Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Songs for December


The Duel

The gingham dog and the calico cat

Side by side on the table sat;

'Twas half-past twelve, and (what do you think!)

Nor one nor t'other had slept a wink!

The old Dutch clock and the Chinese plate

Appeared to know as sure as fate

There was going to be a terrible spat.

(I wasn't there; I simply state

What was told to me by the Chinese plate!)


The gingham dog went "bow-wow-wow!"

And the calico cat replied "mee-ow!"

The air was littered, an hour or so,

With bits of gingham and calico,

While the old Dutch clock in the chimney-place

Up with its hands before its face,

For it always dreaded a family row!

(Now mind: I'm only telling you

What the old Dutch clock declares is true!)


The Chinese plate looked very blue,

And wailed, "Oh, dear! what shall we do!"

But the gingham dog and the calico cat

Wallowed this way and tumbled that,

Employing every tooth and claw

In the awfullest way you ever saw—

And, oh! how the gingham and calico flew!

(Don't fancy I exaggerate—

I got my news from the Chinese plate!)


Next morning where the two had sat

They found no trace of the dog or cat;

And some folks think unto this day

That burglars stole the pair away!

But the truth about the cat and the pup

Is this: They ate each other up!

Now what do you really think of that!

(The old Dutch clock it told me so,

And that is how I came to know.)

  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 Fox and the Stork

The Fox one day thought of a plan to amuse himself at the expense of the Stork, at whose odd appearance he was always laughing.

"You must come and dine with me today," he said to the Stork, smiling to himself at the trick he was going to play. The Stork gladly accepted the invitation and arrived in good time and with a very good appetite.

For dinner the Fox served soup. But it was set out in a very shallow dish, and all the Stork could do was to wet the very tip of his bill. Not a drop of soup could he get. But the Fox lapped it up easily, and, to increase the disappointment of the Stork, made a great show of enjoyment.


[Illustration]

The hungry Stork was much displeased at the trick, but he was a calm, even-tempered fellow and saw no good in flying into a rage. Instead, not long afterward, he invited the Fox to dine with him in turn. The Fox arrived promptly at the time that had been set, and the Stork served a fish dinner that had a very appetizing smell. But it was served in a tall jar with a very narrow neck. The Stork could easily get at the food with his long bill, but all the Fox could do was to lick the outside of the jar, and sniff at the delicious odor. And when the Fox lost his temper, the Stork said calmly:

Do not play tricks on your neighbors unless you can stand the same treatment yourself.


[Illustration]