First Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Songs for August

Ding Dong Bell



Hush-a-by Baby



The Old Woman of Norwich



The Scare-Crow

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 49 Nicholas Loses His Family from The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by Amelia C. Houghton
Nicholas Makes His First Gift from The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by Amelia C. Houghton 		The Race for a Sled from The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by Amelia C. Houghton Why the Evergreen Trees Never Lose Their Leaves from The Book of Nature Myths by Florence Holbrook How the Fir Tree Became the Christmas Tree from For the Children's Hour by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey The Night before Christmas from The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by Amelia C. Houghton Christmas at the Hacienda (Part 1 of 2) from The Mexican Twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins Saint Nicholas (Part 2 of 2) from In God's Garden by Amy Steedman
Shoe or Stocking by Edith M. Thomas 		From The Bells by Edgar Allan Poe
The Robber Kitten, Anonymous 		A Song of the Snow by Madison Cawein An Old Christmas Carol, Anonymous Who Loves the Trees Best?, Anonymous A Christmas Carol by Christina Georgina Rossetti
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The Aesop for Children  by Milo Winter

The Fox and the Stork

The Fox one day thought of a plan to amuse himself at the expense of the Stork, at whose odd appearance he was always laughing.

"You must come and dine with me today," he said to the Stork, smiling to himself at the trick he was going to play. The Stork gladly accepted the invitation and arrived in good time and with a very good appetite.

For dinner the Fox served soup. But it was set out in a very shallow dish, and all the Stork could do was to wet the very tip of his bill. Not a drop of soup could he get. But the Fox lapped it up easily, and, to increase the disappointment of the Stork, made a great show of enjoyment.


[Illustration]

The hungry Stork was much displeased at the trick, but he was a calm, even-tempered fellow and saw no good in flying into a rage. Instead, not long afterward, he invited the Fox to dine with him in turn. The Fox arrived promptly at the time that had been set, and the Stork served a fish dinner that had a very appetizing smell. But it was served in a tall jar with a very narrow neck. The Stork could easily get at the food with his long bill, but all the Fox could do was to lick the outside of the jar, and sniff at the delicious odor. And when the Fox lost his temper, the Stork said calmly:

Do not play tricks on your neighbors unless you can stand the same treatment yourself.


[Illustration]