by M. B. Synge	A Castle on Brandywine (Part 2 of 2) from The Bears of Blue River by Charles Major	Solomon on David's Throne from Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
	Dreams of the Future from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis A Plague of Rats from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis Treachery during Captain Smith's Absence from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis	Fall Picnics from Outdoor Visits by Edith M. Patch	The Fox and the Stork from The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter	I Have a New Suit of Clothes from Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children by James Baldwin	The Hill from The Golden Windows by Laura E. Richards	Happy Jack Squirrel Helps Unc' Billy Possum from The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum by Thornton Burgess	The Trafalgar Story from The Sandman: His Sea Stories by Willliam J. Hopkins The Cargo Story from The Sandman: His Sea Stories by Willliam J. Hopkins
	The Willow Man by Juliana Horatia Ewing	Heigho, My Dearie by Eugene Field	A Thanksgiving Fable by Oliver Herford	A Tragic Story by Albert von Chamisso	The Children of Stare by Walter de la Mare	Humility by Robert Herrick	Old Granny Dusk by James Whitcomb Riley

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.

The Hare and the Tortoise