Fourth Grade Read Aloud Banquet

A Boy's Song

Where the pools are bright and deep,

Where the gray trout lies asleep,

Up the river and o'er the lea,

That's the way for Billy and me.

Where the blackbird sings the latest,

Where the hawthorn blooms the sweetest,

Where the nestlings chirp and flee,

That's the way for Billy and me.

Where the mowers mow the cleanest,

Where the hay lies thick and greenest,

There to trace the homeward bee,

That's the way for Billy and me.

Where the hazel bank is steepest,

Where the shadow falls the deepest,

Where the clustering nuts fall free.

That's the way for Billy and me.

Why the boys should drive away,

Little sweet maidens from the play,

Or love to banter and fight so well,

That's the thing I never could tell.

But this I know, I love to play,

Through the meadow, among the hay;

Up the water and o'er the lea,

That's the way for Billy and me.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Week 28	Happy Camp of the Freebooters from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain	The Commonwealth—The Lord Protector from Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall	The Chase from The Story Book of Science by Jean Henri Fabre	The Tailltenn Fair from Our Little Celtic Cousin of Long Ago by Evaleen Stein	The Fall of the Bastile from The Struggle for Sea Power by M. B. Synge	The Little Humpbacked Horse from Fairy Tales Too Good To Miss—Across the Lake by Lisa M. Ripperton	At the Feast of Tabernacles from Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
	The Children's Crusade from Heroes of the Middle Ages by Eva March Tappan	The Wild Animals at Play from Summer by Dallas Lore Sharp	The King and His Province from Four American Patriots by Alma Holman Burton	The Frog, the Crab, and the Serpent from The Tortoise and the Geese and Other Fables of Bidpai by Maude Barrows Dutton	The Story of Sigmund and Signy from The Children of Odin: A Book of Northern Myths by Padraic Colum	Pelopaeus Provisions Her Nest from Will o' the Wasps by Margaret Warner Morley	The Escape from The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
	Song of the River by Charles Kingsley	Birds in Summer by Mary Howitt	Little Birdie by Alfred Lord Tennyson	A Song of Sherwood by Alfred Noyes	What the Burdock Was Good For from Poems, Anonymous	The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll	Nurse's Song by William Blake

The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter

The Fox without a Tail

A Fox that had been caught in a trap, succeeded at last, after much painful tugging, in getting away. But he had to leave his beautiful bushy tail behind him.

For a long time he kept away from the other Foxes, for he knew well enough that they would all make fun of him and crack jokes and laugh behind his back. But it was hard for him to live alone, and at last he thought of a plan that would perhaps help him out of his trouble.

He called a meeting of all the Foxes, saying that he had something of great importance to tell the tribe.

When they were all gathered together, the Fox Without a Tail got up and made a long speech about those Foxes who had come to harm because of their tails.

This one had been caught by hounds when his tail had become entangled in the hedge. That one had not been able to run fast enough because of the weight of his brush. Besides, it was well known, he said, that men hunt Foxes simply for their tails, which they cut off as prizes of the hunt. With such proof of the danger and uselessness of having a tail, said Master Fox, he would advise every Fox to cut it off, if he valued life and safety.

When he had finished talking, an old Fox arose, and said, smiling: "Master Fox, kindly turn around for a moment, and you shall have your answer."

When the poor Fox Without a Tail turned around, there arose such a storm of jeers and hooting, that he saw how useless it was to try any longer to persuade the Foxes to part with their tails.

Do not listen to the advice of him who seeks to lower you to his own level.