Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet



Songs for July


Wynken, Blynken, and Nod

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night

Sailed off in a wooden shoe—

Sailed on a river of crystal light,

Into a sea of dew.

"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"

The old moon asked the three.

"We have come to fish for the herring-fish

That live in this beautiful sea;

Nets of silver and gold have we!"

Said Wynken,

Blynken,

And Nod.


The old moon laughed and sang a song,

As they rocked in the wooden shoe,

And the wind that sped them all night long

Ruffled the waves of dew.

The little stars were the herring-fish

That lived in the beautiful sea—

"Now cast your nets wherever you wish,—

Never afeard are we!"

So cried the stars to the fishermen three:

Wynken,

Blynken,

And Nod.


All night long their nets they threw

To the stars in the twinkling foam,—

Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,

Bringing the fishermen home;

'Twas all so pretty a sail, it seemed

As if it could not be,

And some folks thought 'twas a dream they'd dreamed

Of sailing that beautiful sea—

But I shall name you the fishermen three:

Wynken,

Blynken,

And Nod.


Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,

And Nod is a little head,

And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies

Is a wee one's trundle-bed.

So shut your eyes while Mother sings

Of wonderful sights that be,

And you shall see the beautiful things

As you rock in the misty sea,

Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three—

Wynken,

Blynken,

And Nod.



  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Week 50 "Birds of a Feather Flock Together" from The Birds' Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin Picciola from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin Queer Feet and a Queerer Bill from The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess Hans Turns Sailor from The Christmas Porringer by Evaleen Stein Gabriel Interviews the Abbot from Gabriel and the Hour Book by Evaleen Stein The Hour Book from Gabriel and the Hour Book by Evaleen Stein The Count's Tax from Gabriel and the Hour Book by Evaleen Stein
Captain Smith's Departure from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis
The "Starving Time" from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis
Eggs on a Branch (Part 2 of 3) from Outdoor Visits by Edith M. Patch Robber Hans and the Porringer from The Christmas Porringer by Evaleen Stein The Stranger Child from Good Stories for Great Holidays by Frances Jenkins Olcott Why Bruin Has a Stumpy Tail from The Pearl Story Book by Eleanor L. Skinner The Tailor of Gloucester from The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter The Race Story from The Sandman: His Sea Stories by Willliam J. Hopkins
Here We Come A-Whistling, Anonymous The Christmas Child by George MacDonald Snow Song by Frank Dempster Sherman Cradle Hymn by Martin Luther Silver Bells by Hamish Hendry The Waits by Margaret Deland A Christmas Carol by G. K. Chesterton
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The Aesop for Children  by Milo Winter

The Ass and the Load of Salt

A Merchant, driving his Ass homeward from the seashore with a heavy load of salt, came to a river crossed by a shallow ford. They had crossed this river many times before without accident, but this time the Ass slipped and fell when halfway over. And when the Merchant at last got him to his feet, much of the salt had melted away. Delighted to find how much lighter his burden had become, the Ass finished the journey very gayly.

Next day the Merchant went for another load of salt. On the way home the Ass, remembering what had happened at the ford, purposely let himself fall into the water, and again got rid of most of his burden.

The angry Merchant immediately turned about and drove the Ass back to the seashore, where he loaded him with two great baskets of sponges. At the ford the Ass again tumbled over; but when he had scrambled to his feet, it was a very disconsolate Ass that dragged himself homeward under a load ten times heavier than before.

The same measures will not suit all circumstances.


[Illustration]

The Ass and the Load of Salt