Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Songs for December


Alone

A very old woman

Lives in yon house.

The squeak of the cricket,

The stir of the mouse,

Are all she knows

Of the earth and us.


Once she was young,

Would dance and play,

Like many another

Young popinjay;

And run to her mother

At dusk of day.


And colours bright

She delighted in;

The fiddle to hear,

And to lift her chin,

And sing as small

As a twittering wren.


But age apace

Comes at last to all;

And a lone house filled

With the cricket's call;

And the scampering mouse

In the hollow wall.

  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Week 49 The Bird's Nest from The Birds' Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin Antonio Canova from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin Peter Learns Something about Spooky from The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess Buying the Porringer from The Christmas Porringer by Evaleen Stein Robber Hans from The Christmas Porringer by Evaleen Stein The Little Colour Grinder from Gabriel and the Hour Book by Evaleen Stein Brother Stephen's Inspiration from Gabriel and the Hour Book by Evaleen Stein
Captain Smith's Speech from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis
The New Laws from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis
The Accident from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis 		Sleepy Bumblebees (Part 1 of 3) from Outdoor Visits by Edith M. Patch Karen Asks about Christmas from The Christmas Porringer by Evaleen Stein I Bring My Tale to a Close from Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children by James Baldwin The Jar of Rosemary from The Story-Teller by Maud Lindsay A Christmas Star from The Children's Book of Christmas Stories by Asa Don Dickinson The Privateer Story from The Sandman: His Sea Stories by Willliam J. Hopkins
The Christmas Tree in the Nursery by Richard Watson Gilder An Old Christmas Carol, Anonymous A Song of the Snow by Madison Cawein The Friendly Beasts, Anonymous A Christmas Song by Phillips Brooks Christmas Bells by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Bethlehem, Anonymous
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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.