Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Songs for March

The Three Little Kittens



Billy Pringle



Mrs. Bond



There Was a Lady Loved a Swine

The Sugar-Plum Tree

Have you ever heard of the Sugar-Plum Tree?

'Tis a marvel of great renown!

It blooms on the shore of the Lollipop sea

In the garden of Shut-Eye Town;

The fruit that it bears is so wondrously sweet

(As those who have tasted it say)

That good little children have only to eat

Of that fruit to be happy next day.


When you've got to the tree, you would have a hard time

To capture the fruit which I sing;

The tree is so tall that no person could climb

To the boughs where the sugar-plums swing!

But up in that tree sits a chocolate cat,

And a gingerbread dog prowls below—

And this is the way you contrive to get at

Those sugar-plums tempting you so:


You say but the word to that gingerbread dog

And he barks with such terrible zest

That the chocolate cat is at once all agog,

As her swelling proportions attest.

And the chocolate cat goes cavorting around

From this leafy limb unto that,

And the sugar-plums tumble, of course, to the ground—

Hurrah for that chocolate cat!


There are marshmallows, gumdrops, and peppermint canes,

With stripings of scarlet or gold,

And you carry away of the treasure that rains

As much as your apron can hold!

So come, little child, cuddle closer to me

In your dainty white nightcap and gown,

And I'll rock you away to that Sugar-Plum Tree

In the garden of Shut-Eye Town.

  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Week 6 Pinocchio Falls Asleep from Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi King John and the Abbott from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin Tea Table Talk from The Seasons: Winter by Jane Marcet Crow-feather-Cloak Again (Part 1 of 2) from The Girl Who Sat by the Ashes by Padraic Colum Pax Romana from On the Shores of the Great Sea by M. B. Synge Betsy Holds the Reins (Part 3 of 3) from Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher The Avenger of Blood and the Cities of Refuge from Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
Harald Is King from Viking Tales by Jennie Hall Tamarack (Part 3 of 3) from Outdoor Visits by Edith M. Patch Belling the Cat from The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter I Am Cast upon a Strange Shore from Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children by James Baldwin Apollo and Diana from A Child's Book of Myths and Enchantment Tales by Margaret Evans Price Peter Has To Tell His Story Many Times from The Adventures of Prickly Porky by Thornton Burgess The Far Country Story from The Sandman: His Ship Stories by Willliam J. Hopkins
The Babie by Hugh Miller 		The Sugar-Plum Tree by Eugene Field The Owl and the Pussy-Cat by Edward Lear Chanticleer by Celia Thaxter Hide and Seek by Walter de la Mare A Fable by Ralph Waldo Emerson America by Samuel Francis Smith
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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.