Fourth Grade Read Aloud Banquet




Berries

There was an old woman

Went blackberry picking

Along the hedges

From Weep to Wicking.

Half a pottle—

No more she had got,

When out steps a Fairy

From her green grot;

And says, "Well, Jill,

Would 'ee pick 'ee mo?"

And Jill, she curtseys,

And looks just so.

"Be off," says the Fairy,

"As quick as you can,

Over the meadows

To the little green lane,

That dips to the hayfields

Of Farmer Grimes:

I've berried those hedges

A score of times;

Bushel on bushel

I'll promise 'ee, Jill,

This side of supper

If 'ee pick with a will."

She glints very bright,

And speaks her fair;

Then lo, and behold!

She has faded in air.


Be sure old Goodie

She trots betimes

Over the meadows

To Farmer Grimes.

And never was queen

With jewellery rich

As those same hedges

From twig to ditch;

Like Dutchmen's coffers,

Fruit, thorn, and flower—

They shone like William

And Mary's bower.

And be sure Old Goodie

Went back to Weep,

So tired with her basket

She scarce could creep.

When she comes in the dusk

To her cottage door,

There's Towser wagging

As never before,

To see his Missus

So glad to be

Come from her fruit-picking

Back to he.


And soon as next morning

Dawn was grey,

The pot on the hob

Was simmering away;

And all in a stew

And a hugger-mugger

Towser and Jill

A-boiling of sugar,

And the dark clear fruit

That from Faërie came,

For syrup and jelly

And blackberry jam.


Twelve jolly gallipots

Jill put by;

And one little teeny one,

One inch high;

And that she's hidden

A good thumb deep,

Half way over

From Wicking to Weep.


  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Week 48 Floods of Gold from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain William IV—Two Peaceful Victories from Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall The Boiling Pot from The Story Book of Science by Jean Henri Fabre Rainolf in the Writing-Room from Our Little Frankish Cousin of Long Ago by Evaleen Stein The Victory of Talavera from The Struggle for Sea Power by M. B. Synge How Mr. Hans Prospered from Fairy Tales Too Good To Miss—Across the Lake by Lisa M. Ripperton The Brightest Day of All the World from Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
La Verna from God's Troubadour, The Story of St. Francis of Assisi by Sophie Jewett
The Troubadour's Last Song from God's Troubadour, The Story of St. Francis of Assisi by Sophie Jewett
An Outdoor Lesson from The Fall of the Year by Dallas Lore Sharp Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr from Four American Patriots by Alma Holman Burton
The Duel from Four American Patriots by Alma Holman Burton
The Camel Driver and the Adder from The Tortoise and the Geese and Other Fables of Bidpai by Maude Barrows Dutton The Battle of Morgarten from Stories of William Tell Told to the Children by H. E. Marshall Miners from Will o' the Wasps by Margaret Warner Morley We Return to Rosalba from The Rose and the Ring by William Makepeace Thackeray
    In Memoriam, VII by Alfred Lord Tennyson       Nov 27
Week 49 Respectable Huck Joins the Gang from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Victoria—The Girl Queen from Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall Seasonal Story Christmas Day of the Year 800 from Our Little Frankish Cousin of Long Ago by Evaleen Stein The Peasant Hero of Tyrol from The Struggle for Sea Power by M. B. Synge How Mr. Schwartz Prospered from Fairy Tales Too Good To Miss—Across the Lake by Lisa M. Ripperton Seasonal Story
Seasonal Story Leafing from The Fall of the Year by Dallas Lore Sharp Seasonal Story Seasonal Story Seasonal Story More Wasp Stories from Will o' the Wasps by Margaret Warner Morley How Hedzoff Rode Back to King Giglio from The Rose and the Ring by William Makepeace Thackeray
Old Christmas by Mary Howitt Seasonal Poem The Snow by Emily Dickinson Seasonal Poem Seasonal Poem Seasonal Poem Seasonal Poem
Week 50 Seasonal Story Victoria—When Bread Was Dear from Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall Seasonal Story Seasonal Story The Empire at Its Height from The Struggle for Sea Power by M. B. Synge How Little Gluck Prospered from Fairy Tales Too Good To Miss—Across the Lake by Lisa M. Ripperton Seasonal Story
Seasonal Story A Chapter of Things To Hear This Fall from The Fall of the Year by Dallas Lore Sharp Seasonal Story Seasonal Story Seasonal Story The Carpenters from Will o' the Wasps by Margaret Warner Morley How a Tremendous Battle Took Place and Who Won It from The Rose and the Ring by William Makepeace Thackeray
While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night by Nahum Tate Seasonal Poem Seasonal Poem Seasonal Poem Seasonal Poem Seasonal Poem An Ancient Christmas Carol, Anonymous
Week 51 Seasonal Story Victoria—Peace from Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall Seasonal Story Seasonal Story The Shannon and the Chesapeake from The Struggle for Sea Power by M. B. Synge The Worker in Sandalwood from Fairy Tales Too Good To Miss—Upon the Rock by Lisa M. Ripperton Seasonal Story
Seasonal Story Honk, Honk, Honk! from The Fall of the Year by Dallas Lore Sharp Seasonal Story Seasonal Story Seasonal Story Winter Wasps from Will o' the Wasps by Margaret Warner Morley How They All Journeyed Back to the Capital from The Rose and the Ring by William Makepeace Thackeray
  Seasonal Poem Winter by Alfred Lord Tennyson Seasonal Poem Seasonal Poem Seasonal Poem A Christmas Carol by Christina Georgina Rossetti
Week 52 Seasonal Story Victoria—War from Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall Seasonal Story Seasonal Story Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow from The Struggle for Sea Power by M. B. Synge The Little Match-Girl from Fairy Tales Too Good To Miss—Across the Lake by Lisa M. Ripperton Seasonal Story
Seasonal Story Seasonal Story Seasonal Story Seasonal Story Seasonal Story Seasonal Story And Now We Come to the Last Scene in the Pantomime from The Rose and the Ring by William Makepeace Thackeray
Summary from The Rose and the Ring by William Makepeace Thackeray
  Seasonal Poem The Death of the Old Year by Alfred Lord Tennyson Seasonal Poem Seasonal Poem Seasonal Poem An Old Christmas Carol, Anonymous
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The Aesop for Children  by Milo Winter

The Lion's Share

A long time ago, the Lion, the Fox, the Jackal, and the Wolf agreed to go hunting together, sharing with each other whatever they found.

One day the Wolf ran down a Stag and immediately called his comrades to divide the spoil.

Without being asked, the Lion placed himself at the head of the feast to do the carving, and, with a great show of fairness, began to count the guests.

"One," he said, counting on his claws, "that is myself, the Lion. Two, that's the Wolf, three, is the Jackal, and the Fox makes four."

He then very carefully divided the Stag into four equal parts. "I am King Lion," he said, when he had finished, "so of course I get the first part. This next part falls to me because I am the strongest, and this is mine because I am the bravest."

He now began to glare at the others very savagely. "If any of you have any claim to the part that is left," he growled, stretching his claws meaningly, "now is the time to speak up."

Might makes right.


[Illustration]