Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet



Songs for July


The Land of Counterpane

When I was sick and lay a-bed,

I had two pillows at my head,

And all my toys beside me lay,

To keep me happy all the day.


And sometimes for an hour or so

I watched my leaden soldiers go,

With different uniforms and drills,

Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;


And sometimes sent my ships in fleets

All up and down among the sheets;

Or brought my trees and houses out,

And planted cities all about.


I was the giant great and still

That sits upon the pillow-hill,

And sees before him, dale and plain,

The pleasant land of counterpane.


  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Week 30 Pinocchio Leaves for the "Land of Boobies" from Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi The Sword of Damocles from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin Some Big Mouths from The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess The Giant and the Birds (Part 1 of 2) from The Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said by Padraic Colum Dante's Great Poem from The Discovery of New Worlds by M. B. Synge "Understood Aunt Frances" (Part 4 of 4) from Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher The Shepherd Boy's Fight with the Giant from Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
Building a House of Logs from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis
Keeping House from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis
Lack of Cleanliness in the Village from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis
Some Very Small Snails from Outdoor Visits by Edith M. Patch The Boys and the Frogs from The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter I Am Happy as a King from Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children by James Baldwin Peter, Basil, and the Fox from Nursery Tales from Many Lands by Eleanor L. and Ada M. Skinner Four Little Scamps Plan Mischief from The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum by Thornton Burgess Caught from The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Twinkling Bugs, Anonymous Little White Lily by George MacDonald   Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean, Anonymous The Song of the Mad Prince by Walter de la Mare An Emerald Is as Green as Grass by Christina Georgina Rossetti The Chicken's Mistake by Phoebe Cary
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Uncle Remus—His Songs and His Sayings  by Joel Chandler Harris

How Mr. Rabbit Lost His Fine Bushy Tail

"One time," said Uncle Remus, sighing heavily and settling himself back in his seat with an air of melancholy resignation—"one time Brer Rabbit wuz gwine 'long down de road shakin' his big bushy tail, en feelin' des ez scrumpshus ez a bee-martin wid a fresh bug." Here the old man paused and glanced at the little boy, but it was evident that the youngster had become so accustomed to the marvelous developments of Uncle Remus's stories, that the extraordinary statement made no unusual impression upon him. Therefore the old man began again, and this time in a louder and more insinuating tone:

"One time ole man Rabbit, he wuz gwine 'long down de road shakin' his long, bushy tail, en feelin' mighty biggity."

This was effective.

"Great goodness, Uncle Remus!" exclaimed the little boy in open-eyed wonder, "everybody knows that rabbits haven't got long, bushy tails."

The old man shifted his position in his chair and allowed his venerable head to drop forward until his whole appearance was suggestive of the deepest dejection; and this was intensified by a groan that seemed to be the result of great mental agony. Finally he spoke, but not as addressing himself to the little boy.

"I notices dat dem fokes w'at makes a great 'miration 'bout w'at dey knows is des de fokes w'ich you can't put no 'pennunce in w'en de 'cashun come up. Yer one un um now, en he done come en excuse me er 'lowin dat rabbits is got long, bushy tails, w'ich goodness knows ef I'd a dremp' it, I'd a whirl in en on-dremp it."

"Well, but Uncle Remus, you said rabbits had long, bushy tails," replied the little boy. "Now you know you did."

"Ef I ain't fergit it off'n my mine, I say dat ole Brer Rabbit wuz gwine down de big road shakin' his long, bushy tail. Dat w'at I say, en dat I stan's by."

The little boy looked puzzled, but he didn't say anything. After a while the old man continued:

"Now, den, ef dat's 'greed ter, I'm gwine on, en ef tain't 'greed ter, den I'm gwineter pick up my cane en look atter my own intrust. I got wuk lyin' 'roun' yer dat's des natchully gittin' moldy."

The little boy still remained quiet, and Uncle Remus proceeded:

"One day Brer Rabbit wuz gwine down de road shakin' his long, bushy tail, w'en who should he strike up wid but ole Brer Fox gwine amblin' long wid a big string er fish! W'en dey pass de time er day wid wunner nudder, Brer Rabbit, he open up de confab, he did, en he ax Brer Fox whar he git dat nice string er fish, en Brer Fox, he up'n 'spon' dat he kotch um, en Brer Rabbit, he say whar'bouts, en Brer Fox, he say down at de babtizin' creek, en Brer Rabbit he ax how, kaze in dem days dey wuz monstus fon' er minners, en Brer Fox, he sot down on a log, he did, en he up'n tell Brer Rabbit dat all he gotter do fer ter git er big mess er minners is ter go ter de creek atter sundown, en drap his tail in de water en set dar twel day-light, en den draw up a whole armful er fishes, en dem w'at he don't want, he kin fling back. "Right dar's whar Brer Rabbit drap his watermillion, kaze he tuck'n sot out dat night en went a fishin'. De wedder wuz sorter col', en Brer Rabbit, he got 'im a bottle er dram en put out fer de creek, en w'en he git dar he pick out a good place, en he sorter squot down, he did, en let his tail hang in de water. He sot dar, en he sot dar, en he drunk his dram, en he think he gwineter freeze, but bimeby day come, en dar he wuz. He make a pull, en he feel like he comin' in two, en he fetch nudder jerk, en lo en beholes, whar wuz his tail?"

There was a long pause.

"Did it come off, Uncle Remus?" asked the little boy, presently.

"She did dat!" replied the old man with unction. "She did dat, and dat w'at make all deze yer bob-tail rabbits w'at you see hoppin' en skaddlin' thoo de woods."

"Are they all that way just because the old Rabbit lost his tail in the creek?" asked the little boy.

"Dat's it, honey," replied the old man. "Dat's w'at dey tells me. Look like dey er bleedzd ter take atter der pa."