Fourth Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Norse Lullaby

The sky is dark and the hills are white

As the storm-king speeds from the north to-night;

And this is the song the storm-king sings,

As over the world his cloak he flings:

"Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep";

He rustles his wings and gruffly sings:

"Sleep, little one, sleep."

On yonder mountain-side a vine

Clings at the foot of a mother pine;

The tree bends over the trembling thing,

And only the vine can hear her sing:

"Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep—

What shall you fear when I am here?

Sleep, little one, sleep."

The king may sing in his bitter flight,

The tree may croon to the vine to-night,

But the little snowflake at my breast

Liketh the song I sing the best—

Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep;

Weary thou art, a-next my heart,

Sleep, little one, sleep.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Week 1	The Beginning of Things from The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit	Henry V of Monmouth—The Battle of Agincourt from Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall	The Six from The Story Book of Science by Jean Henri Fabre	Foreword from Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle The Dragon's House from Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle	William's Invitation from The Awakening of Europe by M. B. Synge	How the Whale Got His Throat from Fairy Tales Too Good To Miss—Upon the Rock by Lisa M. Ripperton	Ezra's Great Bible Class in Jerusalem from Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
	Alaric the Visigoth from Heroes of the Middle Ages by Eva March Tappan	Hunting the Snow from Winter by Dallas Lore Sharp	Leif the Lucky from Builders of Our Country: Book I by Gertrude van Duyn Southworth	The Monkey and the Crocodile from Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt	Far Away and Long Ago from The Children of Odin: A Book of Northern Myths by Padraic Colum	What Is an Insect? from Insect Life by Arabella B. Buckley	Beautiful as the Day from Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit
	Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind by William Shakespeare	The Night Wind by Eugene Field	The New Year by Alfred Lord Tennyson	Good Hours by Robert Frost	Excerpt from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" from Poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge	Father William by Lewis Carroll	Star-Talk by Robert Graves

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.