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searching-for-the-spirit-of-spring.txt

Searching for the Spirit of Spring The Winter cold had passed. Spring was coming to Nkanyezi’s village. Soon the villagers would gather to celebrate the new season. Nkanyezi looked forward to the Spring festival more than any other day in the year. One warm morning, Nkanyezi overheard two village elders talking about the festival. "The people of Ndlovu have lost their spirit of celebration," one sighed. "How can we have a Spring festival in a village that has forgotten how to celebrate?" asked another. Nkanyezi was worried. "How will the sun shine again unless we sing to wake it from its winter slumber?" she asked herself. Nkanyezi thought for a long time. "I must find what we have lost," she decided. "I must go in search of things that will bring back the spirit of celebration to my village." The elders gave Nkanyezi their blessing for the journey. They gave her a bag to carry the things she would find. Nkanyezi was afraid, but she believed she would succeed. Nkanyezi walked all day. She hiked up a hill, and down into a valley. She sailed across the great river, and climbed between sharp rocks. She marched across the plains until she reached the shadow of the red mountains. As night was closing in, Nkanyezi arrived at a village of patterns and colours as she had never seen before. She told the village elders about her journey to bring back the spirit of celebration to her people. The mother of this tribe gave Nkanyezi a gift. She told the girl, "With love we give to you this paint to restore colour to a village that has gone dull." Nkanyezi thanked the elders and put the paint in her bag. Early the next morning she went on her way again, excited with this gift of colour. Nkanyezi walked all day, through a vast forest of giant trees. As the sky became too dark for her to see, she heard the sound of beating drums. She hurried towards the drumming, feeling the spirit of dance coming to her tired feet Nkanyezi found herself in the village of the Bhubezi. People were sitting around a fire, drumming and singing. She had never before heard such wonderful music. She told the village elders about her journey to bring back the spirit of celebration to her people. The Bhubezi invited her to rest and stay the night. In the morning the chief called on Nkanyezi. "My child," he said, "here is a special drum. It plays a new song every time you beat it." Nkanyezi thanked the elders and put the drum in her bag. She went on her way again, delighted with this gift of music and dance. On the third day of her journey, as she passed a field of fat cows, her nose started to tingle. An aroma tickled her taste buds and her mouth started to water. She followed the scent, and arrived in a village to find people standing over steaming pots of stew. This tribe was famous for its feasts and Nkanyezi had never before tasted such flavours. After she had eaten her fill, she told the village elders about her journey to bring back the spirit of celebration to her people. The next day, the council of cooks gave her a secret spice blend. "Our daughter," they said, "with these spices, happy tummies are guaranteed! We give you the gift of good food." Nkanyezi thanked the elders and put the spices in her bag. She knew she had everything she needed.With new energy she started the long journey back to the village of Ndlovu. When she arrived home the villagers gathered around her to hear of her adventures. She told them the tales of what she had seen, heard, and eaten. Then she opened her bag to share the gifts given. The people rejoiced to receive these treasures. Through the generosity of others and the courage of Nkanyezi, the villagers again found the colour, song and dance in their lives. And so the spirit of celebration was restored to the village of Ndlovu.

Hazels-Secret-Life-.txt

Hi, my name is Tina. This is my dog Hazel. Hazel is very fat. Why is my dog so fat? I really wanted to know. So this morning I thought, "I know! I'll go ask my mom." "Mom, why is my dog so fat?" "Hazel's not fat dear," Mom said. "She is just half cow." "But Mom… Hazel can't moo!" "Of course she can't moo," Mom said. "Then can Hazel make cheese?" "No," Mom sighed. "I'm very busy right now dear. I know! Why don't you go ask Dad. I bet he'll know why Hazel is so fat." Mom can be strange sometimes. "Dad, why is Hazel so fat?" "She better not be eating my snacks for the big game," Dad said. "But Dad I thought this was the big game." "Remember what I always say..." "…THEY’RE ALL BIG GAMES!" we yelled. "That's a good girl," Dad said patting me on the head. Then he yelled at the TV and threw his popcorn. "Maybe you should go upstairs and ask your sister," Dad said. "I need to do my special cheer." "The one where you stomp around and call the football people names? Can I help!?" Dad said "no," he can be pretty strange sometimes. "What are you doing?" "Reading a book for school," my sister said. "Is it any good?" "It's about that icky romantic stuff. I don't think you'd like it," my sister said sticking out her tongue. "E Mushy stuff, your teacher is mean!" "Do you know why Hazel is so fat?" "Maybe Hazel is a queen," my sister said, "and her brave knights bring her all the cupcakes in the land." "Ha! Ha! Ha! That's crazy!" I said laughing on the floor. Hazel licked me in the face, "Eww! Biscuit breath! Yuck!" "If I’m so crazy why don't you ask your brother?" "Fine I will!" My sister can be strange sometimes. I asked my brother, "why is Hazel so fat?" "That's because at night Hazel turns into a giant monster and attacks the city with her doggy death breath! Then she eats everything in her path," my brother said. He picked me up and put me on his shoulders. Then he stomped around the room and roared like a T-rex. "AGAIN! AGAIN!" "I can’t right now kid," my brother said. "I have to do my homework. Why don't you go play with Cousin Ben?" "Not cousin Ben!" My brother can be pretty strange sometimes, but Cousin Ben… … is the strangest one of all. "Hazel be fat because she’s a fearsome pirate, robbing the land lovers of all their foodstuffs! Yarr!" said Cousin Ben. "Oh really?" "Yarr, it be true! Just last week she ate me parrot with all the fixins. Twas tasty stuffing, Yarr!" "HA! I win!" I yelled knocking the stick from Cousin Ben’s hand. "Uh-Oh! Looks like the fearless pirate needs a potty break!" said Cousin Ben, and he ran screaming all the way back into the house. "AHHHHHHHH!" I told you he was the strangest one of all. Hmm. I guess I'll never know why my dog is so fat. There is no way Hazel could be a snack thief, pirate, half cow, monster, princess … Right? "I need a detective. Are you a detective Hazel?" Hazel just looked at me funny and dropped her tennis ball at my feet. It was her way of saying, "Play with me!" "Okay Hazel, just a quick game." Wait! Where is Hazel going? I better follow that sneaky dog! I thought I smelled biscuit breath! Hazel has a second family! She's sneaking extra snacks! "Bad dog Hazel! The sad puppy eyes won't work on me this time!" "No more snacks for you! You're going on a diet!" Tina has a problem! Her dog is too fat, and she doesn't know why! Can her family help her solve the mystery?

A-Tiny-Seed-The-Story-of-Wangari-Maathai-4-18_FKb.txt

In a village on the slopes of Mount Kenya in East Africa, a little girl worked in the fields with her mother. Her name was Wangari. Wangari loved being outside. In her family’s food garden she broke up the soil with her machete. She pressed tiny seeds into the warm earth. Her favourite time of day was just after sunset. When it got too dark to see the plants, Wangari knew it was time to go home. She would follow the narrow paths through the fields, crossing rivers as she went. Wangari was a clever child and couldn’t wait to go to school. But her mother and father wanted her to stay and help them at home. When she was seven years old, her big brother persuaded her parents to let her go to school. She liked to learn! Wangari learnt more and more with every book she read. She did so well at school that she was invited to study in the United States of America. Wangari was excited! She wanted to know more about the world. At the American university Wangari learnt many new things. She studied plants and how they grow. And she remembered how she grew: playing games with her brothers in the shade of the trees in the beautiful Kenyan forests. The more she learnt, the more she realised that she loved the people of Kenya. She wanted them to be happy and free. The more she learnt, the more she remembered her African home. When she had finished her studies, she returned to Kenya. But her country had changed. Huge farms stretched across the land. Women had no wood to make cooking fires. The people were poor and the children were hungry. Wangari knew what to do. She taught the women how to plant trees from seeds. The women sold the trees and used the money to look after their families. The women were very happy. Wangari had helped them to feel powerful and strong. As time passed, the new trees grew into forests, and the rivers started flowing again. Wangari’s message spread across Africa. Today, millions of trees have grown from Wangari’s seeds. Wangari had worked hard. People all over the world took notice, and gave her a famous prize. It is called the Nobel Peace Prize, and she was the first African woman ever to receive it. Wangari died in 2011, but we can think of her every time we see a beautiful tree.

Tania-Plays-a-Trick-.txt

Tania Plays A Trick Tania and Tanisha were on their way up to Tanisha's house. Mama had given them a book to give Tanisha's mother. The book had a recipe for a fruit cake that Tanisha had enjoyed eating in Tania's house. The girls were talking about the delicious fruit cake as they waited for the elevator on the 3rd floor in front of Tania's house. The elevator finally arrived. Tanisha's house was on the 10th floor. The girls entered the elevator and pressed the button labeled "10". What they did not notice, while they were chatting with each other, was that for some reason the button labeled "8" was pressed too. Someone had probably pressed it by mistake when the elevator was on its way down before. When the elevator stopped on the 8th floor the girls exited assuming it was the 10th floor. Tanisha's house was the first apartment on the left coming out of the elevator. So they rang the door bell of the first apartment on the left. But as soon as they rang the bell they realised something was wrong! The door looked quite different from Tanisha's door. As they looked around, for the first time they noticed the big "8" painted on the wall in between the two elevators indicating they were on the 8th floor. They realised they had rung Mrs. Wadia's doorbell by mistake. Oh, oh! Mrs. Wadia was a crochety old lady the children were terrified of. Tania and Tanisha panicked and hid in the stairwell. As they peeked from their hiding place, they saw Mrs. Wadia answer the door. She saw no one there. She called out saying "Hello, hello, who rang the bell?", and then she mumbled something and returned assuming she had imagined the doorbell ringing. Tania and Tanisha found the whole thing quite funny from the sanctuary of their hiding place. They giggled as they took the stairs up for the remaining two floors. Somehow they were quite sure their mothers would not find their story funny so they decided to keep it to themselves. Now that would have been the end of the story but the girls were too thrilled with the success of their unintentional trick. So the next time she yelled at them for playing in the building lobby, they decided it was time to trick her again. Their trick worked well the second time too and they enjoyed how harassed Mrs. Wadia looked answering the door only to find nobody there. Tania and Tanisha should have known that the secret to a good trick is to know when to stop using it. If you repeat it too often, you will get caught. The next time they used the trick Mrs. Wadia was in a very bad mood. She also began to smell a rat. She rushed out with her walking stick and searched the place. It did not take her long to find the two culprits in the stairwell. She was very angry. She asked Tania and Tanisha for their phone numbers. They blubbered out their phone numbers in fright. She promptly called the parents of both girls and told them that the girls had been harassing her for a few days. Mama was shocked. Tania was rarely so inconsiderate. Tania came home looking scared. Mama looked very disappointed. She asked, "Tania why did you play the nasty trick on Mrs. Wadia?" Tania told her the whole story from the beginning when they rang Mrs. Wadia's bell by mistake. Then Tania added "Mama, she is such a mean old lady. She is always shouting at us and waving her scary stick. She shouts at us for playing in the building lobby even when it is raining, or if the ball rolls out of the children's play area, or if we occasionally pluck a flower or any little thing. So we wanted to trouble her too." Mama said "Tania, when Mrs. Wadia was younger she had an accident and her leg was hurt. That is why she needs to use a walking stick. Although the doctors could fix it so she can walk, her leg still hurts. It has been hurting her all day everyday for the last 10 years. Don't you think that it is a good enough reason to make anyone a grumpy person? It is very mean to make her walk to the door for nothing when her leg hurts so much." Tania looked very troubled. She said "Mama, I did not know she was in so much pain. I thought she carried the walking stick to frighten us." Mama's lips twitched a little but she listened as Tania continued, "I will call her and apologise again and the next time I get a chocolate I'll go give it to her to make it up to her for my mean trick." Mama said "That is the baby I know and love. I'll buy you 2 chocolates tomorrow and you can take one to Mrs. Wadia. And Tania please think very carefully before you do something mean again. We are all tempted to do mean things once in a while but it is almost never a good idea."

ma-is-that-you-FKB.txt

Ma, Is That You? Bibi, Azeem, Juzer and Thei Thei are having a meeting in their secret meeting place. They hear a voice at their door. "Hello beta, it’s Ma! I brought snacks for you and your friends. Please open the door." "You don’t sound like Ma," says Thei Thei. "What’s the secret knock?" BAMBAMBAM "That’s not the right knock. Sorry, we can’t let you in!" says Azeem. ROOOAAAR "I will get in one day!" shouts the monster from behind the door. A few moments later… "Hello beta, I bought a new game for your secret club! Please let me in!" "What’s the secret knock?" asks Juzer. "That’s the correct knock!" says Bibi. "It is?" gasps the monster, "I mean, of course it is. Now let me in!" "First show us your secret club card," says Azeem. The monster slips a card under the door. "Sorry, wrong card!" The monster bangs on the door. "I’ll get in soon!" she cries. A while later, there’s another knock at the door. "I found a puppy for you," says the monster. "Please open the door!" "What’s the secret knock?" asks Bibi. "That’s correct!" says Bibi. "Why wouldn’t it be? "First show us your Now let me in!" cries secret club card," the monster. says Azeem. The monster slips a card under the door. "That’s the right card," says Thei Thei. "Now show us your handprint. Place your hand against the window pane." THUMP! A large, furry paw with long, sharp nails appears on the glass. "That’s not Ma’s hand. Go away!" say the four children. "ARRRRRR!" replies the monster, shaking her fist. "I would have gobbled you up if it wasn’t for your passwords!" A few minutes later, there is one more knock at the door… It’s the right knock. A piece of paper slips under the door. It’s the correct secret club card. Then—THUMP!—a hand print appears against the glass of the window. "That’s Ma’s hand!" Thei Thei swings open the door. It’s Ma, holding a tray full of mithai! How do Thei Thei, Bibi, Juzer and Azeem keep their clubhouse safe? Thei Thei, Bibi, Juzer and Azeem use three ways of checking to make sure that their visitor is actually Mummy. This method of making sure that a person is who they claim to be is called authentication. It is often used in security systems so that the wrong person cannot get hold of important information that does not belong to them. Since the four children use three steps to confirm the identity of their visitor, their method is known as multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA ensures that there is more than one level of security to protect important information like emails, social media profiles, bank accounts, etc. So although the monster passes the first two tests by cheating, the third test still stops her from getting into the clubhouse.

Tania-Attends-a-Wedding.txt

Tania Attends A Wedding Tania's family had just arrived at the house where Aunt Poonams's parents lived in Bangalore. It was an actual house, 2 storeys high with 6 bedrooms and a backyard. Tania was awestruck. She had only ever seen apartments before. Never a house with a staircase on the inside. So cool! Aunt Poonam was back from Baltimore for a few weeks. She was getting married. She was thrilled to see Tania and her baby sister Sonia. She had never seen Sonia before and Sonia was almost a year old! Aunt Poonam was Papa's cousin and Tania called her "Poonty". Aunt Poonam had visited Tania a few years ago in Bombay. Tania was only a year and a half and had a hard time saying Poonam Aunty. So she shortened it to Poonty and that stuck. The wedding was not till the next evening but there was a lot going on. Poonty's mother, who Mama and Papa called "Chachi", was getting Poonty's trousseau ready. There were beautiful sarees, salwar kameezes, jewellery and crockery sets. Mama contributed a cute Japanese tea set. All of it had to be gift wrapped. Tania helped Chachi by handing her pieces of tape and ribbon. Tania was not usually shy. But there were almost 20 people in the house, most of whom Tania had never met. All of them except Tania and Sonia were adults. So Tania stuck to her parents and Poonty. After lunch Poonty told Tania there would be a Sangeet ceremony in the evening. Tania looked puzzled, so Poonty explained "Sangeet is the Hindi word for music. A Sangeet ceremony is done before the wedding. The bride gets together with her family and friends and they all sing and dance. It is a fun and relaxed celebration." In the evening everyone got together in the large living room. Tania was dressed an an adorable ghaghra-choli Mama had bought her for the occasion. Chachi had arranged for some snacks and drinks. Everyone was munching, chatting and drinking. The atmosphere was festive. Tania went to find Poonty. She found her sitting in a corner and there was a lady drawing some pretty designs on her hand with a brown paste. The paste was being squeezed out of the tip of a plastic cone, like the icing cones used to decorate cakes. Tania asked "Poonty what are you doing?" Poonty said "Oh this is mehendi. It is a paste made from the extract of a plant. This nice lady can make lovely designs. I have to let the paste dry. After that it will crumble and fall off but an orange print of the design will stay. Tomorrow it will become dark brown. It is a tradition for brides to wear mehendi designs on their hands." Twenty minutes later Poonty's mehendi was done and it was gorgeous. Mama and Papa got mehendi designs on their hands too. The sun had set and people were moving in to the backyard. Poonty's father, 'Chacha', had the back yard decorated with pretty, colourful, twinkling lights. Chacha had arranged for a DJ. The DJ played peppy Hindi songs from old and new movies and a few Abba songs as well, including Tania's favourite 'Super Trouper'. Although Tania loved to dance, she was feeling a little intimidated by all the adults there. Papa noticed and asked, "Tania, will you dance with me?" Thrilled, Tania joined in. Papa danced with Tania for a long time and her ghaghra flared out beautifully when she twirled. Later Mama and Poonty danced with Tania too. Tania enjoyed the evening immensely. Next morning Chacha and Chachi were getting ready for the haldi ceremony. Tania said, "Mama, I thought haldi was that yellow thing you put in food. So what is a haldi ceremony?" Mama replied "Haldi, called turmeric in English, is indeed the yellow powder we put in Indian food. But turmeric is also supposed to be very good for the skin. It helps to clean the skin and make it soft and bright. So during the haldi ceremony we will put a paste made of turmeric powder, sandal wood powder and milk on Poonty to make her super pretty." Poonty came in to the room and sat on a small wooden stool. Chachi placed a bowl of haldi paste in front of her. Everyone took some paste and applied it on Poonty's hands and face. Tania took a lot of paste in her hands and rubbed it all over Poonty's face and said, "This is so much fun Mama. It's like haldi Holi!" Chacha had arranged for a big car to take everyone to the wedding hall in batches. Chachi, Poonty and Poonty's best friend Rashmi got there early. When Tania arrived there with her parents and Sonia, Poonty was fully dressed and looking so amazing in her gorgeous red saree and gold and diamond jewellery. Mama said, "It is tradition for the bride to wear a red saree with gold thread work." Tania looked around the hall. There was a podium decorated with flowers. That is where the wedding ceremony would take place. Rashmi and another couple of girls who were Poonty's cousins approached Tania. Rashmi said "Tania, we need to steal Aditya's shoes. Can you help us?" Aditya was the groom. Tania was shocked. "What!" she exclaimed. "No! Of course not. Stealing is wrong." Mama heard them and intervened. She said "Tania, what they mean is they want to hide Aditya's shoes. It is a wedding game. Aditya is supposed to take off his shoes before he goes to the podium and it is a tradition for the bride's friends and relatives to hide the groom's shoes. There will be someone there to guard the shoes. So it won't be easy. " "Oh a game!" said Tania excited. "That sounds like fun." Relieved that the ethical issues were resolved, Rashmi said, "Yes and we think it's a good idea for you to do the hiding because you are small and won't be noticed so much. They will be watching out for us." Tania agreed and was quite excited about her mission. Everyone gathered together to receive the groom at the entrance to the hall. Aditya was on horseback in the midst of a band playing. His face covered with a curtain of flowers and decorations. Aditya's family and friends were dancing and bursting fire crackers. It was quite a sight. Soon after Aditya entered he took off his shoes and climbed on to the podium. Members of the two families were greeting each other and everyone was busy. Tania decided this was the best time to take his shoes. But then she realised that there was a man guarding them. She wondered what to do and came up with an idea. She went to find Sonia and told her something. Aditya's 20 year old brother Arnav was all alone, guarding the shoes dutifully, on his father's instructions. Suddenly he found little baby Sonia tugging his pants, bawling loudly asking him to find her mother. Quite unfamiliar with babies Arnav was at a complete loss. He tried to calm her with soothing words but that only resulted in shriller screams. Flustered Arnav picked up Sonia and dashed off to find Mama. In the 3 minutes that Arnav was gone, Tania easily grabbed Aditya's shoes and triumphantly handed them to Rashmi. Poor Arnav returned to find the shoes missing. Tania told mama and Rashmi about her devious plan and they giggled. Tania was allowed to sit behind Poonty on the podium during the wedding and got to watch the proceedings up close. Poonty and Aditiya had to put some mixture of food items in to the fire and walk around it 7 times and repeat some Sanskrit words the priest told them to. The ceremony was quite interesting. Rashmi gave Tania one of the boxes of chocolates that Aditya had given Rashmi and Poonty's cousins to get his shoes back. After the ceremony everyone had dinner and then Poonty and Aditya left for Aditya's house in a decorated car. Tania and her family returned to Bombay the next day. What a wonderful time Tania had at the wedding!

dipa-karmakar-in-perfect-balance.txt

Dipa Karmakar - In Perfect Balance Dipa loved to jump. She loved to climb trees. And most of all, she loved to run and play with her Puja Didi. Dipa lived in Agartala, the capital of Tripura. Agartala is green and beautiful with agarwood trees and pineapple, orange and litchi orchards. Her Baba was a national weightlifting champion. On most days, she went with him to the gymnasium, where he was a coach. Ma and Baba wanted both their daughters to take up sports. So, at the age of five, Dipa started training. Gymnastics is a lot like acrobatics and aerobics. Quick movements. Tumbling and soaring. Fluid twists and turns. Breathtaking somersaults on narrow beams, vaults and uneven bars! Gymnastics needs balance, lots of mental effort, and control over muscles. One false step can mean a bad fall. Or a broken leg or an injured back! Dipa started training. But she was so scared of falling, that she wouldn’t even step onto the beams. She threw tantrums and complained a lot. Baba believed that she would get over her fear. He was right! Wheeeee! Dipa was cartwheeling. Whoooosh! She was sailing through the air. Baba and her coach Soma Nandi were so happy. When Dipa turned nine, she participated in the balancing beam event in the 2002 Northeastern Games. And guess what? Dipa won the gold medal! What a golden moment for her. This win meant a lot to her and Baba. She was no longer a reluctant gymnast. Dipa still had to work hard. She was flat-footed, which means that the soles of her feet didn’t have the usual natural curve. Flat feet affect how a gymnast runs, and how she lands on her feet during jumps. But Dipa had come so far — she decided she would not give up. Her coach Soma Nandi introduced her to Guruji, Bishweswar Nandi, who took over her training. Soon, she was doing special exercises that helped her feet develop an arch. Gymnastics has never been popular in India. It did not matter to Dipa that she did not have the best infrastructure or space to train in. Guruji created equipment with scooter parts to serve as springboards. Crash mats were piled on top of one another to become her vaulting platform, and seats from old cars became her landing space. Dipa’s days were busy! Dipa ran. She jumped. Twisted and turned. She did rolls and stands on her head. For eight hours a day. Her bones ached and her muscles were painfully sore. She was moody, hungry and very tired. Like most children, Dipa loved ice cream. But she was put on a strict diet. She sometimes had to live and train in a sports hostel, far from home. And on top of all of that, she had exams! Did she mind working so hard? No, she did not! All Dipa wanted was to win medals. And become the best. The years went by and Dipa won all the junior and national titles she competed in. However, she didn’t win anything at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Ashish Kumar became the first Indian gymnast to win medals at that event — it was a proud moment for India. Dipa was inspired by this win. She was determined to do better. Four years later, Dipa won the bronze at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. And also at the 2015 Hiroshima Asian Gymnastics Championship. It was so thrilling to stand on the winners’ podium! So far, Dipa had won 77 medals, and that included 67 gold ones! But Guruji wanted her to make a mark in the international arena — she had to perfect something that hadn’t been attempted by most gymnasts. Something bold. And dangerous. Guruji trained her to do the Produnova vault. It was named after the first woman who mastered it — Yelena Sergeyevna Produnova. Only four other women in the world had landed this extremely dangerous manoeuvre. In 2016, Dipa was 23 and she was ready to show her skills to the world at the Rio Olympics. The country waited eagerly to see her win a medal. And she missed! She missed winning a medal by just 0.15 point. But her performance left everyone awestruck. As Dipa began training for the next Olympics, she also had a new plan up her sleeve. She wanted to create a new gymnastic manoeuvre. When Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci met her, she said, "Good for India to have a role model in Dipa Karmakar… I hope kids look up to her and take up gymnastics because that is how we all started." Dipa continues to make India proud. (Dipa with her coach Bishweswar Nandi) Dipa Karmakar was born on August 9, 1993, in Agartala. She was the first Indian female gymnast to compete in the Olympics. Dipa participated in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and is one of only five women to successfully land the dangerous Produnova vault. She was five when her father Dulal Karmakar, a national weightlifting champion, initiated her early training. Soma Nandi was Dipa’s first coach and then her training was taken over by Bishweswar Nandi, a national gymnastic champion. Dipa has been conferred the Khel Ratna award and is a Padma Shri recipient.

FKB-Jokes-Book-1-by-Zehn-CC-NC-BY.txt

Why did the teddy bear say no to dessert? Because she was stuffed. Why did the student eat his homework? Because the teacher told him it was a piece of cake! Why was 6 afraid of 7? Because 7, 8 (ate), 9 What is a witch’s favorite subject in school? Spelling! What kind of tree fits in your hand? A palm tree! Why was the baby strawberry crying? Because her mom and dad were in a jam. Where would you find an elephant? The same place you lost her! How do we know that the ocean is friendly? It waves! What’s worse than finding a worm in your apple? Finding half a worm. What was the first animal in space? The cow that jumped over the moon Https:// What did the banana say to the dog? Nothing. Bananas can’t talk. Https://

026-THE-HIKE-Free-Childrens-Book-By-Monkey-Pen.txt

Mandy was lucky as she and her mother lived with her grandparents and she liked nothing better than to spend time with her grandfather. You see, he was always making something and she enjoyed watching, learning, and sometimes even helping him finish whatever he was doing. "Grandfather, what are you building in your workshop today?" Mandy asked. She giggled as she said, "It looks like you’re playing with two long sticks." "Well Mandy," he said. "I am going to make two walking sticks with your help, one for you, and one for me. Then I have a surprise." "Alright!" Mandy shrieked. "Where do I start?" After some time, Mandy (with her grandfather’s help) finished the walking sticks. they were two of the most beautiful walking sticks she had ever seen. With the bark removed, they were sandedsmoothand eachhad a funny looking face carved in them."Theseare really nice," Mandy said. "But just what dowe do with them?" "Ah, that is the surprisegranddaughter," he replied. "Tomorrowmorning we are going on a hike in the woods andthese walking sticks will help make the hike easier.So now it’s time to clean up andgo to sleep so we are well rested for the hike." The next morning, Mandy did not need an alarm to wake her. She was up, dressed, and ready to go as the sun rose and the day began. She went to the kitchen and saw that her grandfather was busy packing sandwiches, water, snacks, and other items into their backpacks. "It looks like we are going to be hiking for a long time," Mandy said. "It will be an all day hike," He replied. "I think we have everything so grab your walking stick and let’s go." "What about breakfast?" Mandy asked. "Oh, did I forget to mention that we are going to stop and have breakfast at a diner?" he said with a smile. Their journey began. After a great breakfast and a long drive, they arrived at the base of a mountain and the beginning of the trail. "This is beautiful," Mandy said. "Just where are we hiking?" "To the very top of the mountain where we will have lunch, rest, maybe take a swim, and then hike back down," he replied. "Swim!" Mandy said excitedly. "Is there a lake on the top of the mountain?" "Yes," her Grandfather replied. "There is a pond surrounded by big flat rocks. It was carved from the mountain during the last Ice Age and is filled with clear, cold water." "Wow!" was all Mandy could say. As they hiked up the mountain, Mandy asked many, many questions. What kind of tree is that? How high are we? Are there bears around here? Are there any other people up here? What do we do if we get lost? Are there snakes? And of course: Are we there yet? Her grandfather answered all her questions the best he could and explained that they were in a very natural area. Not many people, all sorts of wild life, even bears. He helped her understand and respect the natural beauty around them, particularly the animals. He taught her how to use a compass, and things to help them be safer while they hiked. Like before stepping over a log put your walking stick on the other side to let any animal, like a snake, know you are there. Whistle a song or make some noise to let the bigger animals know you are in their area. In a soft voice, her grandfather said. "Mandy, there are a few things to remember when you are hiking or anywhere for that matter. The Earth is our mother take care of her. All life is sacred; treat all life with respect. Take from the Earth what is needed and nothing more. Enjoy your journey but leave no tracks." As they hiked a little farther, the forest opened and Mandy saw the pond surrounded by large flat rocks. They had arrived, and it was almost like being in a different world. Mandy picked a large rock that extended out into the water for them to rest on. It had been warmed by the sun and was the perfect place for lunch. As her grandfather unpacked their food, she leaned over and wiggled her fingers in the cold water. Immediately several small fish came by and nibbled at her fingers. She shrieked in surprise and then, realizing the fish were just curious, placed her hand back into the water and watched as the fish darted around her fingers. She laughed and played with the fish until she heard her grandfather say "Time for lunch." After lunch and a resting period, they took a swim. The water was deep and Mandy couldn’t reach the bottom no matter how hard she tried. She giggled each time a curious fish nibbled at her body and watched a deer come down to have a drink. It was a wonderful day and she was saddened when she heard her grandfather say, "Mandy, it’s time to dry off and begin the hike down to the car." After making sure everything was just like it was when they arrived, they began their hike down the mountain. After a short time Mandy asked, "grandfather, can we take a different trail down the mountain?" "I don’t see why not," he replied. After a short time, the trail began blending into the surrounding brush and then disappeared. "I’m scared," Mandy said. "I think we are lost." "No, we’re not lost," her grandfather, said. "But we aren’t on a trail so we will have to continue hiking down the mountain in the direction of the car. Just enjoy the surroundings and being together on our first hiking adventure." As they continued down Mandy said. "Grandfather, I have a problem at school and I don’t know who to talk to," "Talk to me," he said. "I’d like to but you are my grandfather and you may get angry because you are family and not, well, like a friend." Now Mandy’s grandfather had to do some serious thinking. After all, she was right that as her grandfather, he may get angry or his feelings hurt but she needed a big person as a friend. "Mandy," he said in a serious tone. "If I were to promise that anything we talked about would stay between us, and that I would not get angry or talk to you as your grandfather, but rather as an old friend; would you talk with me?" "Is that a promise?" she asked. "Yes," he said softly. "And you know I have never broken a promise to you." She gave him a big hug, and began to talk. Soon they were at the bottom of the mountain and packing the car. Before leaving, her grandfather thought for a minute and said. "Granddaughter, anytime you need me as your friend, and not your grandfather, pick up your walking stick and ask to go on a hike. It will be our secret code." "This was the best day ever," Mandy said. "I was with my grandfather, my new best friend, and I have a talking/walking stick."

021-DO-YOU-WONDER-ABOUT-RAIN-SNOW-SLEET-AND-HAIL-Free-Childrens-Book-By-Monkey-Pen.txt

Hi, I am Professor Mois Ture and I will be telling you about water. You can call it RAIN. You can call it SNOW. You can call it SLEET. You can call it HAIL. But it’s WATER all the same. Did you ever wonder how old water is or where it comes from? The answers may surprise you. The next time you see a pond or even a glass of water, think about how old that water might be. Do you really want to know ? I thought you did. Did you brush your teeth this morning? Well, some of the water that you used could have fallen from the sky yesterday, or a week, or month ago. It’s pretty new. But, some part of that water is very old and was around during the time of the dinosaurs, or even longer. Or maybe it’s a little newer; like from the time when the Pharaohs were building pyramids. You see there is only a limited amount of water and it gets recycled. Yep! It keeps going round and round. We call it the "Water Cycle." Yes – You have a question? No – It’s not like a jet-ski or a bicycle for water. It is nothing you can ride. It is how water keeps going round and round. Let me explain First, I would like to say that water is very important. Imagine an empty lake. The fish would be very unhappy. Imagine an empty ocean. Your day at the beach would be like going to a desert. And since you are mostly made up of water - let’s just say you would be a lot lighter. The Water Cycle has 4 parts. Evaporation, Condensation Precipitation, Collection Evaporation When the water in an ocean, a lake, a pond, a river, or a stream is heated by the sun, it turns into vapor or steam. It then floats into the air. Of course, when you are out on a hot day, or you exercise, you sweat. Well, guess what! That evaporates too. What about those drops of dew on leaves, or the grass? Yes - They too evaporate and become a part of the Water Cycle. Condensation As the water vapor gets cooled, it changes back into a liquid and turns into clouds. Precipitation When the air in the clouds cannot hold any more liquid, it falls back to the ground. It returns in different ways, depending on the temperature and where it comes down. It can fall as rain. Or, it can fall as snow. (Did you know that no two snowflakes are the same?) It can return as sleet, which is like rain that has almost frozen. Or it can come as hail. Those frozen balls of rain that can actually break windows and dent cars. Collection No matter how it comes down, it is collected and stored. It can fall into the ocean, lake, pond, river, or stream. If it lands on the ground, it may roll into a river or be sucked up by the soil. It may even pass through the ground to an underground lake or river to be used later. Now, what happens tomorrow when the sun comes out? That’s right. The Water Cycle starts over again. Oops,!…the sun is out! But don’t worry, Professor Mois Ture will return. After all, I am a part of the Water Cycle. Evaporation - Condensation- Precipitation - Collection

baby-babble_FKB-3-17.txt

Which shoes? You choose! Please, please! More peas! Num-num? Yum-yum! All gone! Full tum. Sore, sore . . . Teeth are sore. Nice, nice! Ice is nice. Who’s there? Teddy bear! Where’s dum-dum? Baby sad. There’s dum-dum! Baby glad. Splish, splosh! Time to wash. Night night, sleep tight!

Joe-and-the-Real-Yellow-Wellingtons-.txt

Joe looked out of the window. It was raining. Snozel was fast asleep in his basket. Come on, said Joe. Lets go for a walk in the rain. Snozel looked out of the window. He did not want to go out in the rain. Snozel pretended to be asleep. That never works thought Snozel as Joe put Snozels lead on and pulled him out of his nice warm basket. Snozel then pretended to Outside it was raining. go lame in the hall. Everything was wet wet wet. That did not work either. Soon Snozel became very wet. Snozel looked at Joe. As they walked down the street Joe was dry. past the post box Snozel thought Joe was wearing a big yellow about his cold wet feet.... hat, a big red coat and big yellow wellington boots. Real yellow wellingtons Why can't I have real yellow wellingtons Stand upon there own, thought Snozel, he started thinking They astound you Dumbfound you, about yellow wellingtons They throw themselves At you, They display An array, Of tempestuous Abandon, And show out There owner, To be of Good taste, So never despair Rush out for A pair, And show The whole world, You're A swell. Half way down the street they met Hello Sprag, said Joe Sprags feet walking towards them. They could not see the rest of Sprag as he was covered by a big umbrella. Sprag lifted up the umbrella. Hello Joe, said Sprag then pulled the umbrella down again and carried on walking up the street. Joe and Snozel arrived outside Banners Snozels ears pricked up. cake shop. He looked with new interest They looked in through the window. at the cakes in the window. Now what cakes shall we have for tea, said Joe. They went into the shop. There were all sorts of cakes, chocolate eclairs, cream buns, coffee cake, angel cake, jam roll and Snozels favourite, big sticky jam doughnuts. Four cream buns, said Joe to the Four ! Thought Snozel, Four ! He shop assistant. is not buying any for me. He looks a Joe with big round eyes and gave a small whimper. Joe put the cakes in a bag to carry Joe looked up. And one big sticky home. jam doughnut, said Joe. Snozel slowly and very sadly Snozel felt very happy. turned to go out the shop door. Snozel was carrying a bag with his Who minds a little rain, thought big sticky jam doughnut bun in it. Snozel, when there is a big sticky As they splashed through the jam doughnut for tea. puddles Snozel realised it was still raining.

handmade-in-india-FKB-stories.txt

Handmade in India If you travel around India from NORTH to SOUTH and from EAST to WEST,you will see people making things everywhere - in the fields, beside the road, in open doorways, and on verandahs. They make things to eat, to wear, to sell and to help build India and its people. And it’s all there for everyone to see... * Map of India on next page not to scale Here are two Himachali women I met when I was walking in the Himalayan Mountains in Himachal Pradesh in the NORTH. Do you know what these women are doing? I have painted them with sheep because they are using SHEEP’S WOOL for what they are making. One woman SPINS the wool to make it into an even thread. The other is KNITTING a multi-coloured, woolly jumper. Wool can be dyed all the colours of the rainbow. But I rather like the woman who is wearing a natural coloured outfit-it’s the same colour as the brown sheep. This is a sight you see all over India : Women collecting water from a well to drink and cook with. These women are from Haryana in the NORTH. Well water is usually the cleanest and safest water to drink as it comes straight from deep under the ground, far from all the pollution that can seep into surface water. These women are wearing the typical North Indian dress- the Salwar Kameez. Look at how well they balance two pots of water on their heads. Could you do that? I saw this man at work sitting outside his workshop in Karnataka in the SOUTH. He is a sculptor and he is using a hammer and a chisel to make an image of a god out of stone. Can you guess which one?* I have painted all the tools he uses for his work. I think they make interesting shapes all lined up together. Surrounding him are other sculptures he has made - of animals and people. Do you recognize any of them? *Ganesh On the edge of a forest in KARNATAKA I came across these women collecting FIREWOOD. They are wandering gypsies from a tribe called the BANJARA tribe. Look at the heavy jewellery they wear. But even HEAVIER must be these huge bundles of sticks they are carrying. Can you see how they have wound up pieces of cloth into a tight circle and placed it on their heads to help them balance the load? This also protects them from any thorns or spikes the sticks may have. Can you guess what fruit is growing on the trees? These women are also from KARNATAKA and they are helping MAKE one of the most important things to eat in India - RICE. Rice grows in flooded fields called PADDY FIELDS . Here the women are ankledeep in the paddies replanting the RICE SAPLINGS at regular intervals so that the rice will grow strong and healthy. Can you see how the women have tied up their sarees so that their clothes don’t get wet in the water? I think their backs must ache by the end of the day, don’t you? I saw these men mending a railway track in Goa on the SOUTH-WEST coast of India. Can you see all the different tools they use? I like the fact that the workers’ uniforms use the colours of the Indian flag: orange, white and green. Can you see the man who is in charge of all the workers? I made the railway into the shape of a clock as trains have to be on time. I visited a village in Odisha in the EAST entirely made up of craftspeople. Everybody was sitting outside their houses and workshops MAKING things. This lady is a papier- mache painter. She has painted, amongst other things, some brightly coloured images of JAGANNATH. Do you know who he is? He is Krishna by another name. Look at all the different patterns and the different colours the painter uses. She hopes to sell her wares to tourists and pilgrims. I like her elephant masks best, do you? Beside a dusty village road in Bengal in the EAST, I came upon this man - called a ‘thathera’* - beating tin strips into a bucket shape. First he decorated the tin by puncturing holes in its surface with a pin to make interesting patterns. Then he rolled the metal into a cylinder (as he is doing here) and making a great racket, he bashed the two ends together with small pins. Finally he attached the base of the bucket in the same way. They look very pretty, don’t you think? *This is the word in Hindi These people are making BRICKS. I like the way the name stamped on the brick is GOLD, as if they were nuggets of gold instead of bricks made out of baked earth. Here the women are taking some specially prepared BRICK CLAY and are shaping it in the rectangular wooden moulds. They slice off any excess clay with a strip of metal. Bricks are baked in a special oven called a KILN and the entire process of making a brick takes 25 DAYS. These ovens have tall, thin, tower-like chimneys. You can see these CHIMNEYS all over India, dotting the countryside. I saw these brickmakers in BENGAL. Travelling through BENGAL, I passed a lot of small, round ponds called Pukurs. There I saw these FISHERWOMEN carrying their round NETS with the day’s catch in the little BASKETS which they strap to their heads. I watched them catch fish. A group of women stood up to their waists in WATER, forming a row in the pond. They each splashed the water vigorously holding the bamboo rim of their nets. Then, altogether, they would dip their nets lower into the water, and, altogether, scoop up any fish. I have painted the fish their actual size. People like to eat them fried and crispy. Would you? I went to a wedding in RAJASTHAN in the WEST and I watched a huge wedding feast being prepared. These women were MAKING CHAPATIS. They sat in a circle, each person helping with one stage of the chapati making. So the first lady sieved the flour through a metal sheet with lots of holes in it. Another, adding water, kneaded it into dough with her fist. The next separated the dough into little balls, ready for the final rolling out into a chapati shape. A large plate of ready rolled chapatis was then whisked off into the kitchen to be cooked for the wedding feast. These women are ROAD BUILDERS. I saw them flattening out some rocky ground in RAJASTHAN. They used their picks and shovels to help clear a pathway through the desert. Later, a proper road for cars and trucks will be laid down. These women come from the RABARI tribe in Rajasthan. I was particularly struck by the colourful clothes they wore and the strength these women had to do this very hard work. Which lady is wearing the most bangles? And can you spot a tiffin box?

Tanias-New-Bicycle.txt

Tania's New Bicycle Tania was now quite adept at riding her tricycle. She was getting a little too big for it. Mama and papa thought it was time for her to graduate to a bicycle now. On Sunday mama and papa took Tania to the cycle store. It was a huge store, with a large selection of cycles. There were big cycles and small cycles of many different colours. Some had bells, and some had pretty bicycle baskets attached. Tania and her parents looked around the store for a while. Tania tried out a few different cycles. They all finally agreed on a very cute, blue, small children's bicycle. It was perfectly suited for Tania. Mama also bought some training wheels and a helmet so Tania could use the bike safely. When they got back from the store Tania helped papa attach the training wheels to the cycle with a screwdriver. Then she put on her helmet and got on the bike. With the training wheels on, the bicycle was no harder to ride than the tricycle she had before. Tania had a wonderful time riding around the housing society. The bike had a bell that would make a loud RRRINNG! sound and Tania enjoyed using it before turning a corner. After about a week Tania seemed quite comfortable with the new bike and mama thought it was time to take off the training wheels. When Tania got on the bike without any training wheels it wobbled a lot. Mama assured her she would hold on behind. But once Tania seemed to have got her balance mama let go. Unfortunately it was a big step, and as soon as Tania realised mama was not holding, she got scared and lost her balance and fell off. The area in the housing society, where she was riding was a hard paved surface. Tania bruised her arms and knees quite badly. But worse than the pain from the wounds was the fright and shock. Tania cried miserably and felt betrayed by mama and the cycle she had grown so fond of. Mama took her upstairs, cleaned her wounds and put band-aids on them. The wounds healed over the next week but Tania would not touch her bike again. Mama realised she had pushed Tania too hard and felt really bad about it. She wondered what she should do. She gave it some thought and came up with an idea. But first she let a week pass by to give Tania some time to recover. Then one day Mama took Tania to a nearby park for a picnic. It was a lovely park with beautiful trees and wide expanse of grass for Tania to run around on. Mama played a lot of ball and frisbee with Tania and Tania had a great time running around on the grass. She fell down a few times but she barely noticed. They spread out a table cloth on the grass and enjoyed a tasty snack-lunch. During lunch mama said "Tania, I am proud of you. You fell down a few times today and dint cry." "I know mama. The grass is so soft and springy. I dint get hurt. I had a lot of fun. Thanks for bringing me. The lunch is delicious too." Mama said tentatively, "Tania, you think you could try riding your bike on the grass. It wont hurt if you fall. And this time I promise I wont let go without telling you. It was wrong of me to do that. I am really sorry baby." Tania looked doubtful. But a part of her really wanted to learn to ride that lovely blue bicycle. She said, "You promise not to let go till I say it is okay?" "Yes honey. I promise. What do you say? Should we give it a shot?" A couple of days later mama took Tania to the park again and Tania got on her bicycle. After a few minutes she gathered the courage to ask mama to let go. Mama did. Tania fell again but she did not hurt herself much and she had braced herself for it so it was not a nasty surprise. She got back on the bike. On the third attempt she was able to go a few meters without falling. It gave her a sense of achievement. Now she was eager to keep trying till she got reasonably good at it. In about an hour Tania could ride quite well. Mama brought her back to the park for the next couple of days. By day three Tania was confident and ready to try the paved trail in the park. She rode beautifully. Mama was so proud of her. Tania now felt ready to ride with her friends in the housing society. Good going Tania!

23451-coding-is-everywhere.txt

Coding Is Everywhere Everyone is talking about coding! So, what is it? Coding is like a super secret language... ... but you don't have to be a superhero or a secret agent to use it. Anyone can code! Everyone can code! Code is written on a computer. It helps make amazing things all around us. Coding is used to create many of your favorite movies and video games. It helps design buildings, bridges, and amusement park rides. Coding is even used to make flying robots, self- driving cars, and machines that help doctors save lives! Want to know the real secret about coding? It isn’t a secret at all! All you need to start coding is a computer and your curiosity! What will you code? Get started coding:

how-does-the-toothpaste-get-into-the-tube.txt

How Does the Toothpaste Get into the Tube? The year was 1870. New London, Connecticut, United States. 7 am. Kids were tumbling out of bed, their mothers hurrying them to clean their teeth, handing them tooth sticks and jars of toothpaste. What? Did I just say – "Toothsticks"? That’s right. They used toothsticks to clean their teeth back in 1870. A toothstick was simply a twig with a frayed end. Some lucky kids had twigs with boar hair tied to one end for that extra shine. And what was that other thing I said? "Jars of toothpaste"? That’s right. Toothpaste tubes were not invented yet. They only had jars. And every bleary eyed kid started her day by dipping a toothstick into a porcelain jar filled with toothpaste. Actually, into the same porcelain jar that every other member of the family dipped their toothstick into. Including that visiting grand aunt with yellow and black teeth, whose toothstick matched her teeth. One morning, a disgusted cry went up in a dentist’s house. "E It was Dr. Sheffield’s son Lucius, who refused to dip into the jar anymore and decided to use tooth powder henceforth. But a thought remained in his mind – there must be a better way to use toothpaste. A few years later, Lucius went to Paris to study the science of dentistry. There, he saw artists squeezing paint from metal tubes on to their paintbrushes. Why couldn't the same type of tube be used to hold toothpaste?! He rushed back home and shared this idea with his father, who thought that it was just totally awesome. There was just that little matter of figuring out how to get the toothpaste from a jar into the tube through that little opening. How do you think Lucius could fill toothpaste into an empty tube? Have you had a bad morning when you squeezed way too much paste in your half asleep state? And you see that there’s toothpaste all over the sink and your mother is reminding you that the school bus will be at the doorstep in twenty minutes, and the last thing you want is for her to flip when she sees the mess you’ve made? How would you go about putting the toothpaste back into the tube? Now, what do you think Lucius and his father used to fill a tube with toothpaste? A ear bud? Or a really tiny spoon? A toothpick? It was not as messy as you’d expect, because the way Dr. Sheffield and his team did it was without opening the cap! That’s right, they kept the cap screwed on tight, and opened up the other end! It’s definitely easier to fill a tube from the larger end, especially if you have something to pump the paste with, like a syringe. After that, all you have to do is seal the end tight so that the paste will not leak. Today, toothpaste tubes are filled using machines. All the empty tubes are lined up on a conveyer belt with their caps downwards and the unsealed end pointing up. A big container filled with toothpaste is fixed above the conveyor belt. From a nozzle at the bottom of the container, the toothpaste is let into each of these tubes as they move along the conveyor belt. But the paste is not filled all the way to the brim. About half an inch is left so that it can be sealed. Now the tube is ready to be squeezed! Ancient Indian wisdom for good teeth Many people in India use datun, the twig of a neem or babool tree, instead of a factory-made brush. Datun keeps teeth and gums healthy. But do you know which the best brush in the world is? Your fingers, say dentists! Great for the teeth and gums. Have you tried tooth powder? What are the different smells that you can detect in it? Herbs and spices that are good for teeth include mint, clove, cinnamon, black pepper and tulsi. Eating fibrous fruits and vegetables, like apples and carrots, is good for cleaning teeth. Fun with toothpaste caps

who-takes-the-train_en_FKB.txt

Ntembiso Velemane Mabel Mnensa Carla Latsky Today is Beach Day! Naledi is going on the train for the first time. "Who takes the train?" Naledi asks. "Let’s wait and see," Mom says. "Look, Mom!" Naledi whispers. "Hello little girl, do you want to say hi?" Naledi looks at Mom. Mom nods. "Yes please!" says Naledi. "Chocolates! Chocolates!" "Please can I get one?" Naledi asks. "We need to leave space in your tummy for the ice-cream at the beach," Mom says. "Why are you wearing pyjamas?" Naledi asks. "We do karate." Kapow! "Like this!" "Oh, look! A soldier." "No," Mom says, "that is a sailor. She is from the navy." "Mom! Drummers!" "Listen, Naledi," Mom says. "The drums beat to the sound of the train." "Do you want to dance with us?" the drummer asks. "We are getting off at the next stop," Mom tells Naledi who is now tired. "So, what kind of people take the train?" Mom asks. "The best kind," Naledi says.

FKB_Learn-Sight-Words-Print_friendly-Dont_Be_a_Bully.txt

Don't Be A Bully :-) From the Learn Sight Words Series Bullies are horrible! Danielle Bruckert Zehnya Bruckert Learn Sight Words Don't Be A Bully Learn Sight Words Series Published by Red Sky Ventures Compiled by Danielle Bruckert © Dec 2016 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike43.0 License. This text is free for distribution and use, please share! Any use of this material must be shared in the same or similar manner. Any use of this material must be attributed to: Free Kids Books – Contact the CREATOR/COMPILOR: [email protected] More books like this one are available at This book is part of the FKB Make a Difference project Gerty Goat says: Don't Be a Bully! Colin Cow says: Be fair to everyone, no matter what! Patty Penguin says: Treat every person the way you want to be treated. Leo Lion says: Don't judge people for their beliefs or abilities. Wally Walrus says: Support and help others! Peter Panda says: Be honest, but, be kind! Harry Hippo says: Never put someone down! Baba Bear says: Sharing is caring! Not everyone has fsh. Carly Cat says: Hate hurts; Love heals! And Zenna Zebra says: Don't Discriminate*! *"disriminate" means putting someone down ot treating them unfairly for their differences. Words in this book be a to the you for and is don't no or but what want way their put down bully fair everyone matter treat everyone Treated judge people beliefs abilities support help others never someone down hate hurts love heals sharing caring honest kind Discriminate ABOUT ANTI-BULLYING and ANTI-DISCRIMINATION Ask children to come up with ideas for each page on how they can follow through with the concepts suggested, and why it makes a difference: Don't be a bully. Be fair to everyone no matter what. Treat everyone the way you want to be treated. Don't judge people for their beliefs or abilities. Support and help others. Never put someone down. Hate hurts; Love heals. Sharing is caring. Be honest, but be kind. Don't discriminate. Talk about what discrimation means, and what types of discrimination can be present, for example: Discrimination because of gender, disability, race, or religion. Talk about being all-inclusive, and what it means. Look at ways people can be insensitive about race, disability, religion, or gender without thinking. Comment on the following and what is wrong with them: "Cars are for boys." "Pink is for girls." "God only loves Christians." Bullies are horrible! SHARING AND CARING ACTIVITIES – from Book 2 HOW TO BE HAPPY Ask children to come up with ideas for each page on how they can follow through with the concepts suggested, and why it makes a difference: Worry less; Dance more! Take less; Give more! Consume less; Create more! Frown less, Smile more! Talk less; Listen more! Fear less; Try more! Judge less; Accept more! Watch less; Do more! Complain less; Appreciate more! Always be nice. Appreciate more: Talk about what it means to appreciate, and have children write a list of all the things they appreciate in life. Consume Less: Discuss sustainability and reduce, reuse, recycle concepts, ask the children to write down ideas to reduce waste, have a green day where children don't produce any waste. Give more: Research some child welfare charities and discuss ideas of how to contribute, for example a fund rasising day or project at school. Give More! SHARING AND CARING ACTIVITIES from Book 1 – ALAYS BE NICE Ask children to come up with ideas for each page on how they can follow through with the actions: Always be nice. Be kind to others. Don't let others feel left out. Think about others feelings. Don't be mean, Use kind words. Help out when you can. Sharing is Caring Always say "Please". Don't forget "Thank-you". Have a star chart and give children stars whenever another child or sibling notices their caring and sharing behaviour. Ask children to think about how their behaviour makes others feel when they don't follow these rules. Ask children if they can think of a time when they didn't follow these rules. How could they change their behaviour to make the situation better. Alwaye be nice!

The-Best-Thing-Ever-3-18.txt

Muzi loves to build things. He dreams of building the best thing ever. Once he built a shelter for his toys. But it wasn’t the best thing ever. Yesterday he built a bridge It was a good thing. for his animals. But not the best… Today Muzi is going to visit uGogo. He is sad. Without his toys, how can he build the best thing ever? At the bus stop, Muzi is amazed. He sees red things and blue things. Small things and big things. New things and old things. Muzi has a new idea for building the best thing ever. On the road to uGogo’s, Muzi finds many things. Long things and short things. Round things and square things. By the riverside, Muzi finds more things. Soft things and pointy things. Green things and brown things. Look, Muzi! We are here. While uGogo bakes for the hungry travellers… Muzi builds. Look Gogo, a new house for you. Oh, Muzi, laughs Gogo. This is the best thing ever! Gogo, Gogo! says Muzi. The world is full of toys. Look what I can build.

Animals-in-the-City.txt

Animals in the City It’s easy to see animals in the zoo. But if you look around in the city, animals are everywhere! Pigeons are everywhere in the city, picking up food on the streets. Raccoons live in the city too. Sometimes they look for food in the trash. This moose walked all the way from the forest into someone’s front yard ! This swan is crossing the street to get back to the lake. In some cities, horses help the police keep people safe. In other cities, elephants give people rides on the streets. There are lots of animals in the city. What animal will you see next?

Lumberjack-Mack-.txt

Not so long ago, in a village very close to here. Was a forest filled with birds, raccoon, and deer. Now the hero of our story is Lumberjack Mack A burly woodsman who piles firewood by the stack. Now old man winter blew in, it was a very cold breeze. "If I don’t do something," Mack declared "I swear I’ll Freeze!" So he grabbed his axe. ONE swing, TWO swings, and Three! Down fell one mighty tree! "Excellent!" Mack cried "Oh yes, very good!" "This winter I will not run out of firewood!" The next day came and brought a terrible icy storm, But Mack stayed in bed all snuggled and warm. The wind was fierce. It blew in his roof and huffed down his door, "I don’t have enough wood to fix this! I’ll have to cut some more." Axe in hand, Mack took ONE swing, TWO swings, THREE swings the same. And down, down, two more mighty trees came. The next spring came; it was time for the village feast. "I need wood to build tables and chairs, but I’m down to my last piece!" Trusty axe in tow, Mack took swing after swing, day after day. But not before long, ALL the trees had been cleared away!! "YOU FOOL!" all the forest animals mocked and jeered. "You should have planted new trees to replace the ones you’ve cleared." "I know what to do!" Mack shouted as he ran into town. There he bought saplings to plant in the ground. The animals jeers turned to happy cheers, as the forest grew and grew. And Lumberjack Mack was thrilled he did the right thing too. So today in the village that is very near to here, There’s still a forest filled with birds, raccoons, and deer. I know what you’re thinking; Yes, Mack still uses firewood by the stack. But now he plants new trees, so the forest always grows back. The End

Up-World-Down-World.txt

Up World, Down World Fatima loved Sunday afternoons. After a lunch of beans and kofta, Maa would read the newspaper on her favourite chair and Baba would sneak away to take a nap. Fatima could patter away with her book into the lively green forest near her house. The forest creatures would be sleeping, so it would be just her, curled up in the quiet hug of the forest trees. Fatima would sit down in the shade of the Arjuna tree and gaze into the leafy Up World. Maa had warned her not to climb the tree’s branches. It was safe down below. Fatima didn’t know what was in the scary Up World. But that day, Fatima was in for a surprise. As she turned a page, Fatima felt a dull THUMP! on her head. "Ouch!" she yelled, rubbing her sore head. It was a tiny book, barely the size of a pea. Fatima looked up and saw a furry animal trying to hide behind a bough of leaves. "Hello! Is this book yours?" she asked, peering into the Up World. But she got no answer. The pea-sized book belonged to Gopa, a young dormouse who lived in the Up World. Gopa’s little house, made of soft dry leaves and twigs, was in the Arjuna tree as well. The dormouse had often seen Fatima reading, and loved the yellow ribbons in her hair. But Gopa’s Amma had warned her about the terrors of the Down World. All the animals were fearful of Fatima and other human beings and tried to remain invisible to the Down World. That Sunday, Gopa had been swinging on her green, leafy hammock and reading. She was about to turn the last page when a strong breeze blew the book out of her small, furry paws. Down it went! It bounced on the branches and floated away. The book fell THWACK! and hit Fatima on her head. Gopa’s tail quivered and ears twitched. The Up and Down World should never meet, she thought and bolted home. Fatima didn’t climb the tree but kept squinting and trying to read the book. The letters were too small! Finally, she decided to return the book to the shadowy, furry creature. Fatima was really clever – next Sunday she tied five shiny, red balloons around her waist and suddenly, she was floating up. To the Up World! Up, Up, and Up went Fatima, until she reached the tree tops. Gopa was brushing her bushy tail when she spotted five, shiny red balloons! "Oh, balloons! Maybe it is someone’s birthday," she thought excitedly. But what was this? There was the girl with the yellow ribbons attached to the shiny, red balloons. "Run, run away!" squeaked Gopa, "The Down World humans are here!" But Fatima was faster. Fatima offered Gopa the book and asked, "Is this yours?" Gopa grabbed the book quickly and smiled. Fatima giggled. She caught Gopa staring at her ribbons and tied one in a neat bow around her tail. Fatima and Gopa held hands and went off exploring! Fatima and Gopa ran and skipped over the gaps in the trees of the canopy forest. They bugged Baankey the fruit bat, who was sleeping upside down. Baankey did not like being poked. He grunted grumpily, and flapped away to the next branch. "These kids will never let me rest," he thought. Soon he was away in Dreamsville, where he was hanging out in a fig tree, biting into the fleshy, sweet fruits. Gopa helped Fatima hop over the long lines of weaver ants who were too busy to even stop and say hello. With long spindly legs and bubble-shaped bodies, the weaver ants scampered all over the tree. These ants love teams! They work together to stitch large leaves into cozy nests. Next, they bumped into Firki the canopy frog. "He looks like a rainbow," thought Fatima. "Yellow feet, red eyes, and a blue body!" Firki was so surprised to see a human in his canopy that he almost let go of his strong grip on the branch! He croaked a weak hello and turned to pounce on his lunch – a grasshopper! "I thought only the Down World had frogs," said Fatima, who loved chasing frogs around her house pond. Hari the Hornbill was watching them from a distance. He really wanted to be friends with them! Hari was a friendly bird but he made very loud noises, which is why some animals kept him at a distance. But Gopa and Fatima didn’t mind at all. "The Up World isn’t so scary after all," thought Fatima. "How silly I was." "The people from the Down World are pretty cool," thought Gopa. "I am not frightened anymore." "Sob! Sniff." "Uh, oh, I think Vaidya is crying," said Gopa. Her sharp ears picked up sounds easily. The two friends hurried towards Vaidya, a green vine snake, who was very shy. "What is wrong, Vaidya?" asked Gopa. Vaidya sobbed, looking greener than usual. "They cut down the tree that was my home. Now I don’t know where to go," he cried. Baankey, Dipu and other animals also popped out of their homes. Vaidya was homeless. "A new, concrete road is going to be built and humans cut down my tree," wailed Vaidya. Cutting down their home! The Up World was alarmed and upset. "We must help Vaidya," said Gopa. Fatima, Gopa and their new friends formed a search party. They searched and searched and found a snug tree-hole home for Vaidya. Fatima layered the home with soft leaves and orange flowers, Vaidya’s favourite colour. Vaidya loved his new home. "I can’t believe I have so many friends! We need to have a party," he said. And what a party it was. Everyone got their favourite food. Gopa got nuts, Hari got fruits, Baankey was too sleepy to get anything, the ants brought home-stitched, leafy cushions to sit on! Nobody wanted Firki’s grasshoppers. As for Fatima, she had to get the balloons. For the first time ever, the Up World and the Down World were just One World. Meet Fatima’s Friends in the Up World Gopa and her friends live in the vast forest canopies of India. That means they don’t live in the Down World, like us human beings. Instead they live in the Up World, in the swinging branches and swaying leaves of trees. Many creatures that live in forest canopies are now used to living in tree tops. If you’re lucky you will spot some of them, but most of these animals know how to hide themselves cleverly. So you have to be patient! When scientists go to learn about these canopies, they have to use ropes or ladders, because the trees are very tall. Some even use very large hot-air balloons to get up there. You can imagine just how Up Fatima had to go with her balloons. Here are some of the animals who living in forest canopies: Malabar spiny dormouse: This bushy-tailed animal likes to live in trees in quiet, undisturbed forests. It loves to eat fruits and nibbles on pepper sometimes. This dormouse sleeps like a hedgehog, curled up with its tail protruding OUT. Hornbill: These birds are vividly coloured with long and strong beaks. These sociable birds love to eat fruits, insects and even small animals. They make nests in holes in trees and when they have babies, they make a mud wall to cover up the hole, much like making a house! Green vine snake: A bright green, slender tree snake that hides in the leaves of a canopy. It moves very slowly. You can find them not only in India but also Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Tree frog: There are several kinds of tree frogs and they come in various colours. They can have white lips or red or yellow eyes and brown feet. They are usually very small, half the size of your palm, because they have to jump around delicate branches. They spend most of their lives up in the trees. Fruit bat (aka Megabat): They hang upside down. Try to imagine what the world looks like to them! They love to eat fruits and being busy in the trees. They can be super noisy too. You can hear them from a long way off. They have keen senses of sight and smell and are very helpful to us because they pollinate the flowers and fruits we love.

My-Fish.txt

"My fish!" "No, my fish!" Kicchu woke up early one morning."It is time to catch some fish," he said yawning. He met Choru on the way to the pond. They were best friends who played all day long. Munia saw them marching with their fishing rods. "We are going to the pond to catch fish. Come along Munia, if you wish." Little Munia thought for sometime. "Please don’t do that," she said, "without water, the fish will die." They did not listen to what Munia had to say. They headed to the pond straight away. Kicchu and Choru sat waiting by the pond. Two fish swam across, one thin and another round. Then came the third fish, the biggest one they had seen. Munia said laughing, "It is bigger than Appa’s feet!" Kicchu and Choru held on tight to their rods. Kicchu screamed, "MY FISH!" Choru also screamed, "NO... MY FISH!" Kicchu pulled hard... Choru pulled harder... PHAAATTT! Both the rods broke. THUDDD! Kicchu fell to the ground. SSSPPLAASH! Choru fell into the water. What had happened? What do you think? The fish had tied up both the strings!

21616-who-ate-all-that-up.txt

Who Ate All That Up? Nothing goes to waste in a forest. Nothing at all! Everything gets cleaned up. Absolutely everything! When leopards don’t finish their food, Who eats the rest? The vultures and the hyenas! And the hungry wild boar. GRUNT! GRUNT! When the vultures and the hyenas waste their food, Who gobbles it up? The flies and the maggots! And the hungry wild boar. GRUNT! GRUNT! When elephants poop in the forest, Who snacks on that? The dung beetles! And the hungry wild boar. GRUNT! GRUNT! When branches, leaves, and rain fall on the ground, Who feasts on it all? The termites and the fungi! And the hungry wild boar. GRUNT! GRUNT! When the air gets dirty with smoke, Who sucks it all in? The trees! Ummm, but not the hungry wild boar. GRUNT! GRUNT!

Yes-Thats-My-Mother-FKB-Jan-2019-cprssd.txt

YES, THAT’S MY MOTHER! Here she goes again, I thought. That was Saturday. You’d think it would be safe to stand in line for movie tickets. But no such luck. My mother just HAD to INTERVIEW the whole family in front of us while we waited. By the time she finished she knew that they had relatives in Brazil, a dog named Fish (I’m NOT making this up!), and that they had already seen the movie twice. I was wishing for a place to hide, as usual. Also as usual, someone--this time it was the boy behind us--asked, "Is that your mother?" "Yes, that’s my mother," I replied, rolling my eyes. Now, don’t get me wrong--I love my mother. But she’s just so INTERESTED in everything. It’s embarrassing. And then there are all the things that other people don’t even NOTICE but really get HER going. I can give you a perfect example--grocery shopping. What could be simpler? You write out your list, go up and down the aisles filling your cart with stuff you need, pay, and leave. Ha! Not with MY mother. We went to the supermarket Tuesday just before dinner. We didn’t even have a list––we only needed a dozen large eggs, a quart of skim milk, and a cantaloupe. We got the milk first. No problem. I was getting hopeful that this would be just an ordinary shopping event, like the ones that happen in other families. Next the eggs. There was an old woman taking 2 dozen small eggs for 69 cents a dozen when the 1½ dozen carton of large eggs was $1.19. Oh, no! Trouble! I thought. You see, my mother worries about old people wasting money in the supermarket. She thinks it’s her job to help them get the best value. The embarrassing part is––and it happens every time––my mother just stands there and explains the best price to the shoppers! Sometimes I think they don’t even believe her. They just take the better buy so she’ll leave them alone. Mom tells me, "Many older people are on a tight budget. They have to get the most nutrition for the least money. It is my civic duty to help." Yikes!! In the meantime, I try to look like I’m with someone else. It never works. Anyway, the lady Tuesday was pretty nice. She listened patiently and followed Mom’s advice to buy the 1½ dozen carton of large eggs for $1.19. Then she thanked Mom and turned to me. "Is that your mother?" she asked. "Yes, that’s my mother," I sighed. I crossed my fingers on the way to the cantaloupes, hoping, hoping, hoping we’d just grab one and go home. My heart sank when I saw the hand-written ".99¢ " sign above the cantaloupe display. This is it! I thought, frantic about what my mother would do. I can feel it! She’s going to make them sell it to us for the posted price! When I heard my mother politely ask to speak with the manager, I tried to tuck myself into the potato bin. I didn’t fit. Next I heard Mom telling the manager, "I know you think it doesn’t matter what you write on the signs, that people know what you mean. But people bring CHILDREN in here, and I can’t have children believing this truly means ‘99 cents’ just because they saw it in the supermarket. How will they ever learn how to write decimals and amounts of money correctly?" The manager just stared at Mom. Mom stared back. "I spoke to you about this problem last week when the same sign was on the head lettuce. I told you that if you keep putting up signs with these BARGAIN PRICES, one day, instead of begging you to fix the sign, I’d just buy the item at the posted price--and suggest that other shoppers do the same!" Well, Tuesday was the day. Mom took a cantaloupe and off we went to the checkout line. The clerk put in the code for the cantaloupe. The register showed $ .99. Mom said, "I’m sorry, but your store policy says that if an unmarked item scans at a price greater than the shelf price, the item is free. The sign says the price of the cantaloupe is ninety- nine HUNDREDTHS cents, NOT 99 cents. You’ll have to give it to me for free. And I hope everyone else in the store gets a free cantaloupe, too." Other people in our line were looking impatient. Fortunately, most of them couldn’t hear what was going on. But the man right behind us COULD hear. He scrunched his face and asked, "Is that your mother?" "Yes, that’s my mother," I mumbled. "I’m a reporter for the Sentinel," he announced, in a loud voice. "This woman is absolutely right--we should all buy cantaloupe! I’m going to write about this for my paper. Maybe then we can get the store to write prices correctly." Shoppers darted back to the produce aisle for their free cantaloupe. The store manager ripped up the " .99¢ " sign. The reporter really did write an article--all about consumers’ rights and how stores shouldn’t be so careless about the prices they post. It was in today’s paper. When I got to school, Ms. Mathis said, "Girls and boys––I found an interesting story in the Sentinel this morning. We’re going to use it to help us learn about writing amounts of money correctly. By the way, I see that the hero in the story has the same last name as you, Caroline. Is that your mother?" I answered proudly, "Yes! That’s my mother!"

Big-B-and-Little-B-Happy-face-Alphabet-Series.txt

Big B and Little b wanted to buy a big bunch of bananas. BigB dreamt of the beautiful bunch of bananas. Little b went to buy a pair of binoculars to help find the bananas. Look– a big boat! It's heading to Barbados, perhaps there'll be bananas there. Big B and Little b found the beautiful bunch of bananas in Barbados! Bravo!

Supercow_Vol3-The_Reader-Oct2018.txt

Once upon a time, a little lost girl sat by the stump of a tree crying. Why was she crying? We Don't know. ….But what we do know is that she was clutching a large book in her arms. Supercow was sitting, chilling, in a feld of daisies. "It's very important to stop and smell the fowers" Supercow says. - "But don't pick too many! - Leave them for other people to enjoy too." Wait, what is that??? Supercow hears a call for help. "Why are you crying little girl?" Said Supercow, kindly and in a non-threatening way. The little girl's name was Mia. (mya). People called her 'meea' sometimes; it made her mad but she didn't say anything – that would be rude. Supercow looked at the little girl clutching the book so tight - It must be something to do with reading, he thought to himself. Why would anyone cry over a book??? He thought to himself. Supercow asked the little girl, "Do you want someone to read that book to you?" The little girl looked like no one had ever offered to read her a book before. Supercow was VERY worried. How could it be that nobody had ever wanted to read a book to her?? It was a crime or NOT??? "Little girl," said Supercow, "would you like me to read you that book?" "Would I???" Mia clasped her hands in delight. So Supercow few away to save another day. All was well with the world, and, Cow went back to his stroll in the Park. THE END

029-JIMMYS-FIRST-DAY-OF-SCHOOL-Free-Childrens-Book-By-Monkey-Pen.txt

Jimmy had just turned 5 and was starting school. He was frightened. He had never been to school before. Jimmy did not know what to expect and he did not want to leave home by himself. Jimmy's Mom told him not to be afraid as she walked him to his bus stop. She told him he would make new friends and have lots of fun. Jimmy was being brave as he got on the bus and sat down. He waved to his Mom as the bus drove away.

The-Fish-and-Chip-Shop.txt

The Fish and chip shop Written by Bel Richardson Illustrated by Balarupa Why is phonics important to learn? The English language seems like it is full of a lot of crazy pronunciations and spelling. While a small amount of English must be rote learned due to exceptions from rules, much of it can be decoded using phonics. When you know phonics, you are like a detective following clues to solve a mystery. In this series, we use only words that your little reader will be able to break down into standard phonemes. This will build reading confidence while strengthening their phonics foundation. Is this the right level for my little reader? If your reader can decode about 90% of the words in this book independently, this will be an appropriate platform to begin their study of phonics. By understanding a majority of the words, a reader can use context to decode new terms. If a reader breezes through, you might need to take them up another level. If this level is still a bit too tricky for them, get your reader to try some of the earlier levels first. Challenges can be good, but too much too quickly could overwhelm your reader. Take things slow and steady. Enjoy the books and the journey together! How can I be a good learning buddy for my reader? If you are helping somebody to read this book, there are plenty of ways that you can go about it. Do the initial exercises together before you begin to read so that you have both experienced the isolated sounds and discussed them. If the reader gets stuck, cover up all but the first phoneme in the word so that the sound can be isolated again. Slowly move along and reveal more phonemes. Once they can say each individual part of the word, you can focus on blending. Say the words so that they can hear them, and get them to repeat it out aloud several times. To consolidate knowledge after you finish a page, talk about what happened and what is in the picture. Then, try saying some of the words on the page and see if the reader can identify them. Get the reader doing this as well, saying words which you need to find. Above all, you should be patient. Create a safe place to make mistakes so that the reader is willing to give things a go. Special Words This book has some special words that you should take your reader through before you begin. Many special words are those that we use in day-to-day conversation. Unfortunately, a lot of their phonetic structures do not conform to rules that your reader has learned. These words can be frustrating and confusing, but they are also a part of natural reading, writing, and conversation. to, the, there, go, has, what, order, do, you, want, me, put, tastes, two, sure, waste Say each word to your reader a few times so that they can get used to its sound. Get them to repeat it back to you. Afterwards, see if your reader can think of any words that rhyme with this sound in order to help lock in how to pronounce it. Finally, think of some basic sentences that use this word. For example, if the word is ‘the’ you can create basic sentences with a subject, verb, and object: "The hat is on the table." It is time to eat! I am starved. I think that I will try the fish and chip shop. I have not been there yet. Here it is. Let’s go inside. It is very clean. It has been around for a long time. It must be good. Smell that! What terrific fish and chips! I cannot wait to try it. I will go and make an order for us all. Do you want to try the fish? Do you want to try the chips? I see a fish burger as well! We can try it all! I tell the man that we will order fish, chips, and a burger. He is very happy to help. A good shop must have good staff. The man tells me that there are different burgers. I think that I will have the cod burger. It looks very yummy. I will order a lot of chips. They look crunchy and fresh. Crunchy chips are the best. I will get him to put chicken salt on the chips. I will pay. This lunch is on me. I tell the man where we are sitting. He says that he will bring our food over to us soon! Yum! We can share all of this food. I will take a bite out of the burger first. It tastes just as good as it looks! We have eaten almost everything. Two little bits of fish to finish up. We need to make sure that we do not waste food. It says to put the trash in the bin. Cleaning up helps the staff. The man says thank you. I say thank you for the food!

watch-out-the-tiger-is-here-pratham-FKB-CC.txt

Watch Out! The Tiger is Here! It's not easy being a tiger. Yes, tigers are beautiful and fierce. But tigers are also big and heavy. This makes it difficult for them to hunt for food. Out of every twenty times a tiger hunts, it eats only once. When a tiger moves through the forest, KHAU! KHAU! KHAK! The langur calls, just like an old man coughing! KHAU! KHAU! KHAK! AWOOOO! HAWOOOO! The barking deer calls, like a scared dog! AWOOOO! HAWOOOO! 6/8 OOW! OOW! OOW! The spotted deer calls, like a little bird! OOW! OOW! OOW! 7/8 The whole forest knows the tiger is here! AHUUUN? AHUUUN? The tiger wonders, where has everyone gone? 8/8

Who_is_it-early_reader-picture_book_FKB.txt

Who is it? Priya hears a sound.Srrr... Srrr... Who is it? Priya runs out. She sees the cow chewing grass. No, it is not the cow that is making the sound. Is it the monkey in the tree? No, it is not the monkey. Is it the frog hopping in the grass? No, it is not the frog. Is it the deer jumping along? No, it is not the deer. Is it the fish in the pond? No, it is not the fish. Then Priya sees the elephant! The elephant is rubbing its back against a tree. Now Priya has her answer! Srrr... Srrr...

a-very-busy-day_en_3-17.txt

Today is a very busy day! Mama and I have lots of things to do and see. We walk to the station and find people in a queue. Old people and young people, loud people and quiet people, all going to town. Through the minibus window, I see cars driving by. Fast cars and slow cars, big cars and small cars. There are so many buildings in town! Tall ones and short ones, glass ones and brick ones, everywhere I look. Mama and I walk in and out of shops. Shops for clothes and shops for books, shops for bags and all sorts of things. Mama tries on some shoes. Red shoes and green shoes, high shoes and low shoes. Ola! Bonjour! Jambo! Hello! In a big store, we fill a trolley with food. Boxes of cereal, and sacks of fruit. Bags of flour and bottles of juice. Mama shows me the toys and asks me to choose! There are soft toys and round toys, loud toys and fast toys. Today we’ve bought lots of things! Bags of food and bags of clothes. A pair of shoes and even some treats. Back at home, in our quiet house, I take out the special gift that Mama bought just for me!

Pell-G-eric_poem_set-LS.txt

Two snow people on a fluffy snow bed The look around curiously One wears blue and They sing a merry song the other wears red Shining in the moonlight, just where they belong. Out in the cold, Late in the night, they snuggle and they cuddle when everyone's in bed, But they can't have a fire, "Let's take tour of the town", or they'll melt in to a puddle whispers Blue to Red Eric the caterpillar wandered around, I am so drowsy, on the dark brown I need to sleep muddy ground I think I'll sleep, for a couple of weeks He searched for more food, but he could see none The butterfly sang He had eaten all the leaves, "Dear Eric you'll see, every single one in a couple of weeks, you'll fly just like me." He had become a big, fat, slow chap Oh, how he longed, for a nice long nap Just then, a peppy butterfly, singing a merry song, whizzed by Eric called out, "Hello Butterfly!" "How do you manage, to fly so high?" A pirate, a zombie, a demon, a bat A monster, a witch, or a frightening cat On Halloween it's okay to be scary and bad It's okay to be nasty and evil and mad On this one day you don't have to behave It's okay to shriek and to howl and to rise from a grave Halloween is a chance to explore your naughty side to flaunt it and indulge it before it must go back to hide. Through an open meadow, runs a little brook It gurgles and chuckles merrily, while I look On the other side, are the prettiest flowers I've seen To go over and sniff them, I am so very keen So I skip across a bridge, brown and made of stone, to the fragrant flower patch where I can be all alone Far away from people, houses, shops and cars, I roll upon the grass, enjoying the smell of flowers Eight Thumbs the octopus This is Mr. Wobbly is swimming in the sea He doesn't have a spine With his friends all around I am not being rude he's as happy as can be For a jelly fish, that's fine Mr. Sea Horse looks fat Here comes a dolphin Did I hear him right? She's funny and cute Cause a pregnant man, She's friendly and playful, is an amazing sight! and also astute Here's my best friend Under the sea She is a star! is a nice place to be I'm telling the truth, in fact, It never gets boring all star fishes are. in such diverse company Said Mr. P to Mrs. P "Wife my dear, have no fear, "Come dear, dance with me" I'll wash every dish, Said Mrs. P to Mr. P, if you take the time to dance with me, "I'm busy, can't you see?" and let you skirt go swish" Said Mr. P to Mrs. P, "So when you're back to your chores, "But my lovely girl, in a little while let's take this moment for ourselves You can look back on this moment, and swirl and whirl and twirl." delight in it and smile" "Let's waltz and jive and tango Finally, Mrs. P gave in Let's cha-cha and foxtrot She twirled and waltzed and swished For just a brief moment And later on Mr. P, let your troubles be forgot" did the dishes as promised. Asked Mrs. P, indignantly, "But what of all my chores? Who will cook and do the dishes? Who will mop the floors?" By a quaint little hut, Separated by time in a far away place Separated by space I feel the warmth of a fire But in the night sky and the wind on my face Stars all find a place Not a thing I hear, They differ in properties, except what I think complex and simple And I think many things, But to our eyes, as the stars, at me, wink all of them twinkle. Each star, that dazzles the darkness so vast, represents a point of time, in the past

12433-angry-akku-childrens-story-about-emotions.txt

Angry Akku When the last school bell rang, all the children laughed and screamed with joy. All, except Akku. Akku was ANGRY! "Akku! Akku! Look at the pretty sunflowers!" said Appa, as they rode through a field. "GRRMPH! They’re TOO YELLOW! They’re making my eyes hurt!" said Akku. "Akku! Akku! Look! Look at all the monkeys!" said Appa, pointing at the roof of their house. "CHEEE!" said Akku. "SHOOO! Go AWAY! SHOOO!" "Here, drink some buttermilk," said Appa. "It’ll cool you down." "HRRRM!" said Akku. "I DON’T WANT ANY!" "Try a sip, at least?" "OKAY! FINE!" said Akku, and tried a sip. It wasn’t all that bad. She had another sip. And another. In no time, the glass was empty. "Would you like a vada?" asked Appa. "FFEHH!" said Akku. "Just one little bite?" "Okay, FINE!" said Akku, and took a bite. It was quite good. She took another bite. And another. In no time, the plate was empty. "Good girl," said Appa. "Now will you tell me why you’re so angry?" "NO!" said Akku. "Was it something I did?" "NO!" "Was it something Amma did?" "NO!" "Did something bad happen in school today?" "MAYBE!" "Oho." "Would you like to draw it?" asked Appa. "Here’s a nice sheet of paper and some crayons." "Okay, FINE!" said Akku. Akku drew a brick… "This is the STUPID BRICK that I tripped over this morning," said Akku. "You’re right. That IS a VERY STUPID brick!" said Appa. And Akku drew a boy… "This is Bikku, a VERY BAD BOY! He laughed when I fell down!" said Akku. "You’re right," said Appa. "He shouldn’t have laughed at you." And Akku drew an idli… "This is my idli," said Akku. "It fell out of my lunch box when I tripped over the STUPID BRICK!" And Akku drew a crow… "This is the VERY BAD CROW that flew off with my idli," said Akku. "The crow must have been very hungry," said Appa. And Akku drew her teacher… "This is my teacher, Amala Miss," said Akku."She helped me up when I fell down. And then she hugged me." "That’s nice of her," said Appa. "And then she pinched my cheeks. I DON’T LIKE IT when my cheeks are pinched." "Oho! That must have HURT, no?" "A little bit. But I’m okay now." "That’s good." "See how well you draw, Akku?" said Appa. "You’re a real artist! Will you draw something for Amma too?" "OH-kay!" said Akku, and started drawing some more. "This is a little white mouse… and this is a boat… and this is a coconut tree…" "And this is a sunflower… and this is your cycle, Appa… and this is a dog… and this is a frog…" In no time, Akku had forgotten all about the STUPID BRICK that made her trip and fall. And about the BAD BOY who laughed at her. And about the IDLI-STEALING CROW. And Akku even forgot about being ANGRY. 10 Things to Do If You Feel ANGRY like Akku: 1. Laugh loudly and jump around with your arms in the air! 2. Slowly – very, very slowly – breathe in, and breathe out! 3. Drink some water! Or buttermilk! 4. Eat a piece of fruit! Or a vada! 5. Tell a grown-up about how you’re feeling! 6. Write about how you’re feeling! 7. Draw it out! Paint it! 8. Play with a pile of clay! 9. Make up a song about your anger! Sing it aloud! 10. Dance like a monkey!

Learn_Sight_Words-Print_Friendly-DOGS_for_toddlers-FKB.txt

Big dog Small dog. Two dogs. Sad dog. Happy dog. Dog and cat. Cute dog. Cold dog. Very cold dog. Sled dog. Sleepy dog. Warm dog. Hungry dog. Working dog. Which dog do you want? Words in this book big cat cold cute dog dogs happy hungry sad sled sleepy small two very warm working

sister-sister-where-does-the-sun-go-at-night-storybook.txt

Sister, Sister, Where Does the Sun Go at Night? Sister, sister, I wonder... What do you wonder, little brother, What do you wonder? I wonder, I wonder, Where the sun goes at night. Where do you think, little brother, Where do you think? I think, I think... Tell me, little brother, What do you think? I think That maybe, a demon. The terrible black demon Of Darkness Eats up the sun each night For dinner. See how the blue sky, at sunset, Is stained red with his blood? But the sun The glorious brave shining golden sun He fights the Darkness demon All night, every night And by morning, He’s whole again and back to rule. That’s where I think the sun goes at night. Into the mouth of a monster After a terrible fight. I’m clever, aren’t I, sister? Oh yes you are, little brother, oh yes you are And maybe you are right, too... But in the books that I have read That is not what they said. Then what did they say, sister, What did they say? What do you think, little brother, What do you think? I think, I think... Tell me, little brother, what do you think? I think That maybe, while it is night Here on earth, It is a glorious day in The ocean's darkest depths. And the mermaids come dancing out Of their undersea caves To frolic with the sharks. We have seen it ourselves When we went to Mumbai last summer. Remember How the sun lets go of the sky Each evening at dusk And slides soundlessly into the sea? That’s were I think the sun goes at night To flood the underwater With golden light. I’m clever, aren’t I sister? Of course you are, little brother, Of course you are And maybe you are right, too... But in the books that I have read That is not what they said. Then what did they say, sister, What did they say? What do you think, little brother, What do you think? I think, I think... Tell me, little brother, what do you think? I think That maybe there is no mystery. That maybe the sun is just like Father. He goes home tired each night After a long day At work. And his wife, like Mother, Fusses over him, shushes the kids, Covers him with a night-dark blanket of stars, And hopes his snoring will not keep her awake all night. And every morning, the sun Shrugs off his star-blanket, Paints the dawn sky red with his sleepy eyes And gets back to work. That’s where I think the sun goes at night. Home to bed until it is light. I’m clever, aren’t I, sister? I know you are, little brother, I know you are, And maybe you’re right, too... But in the books that I have read That is not what they said. Then what did they say, sister, What did they say? Come here, little brother, I’ll tell you what they said. They said, they said... Tell me, sister, what did they say? They said That the earth is like a ball That the ball goes around the sun Spinning like the red top Mother got you from the Saturday market, But slower. And they said Every spin of the earth Is as long as a day And a night. I asked about the sun, sister, I asked about the sun. I am coming to that, little brother, Be patient now. They said When our part of the earth The half where we live Is turned towards the sun We have day. And when the other half Is turned towards the sun And ours Is turned away We have night. They said That’s where the sun goes at night To bathe the other half in glorious light. Can it be true, sister, can it be true? I can’t say, little brother, I can’t say. But in all the books that I have read That is what they said. FIND OUT MORE! Where does the sun go at night? The earth is a sphere that revolves around the sun, along with the seven other planets of the solar system. One revolution of the earth around the sun takes one calendar year. While it is going around the sun, the earth also spins on its own axis. Each ‘spin’ takes 24 hours, that is, a day and a night. Whichever part of the earth is facing the sun has day. At the same time, the other half of the earth (the part turned away from the sun) has night. Then the earth slowly spins around and the half that was in darkness (that is, the half that was turned away from the sun) now faces the sun. So this half has day, and the other half, which turned away from the sun has night. So, in reality, the sun does not really go anywhere at night! Try this experiment! To understand how the earth’s rotation causes day and night, try this simple exercise. You need: A small rubber ball A big torch Some felt pens A friend What to do: Imagine that the rubber ball is the earth. Using the felt pens, draw the map of the world on the rubber ball. Now, imagine that the torch is the sun. Ask your friend to switch on the torch. Place the ball (the earth) directly in the path of the torch beam (sunlight), so that India is facing the sun. Turn the ball around slowly. What do you see? When India is facing the sun, the Americas are in darkness. As India begins to turn away from the sun, Europe and Africa come into the ‘sunlight’. Then, as the ‘earth’ continues to turn, the Americas come into the light and India becomes dark. Keep turning the ball till India faces the sun again. This is what happens every time the earth turns around on its axis. During each rotation, India (and every other place on earth) has one day and one night.

002-GINGER-THE-GIRAFFE-Free-Childrens-Book-By-Monkey-Pen.txt

Once upon a time, there was a giraffe named Ginger. Ginger lived in Kenya, a country in Africa. Like all giraffes, Ginger had a long neck and long legs. Because she was so tall, she was able to eat food from the very tops of the trees in the savannah. The savannah in Africa is an area with lots of grass and some trees. Sometimes, a savannah is called grasslands. The other animals like zebras and antelopes could not reach where Ginger could reach. But Ginger always found food. She loved the leaves and the new buds of the trees. One day, Ginger was busy eating her favorite leaves along with some other giraffes. It was a bright sunny day and there was not a cloud in the sky. It had not rained for a long time, so the grass was very dry. She heard a noise down at the bottom of her extra long legs: it was her friend, Mickey the Monkey. Mickey was trying to say something, but Ginger couldn’t understand what he was saying. He looked very tired. "What’s wrong?" asked Ginger. Ginger was a very kind giraffe and wanted to help everyone. Just then Mickey fell over! Ginger was also a smart giraffe. She knew what was wrong. Mickey couldn’t find anything to eat and he was very hungry. Ginger nibbled some fresh, tender leaves and buds from the top of the tree where she was eating. She dropped some of the leaves and buds to the ground near where Mickey was. Then she nudged him a little with the hoof at the bottom of one of her very long legs. "Wake up, Mickey!" said Ginger. "I’ve found something for you to eat." Slowly Mickey sat up and ate a little. After a while, when Mickey was feeling better, Ginger asked him, "What’s happened, Mickey? Why are you so hungry? Why can’t you find anything to eat?" Mickey said, "It hasn’t rained for so long and now there’s no more food." "That’s not good," said Ginger. "What’s happening with the other animals?" "No one knows what to do," answered Mickey. "All the zebras and the antelopes and the elephants are getting worried about the dry grass. Some of them are thinking about leaving the savannah and trying to reach the jungle." "That’s a long trip," said Ginger. "Are you going to go with them?" "I don’t know," answered Mickey. "What do you think we should do?" Ginger thought for a while and then suddenly, she had a good idea. "We should go talk to Leo the Lion. He is the smartest animal in the savannah!" Mickey was too tired to walk, so Ginger invited him to ride on her back. "Hold on tight to my neck," said Ginger. "There’s a lot to hold on to," joked Mickey. Ginger laughed. "You’re right. I’ve got the longest neck in Africa!" So they started their journey across to the other side of the savannah to look for Leo. Ginger and Mickey were in luck! Leo was sitting up on a rock and he was really easy to see as they walked through the grass. "Hi, Leo!" they both shouted. Leo had been napping and was a little grumpy when they woke him up. But he was polite and said, "Hello Ginger and Mickey. Why did you walk the whole way across the savannah? Just to wake me up?" But he was joking; he had a smile on his face. "Mickey says that there is no food left on the savannah because it’s been so dry," said Ginger. "Do you have any ideas?" Leo thought for a while. He said, "There’s nothing we can do about the rain. It will come soon, but we can’t be sure when it will arrive. When the rain comes, all the plants will grow again and there will be lots of food for everybody." He thought a little longer. "The only thing I can think of is for everyone to move closer to the forest," he continued. "There will be more things to eat there, but I know it’s a long trip and it will not be very easy. It might take days to get there." Ginger and Mickey looked at each other and then looked back at Leo. "Thank you, Leo," said Ginger. "It’s probably best if they all try to get closer to the jungle." They said goodbye and then walked back across the savannah. Now they needed to gather all of the animals together to start the long journey. Ginger didn’t need to go along because she had plenty of food in her high trees. But she was a good friend and wanted to help as much as she could. They walked towards her favorite trees and guess what she and Mickey saw? All of the animals were already gathered there and waiting for Ginger and Mickey! "Why are you all here?" asked Ginger. "Eddie the Eagle told us that you’re taking us to the edge of the jungle," said one of the zebras. "How did he know?" asked Mickey. "He heard you talking with Leo," said one of the antelopes. "So you’ve all decided to try to walk together to the jungle?" asked Ginger. "Yes," they all answered. "If you’ll help us to get there," added one of the elephants. "Of course, I’ll help," said Ginger. "I’m your friend." So they started on their big journey across the savannah to the jungle. The sun was so hot and there was no food and no place to get a drink of water. And then they heard it. It was thunder! "Thunder!" they all shouted. Thunder was very scary to the animals of the savannah. Can you guess why? Fire! Sometimes the lightning hits the dry grass and the whole savannah catches fire. Then everyone has to run. And that is exactly what happened. "Fire!" they shouted. They could smell it. And now they could see it. The fire was coming towards them! Ginger had to think fast. Because she was so tall she could see farther than any of the other animals. She stretched her long neck up as far as she could. Now she could see a place where there was no fire. "Quick!" she said. "Everyone run this way." All of the animals followed her and ran as fast as they could. Soon, they were out of danger. They stopped and gathered together one more time. "Is everyone here?" Ginger asked. She wanted to make sure they were all safe. All the animals looked around; they were all there. And then the most wonderful thing happened. "I felt a drop," said a zebra. "Me too," said an antelope. It was rain! Finally! Everyone was very happy. It started to rain a little more and then a little more. The rain put out the fire so they didn’t have to run. And the rain filled their watering holes and made the plants grow again, so they didn’t have to make that long trip to the edge of the jungle. Everyone would soon have enough food and water. So Ginger, the Giraffe went back to her favorite tree and continued to munch on the leaves and buds.

Wheres-My-Sandwich-FKB-edition.txt

I am very excited today. Archie and I are going to the nature reserve for a picnic. We love the nature reserve. There are many animals to see and a pretty river and open spaces to run and play. I have packed fruit, lemonade, a cake and best of all - sandwiches. Archie loves my sandwiches. When we arrived at the nature reserve I started to set up the picnic while Archie chased some birds. When everything was ready I called to Archie and sat down to eat...But my sandwich was missing! "Where’s my sandwich?" I said as I looked around. Then I saw it. Crumbs. A crumb trail. Interesting! I decided to follow the trail to see where it leads. Maybe I will find my sandwich...or the one who took it. The crumb trail stopped at the foot of a tree. Looking up I saw a Koala. "Koala, where’s my sandwich?" I asked. "Sorry Nellie, I don’t eat sandwiches. I eat eucalyptus leaves, but whoever took it sure is fast. They zoomed by here not that long ago". Looking around I found another crumb trail. I followed the trail to the river. When I reached the riverbank I stopped and looked around. The crumbs were bobbing along the top of the water and stopped on the other side. I swam across the river where I found two ducks fighting over a fish. "Ducks, where’s my sandwich?" I asked. "Sorry Nellie, we do not eat sandwiches, we eat fish, but whoever took it sure is fast. They zoomed by here not that long ago". Looking along the bank I found another crumb trail. Following the trail, I came to the bush. Following the trail through the bush, I came across a Kangaroo. "Kangaroo, where’s my sandwich?" I asked. "Sorry Nellie, I don’t eat sandwiches, I prefer this delicious scrub, but whoever took it sure is fast. They zoomed by here not that long ago." Looking around I found another crumb trail. I followed the trail until it stopped in front of a wombat’s burrow. "Wombat, where’s my sandwich?" I asked, waking him from his nap. "Sorry Nellie, I don’t eat sandwiches, I eat grass, but whoever took it sure is fast. They zoomed by here not that long ago". Looking around I found another crumb trail. This crumb trail was following the walkway through the bush. It appeared to be leading back to the picnic area. Back at the picnic area I found a very guilty looking puppy. "Archie, where’s my sandwich?" "I’m sorry Nellie, I ate it all up. You know I love your sandwiches," said Archie. "Well, thank you for being honest. Now show me how fast you are. Race you home." With that said, I took off running.

Practice_test-Math-5th_Grade-Nebraska.txt

Grade 5 Mathematics Practice Test Nebraska Department of Education 2010 Directions: On the following pages are multiple-choice questions for the Grade 5 Practice Test, a practice opportunity for the Nebraska State Accountability–Mathematics (NeSA–M). Each question will ask you to select an answer from among four choices. For all questions: • Read each question carefully and choose the best answer. • You may use scratch paper to solve the problems. • The Mathematics Reference Sheet is provided in the back of the test booklet. You may refer to this page any time during the test. • You may not use a calculator on this test. • Be sure to answer ALL the questions. Remember only one of the answers provided is the correct response. NEG5MathPTPaper 2 STOP. 1. Evan wants to measure the length of his room. Which unit of measure is appropriate to measure the length of his room? A. centimeter B. foot C. inch D. millimeter 3 2. What is in simplest form? 9 1 A. 3 1 B. 2 3 C. 6 6 D. 18 3. Mrs. Perkins makes study guides for her class of 21 students. She uses 252 sheets of paper. How many sheets of paper are in each study guide? A. 12 sheets B. 231 sheets C. 273 sheets D. 5,292 sheets NEG5MathPTPaper 3 Go on to the next page. 4. Use the rectangle below to answer the question. 5 meters 17 meters What is the area of the rectangle? A. 12 square meters B. 22 square meters C. 44 square meters D. 85 square meters 5. Which equation shows how to multiply 6 × 5 × 3 using the associative property? A. 6 × 5 × 3=3 × 5 × 6 B. (6 × 3) + 5 = 6 × (3 + 5) C. (6 × 5) × 3 = 6 × (5 × 3) D. (6 × 5) + (6 × 3) = (6 × 3) + (6 × 5) NEG5MathPTPaper 4 Go on to the next page. 6. Which picture shows 180° of a circle? A. B. C. D. 7. Each time John goes to the movies he spends $7.00. Which expression shows how much he spends after going to the movies t times? A. t + $7.00 B. t – $7.00 C. $7.00 × t D. $7.00 – t NEG5MathPTPaper 5 Go on to the next page. 8. What is 92.53 ÷ 10? A. 0.9253 B. 9.253 C. 92.53 D. 925.3 9. In the expression 15 ⫺ n, which value of n results in the greatest difference? A. n=0 B. n=5 C. n = 10 D. n = 15 10. What is the value of w in the equation 116 ⫺ w = 95? A. w = 19 B. w = 21 C. w = 210 D. w = 211 NEG5MathPTPaper 6 Go on to the next page. 11. What is the standard form of twenty-one and six hundred thirty-four thousandths? A. 21.60034 B. 21.6034 C. 21.634 D. 2,160,034 12. Use the coordinate grid below to answer the question. y 13 A 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 x 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 What are the coordinates of Point A? A. (11, 6) B. (12, 7) C. (6, 11) D. (7, 12) NEG5MathPTPaper 7 Go on to the next page. 13. Use the spinner below to answer the question. yellow red red blue green red What are all the possible outcomes for the spinner? A. red, blue, red, green B. yellow, red, blue, red C. red, blue, yellow, green D. yellow, red, blue, yellow 14. Which is the correct sum? 2.34 + 1.7 A. 2.51 B. 3.04 C. 3.14 D. 4.04 NEG5MathPTPaper 8 Go on to the next page. 15. Use the table below to answer the question. Ashley’s Grocery List toothpaste $3.99 bread $2.45 milk $2.69 apples $3.10 cereal $4.89 Ashley goes to the grocery store to buy each of the items on her list. Ashley rounds the cost of each item to the nearest dollar. What is the estimated total cost of these items? A. $15.00 B. $16.00 C. $17.00 D. $18.00 16. 1 Which percent equals ? 4 A. 14% B. 25% C. 41% D. 52% NEG5MathPTPaper 9 Go on to the next page. 17. Use the expression below to answer the question. 53 × 24 How can the distributive property be used to solve this expression? A. (50 + 20) × (3 + 4) B. (5 × 2) + (3 × 4) C. (53 + 4) × (53 + 2) D. (53 × 20) + (53 × 4) 18. Which list is in order from least to greatest? A. 1,000; 1,010; 1,009 B. 1,010; 1,011; 1,100 C. 1,100; 1,010; 1,001 D. 1,010; 1,100; 1,001 NEG5MathPTPaper 10 Go on to the next page. 19. Which is a composite number? A. 5 B. 7 C. 19 D. 21 20. What is 3.8 × 10? A. 0.38 B. 3.80 C. 38 D. 380 NEG5MathPTPaper 11 Go on to the next page. 21. Use the graph below to answer the question. Activities in a Day 10 Time (hours) 8 6 4 2 0 school TV playing sleeping eating Activity Which circle graph could represent the information in the bar graph? A. Activities in a Day B. Activities in a Day eating school school TV sleeping eating TV playing playing sleeping C. Activities in a Day D. Activities in a Day school TV playing sleeping school TV sleeping eating playing eating NEG5MathPTPaper 12 Go on to the next page. 22. Use the picture below to answer the question. How many faces does the prism have? A. 3 faces B. 4 faces C. 5 faces D. 6 faces 23. Use the bar graph below to answer the question. Favorite Fifth Grade Activities 30 Number of Students 25 20 15 10 5 0 video soccer baseball dance cheerleading games Activity A teacher asked the fifth graders about their favorite activities. What is the total number of fifth graders represented on the graph? A. 10 B. 25 C. 65 D. 80 NEG5MathPTPaper 13 Go on to the next page. 24. What is the value of 12 ⫺ (3 + 5)? A. 4 B. 10 C. 14 D. 20 NEG5MathPTPaper 14 STOP. NeSA-M Grade 5 Reference Sheet Shape Area Perimeter Key Rectangle A=l×w P = 2l + 2w l = length s = side length Square A=s×s P=s+s+s+s w = width Standard Units Metric Units Conversions – Length 1 foot (ft) = 12 inches (in.) 1 centimeter (cm) = 10 millimeters (mm) 1 yard (yd) = 3 feet (ft) = 36 inches (in.) 1 meter (m) = 100 centimeters (cm) 1 mile (mi) = 1,760 yards (yd) = 5,280 feet (ft) 1 meter (m) = 1,000 millimeters (mm) 1 kilometer (km) = 1,000 meters (m) Conversions – Volume 1 cup = 8 fluid ounces (fl oz) 1 liter (l) = 1,000 milliliters (ml) 1 pint (pt) = 2 cups 1 liter (l) = 1,000 cubic centimeters (cu. cm) 1 quart (qt) = 2 pints (pt) 1 gallon (gal.) = 4 quarts (qt) Conversions – Weight/Mass 1 pound (lb) = 16 ounces (oz) 1 gram (g) = 1,000 milligrams (mg) 1 ton = 2,000 pounds (lb) 1 kilogram (kg) = 1,000 grams (g) Grade 5 Practice Test Answer Key Number Key 1 B 2 A 3 A 4 D 5 C 6 B 7 C 8 B 9 A 10 B 11 C 12 D 13 C 14 D 15 C 16 B 17 D 18 B 19 D 20 C 21 A 22 C 23 D 24 A

fire-fire_Pratham-FKB.txt

Fire! Fire! When Ana moved from her hometown in Goa to Mumbai, she was very excited. But she was also sorry to leave her uncle, her grandmother, her friends and most of all… Mando. Mando was a serious dog who slept peacefully all day. But whenever there was a wedding in the neighbourhood, he howled woefully, until Ana’s uncle stopped playing his violin! Ana loved Mando. She knew he would always protect her from strangers and dangers. And from her uncle’s noisy violin! Mumbai was a noisy city. Ana missed the sounds of the birds, the church bells and the village music. The only thing she didn’t miss was her uncle’s violin! Sometimes, after school, Ana would go with her father as he delivered letters and parcels. Ana would wait eagerly for her ride up in the lift. One day, she sneakily pressed all the buttons. The lift opened on every floor! Every floor had a red speaker box on the wall. Each floor also had a strange-looking shower- head on the ceiling. ‘Who would want to take a bath here?’ she wondered. Ana tried to figure things out. The red speaker box never played any music. And the shower? Not a drop of water ever dripped from it. It did not even have a tap! One afternoon, while Ana and her father were on the fifth floor at Manju Aaji’s door, they heard the most horrible wailing. "Papa, what’s that terrible noise?" "I think that’s the fire alarm, Ana. Come, we must get to the fire escape floor immediately." Ana looked at all the people who had rushed to the safety point. "Don’t worry Ana, it’s a very small fire on the second floor. Do you hear that siren? That’s the fire engine - it’s here to help us." Suddenly, the strange shower began to spray water all around. Oh, and who was that in the corner? Manju Aaji’s kitten! She was terrified of the fire and the water. The sight of the helpless little kitten made Ana feel brave. She dashed to its rescue. Now that she had gathered some courage, she asked, "How did the shower come on, Papa?" "These are fire sprinklers, Ana. When there is a fire, they turn on automatically," her father said. "But where is the tap, Papa?" she asked again. Ana’s father looked at the sprinkler. He wasn’t sure. "There is no tap, Ana," said Manju Aaji. "That red pipe is always full of water and is plugged tight with a bulb. When there’s a fire nearby, the bulb heats up and bursts. So the water comes rushing out." "Ah," said Papa, who had just learnt something. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP... A large white ladder rose up right in front of them. "Families with children and the elderly, please," a fireman announced into his horn. As they climbed onto the fire lift, Manju Aaji clutched Ana’s hand, and shut her eyes tight. But Ana kept her eyes wide open. "You were a brave girl today, Ana," her father said proudly. "Did the fire alarm scare you?" Ana hugged him and nodded. "The fire alarm saved us all today, you know? It’s a good thing," he said softly. "It’s a bit like Mando, Papa," Ana whispered back. Her father looked puzzled. "The fire alarm is quiet every day. It only makes noise to save us from trouble." Technology helps us in many ways. During a fire, the automatic fire systems in schools, cinema halls and other buildings save our lives. Here are some things we should do when we hear a fire alarm: 1. Get up calmly and walk towards the nearest fire exit at a steady pace. Do not take the lift as lifts are usually disabled during a fire. 2. Running will make you inhale more smoke or may cause an accident or stampede. So do not run; walk fast. If possible, cover your face with a wet towel. 3. Do not throw any water at the fire as this could make the fire spread or cause electrocution. 4. Ask a grown-up to switch off the electrical main switch. Do not touch any electrical appliances or switches. 5. If the exit way is filled with smoke it is better to crawl or creep out so that you inhale less smoke. 6. Once out of the building, walk towards the nearest fire assembly point or safe open area. 7. Wait in one place until your family member or caretaker hasfound you. 8. If you are injured, request the nearest grown-up for help.

an-umbrella-for-druvi-pratham-FKB.txt

An Umbrella for Druvi Druvi the dragonfly has just learnt to fly. She flies near the pond with her friends. They tease the frogs and eat mosquitoes for lunch. In the evening, Druvi flies to the jungle nearby. She looks at the bird nests and spider webs. She does not see the clouds gather in the sky. Plop! A raindrop falls on Druvi’s head. Druvi wants to go back home. But she does not want her wings to get wet. "I need an umbrella," thinks Druvi. She flies to the Gulmohar tree. It looks like a strong, red umbrella. The leaves are too tiny. "Too small to even cover an ant," thinks Druvi. "I need something bigger." Druvi sees big, star-shaped leaves. "The Papaya tree leaves would make a lovely umbrella," thinks Druvi. "Oh no, it is letting all the rain in." The wind blows strong but Druvi has still not found her umbrella. She perches under a plant but the thin leaves fold up! "How unkind you are," Druvi says to the Touch-Me-Not plant. Druvi is upset. The jungle is full of leaves. There are thin leaves and fat ones, big ones and small ones. But none are umbrella leaves. Suddenly Druvi sees a Banyan tree. It does not have star-shaped leaves or prickly leaves. The leaves are not too heavy or too small. Druvi flies towards the Banyan tree. She perches under the leaf. She has found her umbrella! More about dragonflies Dragonflies are great travellers! Some dragonflies – like the Wandering Glider that we find in our fields and gardens – travel across the open seas from India to Africa. They travel more than 16,000 kilometres to cross the Indian Ocean. They start their journey from India in October and reach countries like Tanzania in January. On the way, they stop at islands like the Maldives and Seychelles. Dragonflies cannot fly if they are too hot or too cold. In the morning, they spread their wings to get heat from the sun. In the afternoon, some dragonflies perch with their body raised and their stomach pointing to the sun, to stay cool.

048-MY-NEW-MATH-TRICK-Free-Childrens-Book-By-Monkey-Pen.txt

Hi! My name is Mathew. That’s Math_ _ as is mathematics and _ _ _ _ ew as in you are going to learn some multiplication tricks. Before I share the new tricks let’s just review some other things to remember when multiplying. Remember 0 times anything is always equal to 0. 2X0=0 Now it’s your turn, quick! What is 4 X 0? That’s right it’s 0, good job Remember 1 times anything is always equal to the "anything." 1X6=6 Now it’s your turn, quick! What is 1 X 9? Great work, you are correct it’s 9. And of course you remember that 10 times anything is the "anything" with a 0 added at the end. 10 X 3 = 30 What is 10 X 5? That’s right. It is 50. Now here is a trick you can use to help you with the Times 9 multiplication table for 9 x 0 through 9 x 10. First write down the table: 9X0= 9X1= 9X2= 9X3= 9X4= 9X5= 9X6= 9X7= 9X8= 9X9= 10 X 9 = Next complete the table with the easy answers for Times 0, 1, and 10. 9 X 0 = 0 (0 times anything always equals 0). 9 X 1 = 9 (1 times anything always equals the anything). 9X2= 9X3= 9X4= 9X5= 9X6= 9X7= 9X8= 9X9= 10 X 9 = 90 (10 times anything equals the anything with 0 added to the end). Simple enough, right? Next, pretend you don’t know the answers to 9 X 2 through 9 X 9 and starting at the top (9 X 2) write the numbers 1 through 8 next to each. 9X0=0 9X1=9 9X2=1 9X3=2 9X4=3 9X5=4 9X6=5 9X7=6 9X8=7 9X9=8 10 X 9 = 90 That was easy. Now do the same thing but start at the bottom (9 x 9). 9X0=0 9X1=9 9 X 2 = 18 9 X 3 = 27 9 X 4 = 36 9 X 5 = 45 9 X 6 = 54 9 X 7 = 63 9 X 8 = 72 9 X 9 = 81 10 X 9 = 90 Success! You can easily write down the Times 9 multiplication table for 0 through 10. Times 11 everybody. Yes, that is what I said. TIMES 11, it’s SCARY! Or is it? First, look at 1-digit numbers multiplied by 11. It is much like multiplying by 1 except there are two places in the answer. (One times anything is anything – or in this case anything-anything). 11 X 0 = 0 (Remember, 0 times anything is always 0). 11 X 1 = 11 11 X 2 = 22 11 X 3 = 33 11 X 4 = 44 11 X 5 = 55 11 X 6 = 66 11 X 7 = 77 11 X 8 = 88 11 X 9 = 99 Wow! That was easy. But can you easily multiply 2-digit numbers by 11? Yes – And here is the trick! These are big numbers but don’t get scared. Let’s look at 11 X 15. Take the number you want to multiply by 11 (in this case 15) and imagine a space between the 2-digits. 1_5 Now add the two numbers together. 1+5=6 If the answer is a single-digit (1, 2, 3, etc.) put the sum in the space to get your answer. 165 So … 11 X 15 = 165 Go ahead and try a few. 11 X 12 = The answer equals 1 (1+2) 2 or 132. 11 X 26 = The answer equals 2 (2+6) 6 or 286. 11 X 81 = The answer equals 8 (8+1) 1 or 891. You didn’t know you were so smart, did you. Oh-oh … What do you do if the numbers in the space add up to a two-digit number like 10 or 17? Well it’s a little tricky … But not hard. Let’s take a look at 11 X 77. Imagine that space between the 7 and 7. 7_7 Add the two numbers together (7+7=14) Put the second number into the space (in this case it is 4) 747 Then add the number 1 to the first number. (7+1)47 … or Let’s do a little more practice. The challenge: 11 X 29 =? 2_9 2 (2+9) 9 2 (11) 9 Keep the second space number in the space and add 1 to the first number. (2+1)19 319 So … 11 X 29 = 319 Let’s do another great big one just for fun. 11 X 98 =? 9_8 9 (9+8) 8 9(17)8 Keep the second space number in the space and add 1 to the first number. (9+1)78 1078 So … 11 X 98 = 1078 Wow! You catch on fast. With a little practice, you will be able to multiply 2-digit numbers by 11 in your head. Practice and challenge your friends (or maybe your teacher) to a 2-digit times 11 contest.

We-are-Aussies-.txt

AUSSIES For a long time you would only find us out west working on farms and ranches. Our history is a little blurry. No one is quite sure how we turned out looking like we do. Someone noticed how adorable we were and the rest is history. "This and this Kode, my mouth a t is my n big pl aym ." ew to ate .. y in h . is Some Aussies lay like this. We call it 'frog-legs'. Looks crazy, right? You should try it. It is really comfortable. Most of us actually grin. I know what you are thinking, a dog can't grin. Well, we really do! Some might think we are growling because we show our teeth, but it is just the we smile. Did you know that very few animals really smile? We have a good sense of humor and are always ready for fun. Some of us are just down right silly. Steven and Sydney We can be quite the pranksters. We are great diggers and we love to work in the garden. Kode dug out the roses and planted them on the other side of the yard. Did you know that roses belong in the rose garden? Who knew? See, Kode is smiling again! Kode is always in trouble. Aussies come in sixteen different color combinations. That is alot of color choices. 1. Black. 2. Black and copper. 3. Black and white. (Bi-black) 4. Black with white and copper. (Tri-black) Tri-black Rules! 5. Blue merle. 6. Blue merle and copper. 7. Blue merle and white. 8. Blue merle with white and copper. Kode is #8. 9. Red. 10. Red and copper. 11. Red and white. (Bi-red) 12. Red with white and copper. (Tri-red) The Reds 13. Red merle. 14. Red merle and copper. 15. Red merle and white. 16. Red merle with white and copper. The Reds Merles We can have eyes with two different colors. Our eyes can be golden, amber, light brown, dark brown, green, blue, orange, or marble. Hey... where is my tail? No worries, I was born without a tail. It is called a natural dock. Some of us have their tails docked when pups. OUCH! Aussies can also have beautiful fluffy tails. We hope this look gets popular. It might be fun to have a tail. Most Aussies like their ears down and floppy. This is a funny picture of me with one ear up and one ear floppy. I look so confused! I decided I looked better with mine up. Kala 7 months Some of us work for a living. My cousin is the mascot for the Milwaukee Courier Company. He loves his job. They pay him with bones. What a sweet deal! Ranchers and farmers love us. We have a lot of energy and can work all day. Kode was born on a farm. We may be happy to share the couch with you. But remember ... we are not couch potatoes! My Cousin 4 months Aussies love to play. We always have a stock pile of balls, sticks, and frisbees. Some of us are high fliers. We can really jump! Being herding dogs, we love to chase anything! We play to win. But wait - you want to know about me? As I remember, it was just another day ... One minute I am outside playing with my dad. The next minute I am in a car with a guy name Joe. That's right, I finally get my own home. Wow! I became so excited, I got sick all over the car seat. Sounds like a fairy"tail", right? Joe said I needed to go to the doctor and get my checkup. My tests didn't look too good. The place I was born didn't take very good care of us. She had too many puppies. My doctor said Joe rescued me just in time. I was scared Joe wouldn't want me because I was so sick. I did what any little pup would do - I got sick all over the exam table. I started to shake. 3 months old Joe picked me up and said "no worries, we are family now". I got all my shots. I took all my medicine, even the stuff that tasted really bad. I worked really hard at getting better. One day I got nervous while Joe was away. Ichewed a huge hole in the rug under the bed. Joe got really mad. I though "This is it. It's back to the puppy farm for me." Next thing I know, my house is filled with bones. Turns out bones taste better than rugs. Who knew? I did get stronger but it took a long time. I ended up with a twitchy leg from being so sick. My leg shakes even now when I get excited or nervous. Joe says that's OK. Kala Teething I still think about my dog family. I hope they all found someone like Joe to love them. Floppy ears, straight ears, green eyes, blue eyes, with tail, or no tail. WE ARE PERFECT just the way we are. We are all different and unique. This is what makes us all so special.

When-I-Grow-Up.txt

What do I want to be when I grow up? When I grow up, I want to be a dancer and dance on a stage. When I grow up, I want to be a firefighter and put out big fires. When I grow up, I want to be a nurse and make sick people better. When I grow up, I want to be a musician and play in a band. When I grow up, I want to be a mechanic and fix cars and tractors. When I grow up, I want to be a teacher and teach children to read and write. When I grow up, I want to be a soccer player and score the winning goal. When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut and fly to the moon. When I grow up, I want to be a chef and make food for my family and friends. When I grow up, I can choose whatever I want to be! What do you want to be when you grow up?

027-PIRATES-COVE-Free-Childrens-Book-By-Monkey-Pen.txt

Arrgh, me hearties, I has a story for ye, a story of untold riches and a young lad who found ‘em. And who am I, ye ask? Well - I be the spirit of Sand-dollar, a pirate and buccaneer, Captain of the Seahorse, the finest ship to ever sail the seven seas. Ah, she was a fine vessel. Three masts and ten sails made her fast, and her sleek hull let her cut through the waves with ease. Me crew was the finest bunch of sailors to ever set sail on the open seas. They came from all over the world, to serve on the Seahorse, and share in the riches. I remember we just hid the treasure and I found a safe place to hide me treasure map. A familiar place, a place, where as a young lad, before the sea called me to service, was me home. As we finished burying the treasure, we saw a storm approaching from the East. It was a bad one. The wind was a howling, rain soaked us to our very bones, thunder roared, and the lightening frightened the bravest of me crew. We were in the longboat, just about to board the Seahorse, when it happened. The bottom of the sea opened and the waters began draining. The waters started going round and round. Slowly at first, and then picking up speed until we were in a whirlpool. It didn’t take long for the swirling waters to suck the Seahorse to the bottom of the sea. As for us in the longboat, we watched her go down as we spiraled around that whirlpool before getting sucked down with her. Arrgh! It makes me heart happy to see that lad growing like he is. They call him Sandy, after me. Ya see I’m his Great-Great-Great-Grandpa." "Sandy," called his mom from the house. "You forgot you chores for the day. Remember you were going to clean the attic." "Oh," grumbled Sandy as he slowly walked to the house. "I don’t mind chores, but cleaning the attic! There hasn’t been anyone up there in years." "It must be dark, dirty, and full of spiders and other creepy things. There is probably even a ghost or two living up there with the spiders." "I unlocked the door to the attic," his mom said. "Be careful, it’s a little dark and there is a lot of stuff just lying around or stacked in piles." The spirit of Sand-dollar thought to himself as he watched Sandy. "Arrgh, I must have looked the same on that stormy night when I hid me treasure map in that very room. I wonder if it will be finally found." "This isn’t so bad," Sandy said to himself. "There’s a lot of neat stuff up here. I’ll clean as I move and organize all these different things." "Arrgh," Sand-dollar thought to himself. "That lad be a hard worker. I’d have him on me crew if I could. He’s only been up here a few hours and he’s almost done." "One last thing to clean and move," Sandy said aloud. (Even though he knew, no one was there to hear him). "I’ll just wipe down this old trunk and slide it over there in the corner. Wow! This thing is heavy; I think I’ll have to empty it before I can get it to move." "Arrgh," Sand-dollar thought to himself. "The lad be getting close to me map. He has emptied a lot of things from the trunk." "Oh, wow!" Sandy said. "Look at this old book. I’ll just open it up and …… a map! Here’s an old map. A treasure map! I don’t believe it! I’ve got to show mom." "Arrgh, the lad found me map. At last, someone can find me treasure and be rich beyond belief." Sand-dollar said. "Where did you find it?" his dad asked. "It was in this old book. I couldn’t move this old trunk in the attic so I started taking things out when I saw the book. When I opened the book, the map fell out." Sandy replied. Sandy’s mom added. "It’s certainly old and it’s definitely a treasure map. And look here, whatever it leads to is buried on our property." "Look at this note on the side," his dad, said. "It says the finder will have untold wealth and be rich beyond belief. It’s signed by someone named Sand-dollar." "Let’s study the map. Tomorrow morning we are going on a treasure hunt," his dad said. "Yippee!" Sandy exclaimed. "Arrgh, it appears me treasure is close to being found." Sand-dollar said. "Sandy, you take the shovel, mom can read the map, and I’ll use the compass," his dad said as they walked into the yard to begin their treasure hunt. "Arrgh, look at em go. They be pretty good at following me map. That’s it! 22 paces due West from the well, Turn to the North East and take 6 paces, then 11 paces to the South ….. They be at me treasure." Sand-dollar said. "If we followed the map correctly, and there really is a treasure, we are standing on top of it," Sandy’s dad said. "I get to dig," Sandy said excitedly as he removed the first scoop of many from the sandy soil. "Arrgh, that lad be a chip-off-the-old-block. Look at him dig. You are almost there lad. Don’t give up!" Sand-dollar said. "I hit something," screamed Sandy. "It’s a box. It’s the treasure! We found the treasure! Let me get it out and hand it to you dad." "An old Book?" Sandy said with disappointment. " I was expecting to find diamonds, rubies, and gold coins. Not an old book." "Arrgh, me lad. Don’t ye give up now. Ye has to look into the old Book lad." Sand-dollar said. Sandy said. "Mom, let me see the Book. For some strange reasonI want to look through it." "This is really interesting," Sandy said. "And look at this. Different words are circled in the first page. Wow! There is a family tree and a letter written in the back." "Let me see," his mom said. "Oh my! Look at this. Here is a branch labeled ‘Sandy’ and above it is written ‘Sand-dollar’ with a 1 circled." Sandy’s dad asked, "Could I see the Book? When I was a little boy, younger than you Sandy,my father told me we had a pirate in the family. Let me have a few minutes to study this.""After reading everything, here is whatI figured out." Sandy’s dad saidin a soft voice. "Sand-dollar was a pirate. He was also yourGreat-Great-Great-Grandfather. He left for adventures on the high seas,became a pirate, and, well, the familyjust forgot about him. He wrote his story in this Book and hid it as atreasure. "This Book taught him, how to hide the treasure. As instructed in the book, he took all the treasure the gold, silver,the jewels, and buried them. He asks that whoever finds this othertreasure share it, do good, and do whatthe Book says. "Wow," said Sandy."Quite a story," Sandy’s mom said. "There’s more," Sandy’s dad said. "And Sandy – You may want to get the shovel. When I looked at the 1 with a circle around it, I remembered what Sandy said about words being circled on the first page. It is a code to another treasure. Sand-dollar was his pirate name. Ten letters and ten words circled on the first page. Here is the key to the treasure. Start A New Dig – Dig Out Lots Lower And Receive There’s more treasure, buried deeper in the hole that we dug." "Arrgh, it does me heart good to seeme family helping me," Sand-dollar said. "I am digging as fast as I can, mom."Sandy said. I hit something big!" "Arrgh, that’s it lad. Dig outthat chest. Come on! You and your dad can get it out of thehole. Come on lad, put ye back into it. Push! That’s it, now pry it open." Sand-dollar said. "Oh my goodness," Sandy’s mom said indisbelief. "Look at that. A real treasure." "Arrgh, and now lad it’s up to ye to do the right thing." Sand-dollar said. "It’s up to you son," his dad said. "It’s your treasure." Sandy simply said. "I want two things. The Book, so I can learn whatmy Great-Great-Great- Grandfatherlearned, and that gold sand dollar to help me rememberhim. Mom should have that jeweled necklace.It would look nice on her. Dad, you need to take some of the gold and sell it tohelp pay some of the bills." "I think we should give the rest to the local charity. They know who the needy are,and I think it will help many people for a long, long time." "I think you are making a wise decision Sandy," his mom said. "What dad?" Sandy asked. "I didn’t say anything, Sandy," his dad replied. Sandy then said, "I thought I heard you say‘I thank ye lad’."

sindiwe-and-the-fireflies.txt

Sindiwe and the Fireflies One day a very clever baby was born in Gungululu in the Eastern Cape. Her name was Sindiwe Magona. She was the oldest of eight children. At night, her grandmother told magical stories about ogres and giants, animals of the forests, great beasts, and little creatures of the veld. It was Sindiwe’s favourite time. Sindiwe loved school and she dreamed about being a teacher. When Sindiwe became a teenager, her family organised a feast to celebrate. She was given special things to wear and a wise old man sang a praise song to her. (Blessings, long life! May your ancestors guard you!) Sindiwe trained to be a teacher. She was very excited to teach at her first school. But there weren’t enough schools for black children and they had no desks or books to write in. This made Sindiwe feel scared. How could she be a good teacher when the children had nowhere to sit? She left the school to work as a cleaner. She worked in four different houses. Sometimes the people there treated her badly and Sindiwe became very unhappy. All this time Sindiwe studied. Her hard work paid off! She won a scholarship to study at a university in New York. She and her three small children packed their bags and flew across the sea to the United States of America. In New York, Sindiwe studied to become a social worker. She wanted to help families make their lives better. When she finished studying, the United Nations gave Sindiwe a job. Most of the countries in the world meet at the United Nations to talk about their problems. Sindiwe told the world about South Africa, and how hard it was for black people living there. The people at the United Nations loved to listen to Sindiwe’s stories. They wanted to learn more and more about South Africans. Perhaps, together, they could help to change things in South Africa. She worked at the United Nations for twenty years while her children grew into adults. But Sindiwe missed the country where she was born. She wanted to tell her stories to the people at home. So she packed her luggage, got on a plane and flew back over the sea to Cape Town. Sindiwe’s love for books and stories have helped her write piles and piles of books. And children and grown-ups love to read her stories. Many people call her Nomabali because she’s always writing, telling and reading stories.

017-UP-IN-THE-AIR-Free-Childrens-Book-By-Monkey-Pen.txt

When you stand at your window And look down and around. You will see great, many things Moving on the ground. Bugs, bullfrogs, babies, Buses, cars, cats and a silly clown. Everywhere you look you’ll see Something rushing up and down. But if you are bored of looking down, Lift your head and look around. You will find up in the air, As many things are to be found. There are things that glide. There are things that fly. There are things that hover. And things that zoom by. Birds of all shapes and sizes Flap their way across the sky. Eagles, crows, sparrows, robins And the mountain black-eye. Beware of flying things that sting Like mosquitoes and honeybees. Enjoy the moths and butterflies, That float by softly like the breeze. Scrunch your eyes and look really close When you see something above hover. If it’s super tiny, it’s a hummingbird If it’s noisy and huge - a helicopter. If you feel left out of all that fun Don’t cry and don’t complain. Just grow up to be a pilot And you can fly an airplane. You can zoom around the world Whenever, wherever you want to. And just in case you feel lonesome Take your folks along too. But if you want to go up Much higher than that, You could become an astronaut And get into the spacecraft. You could go to the moon, To Jupiter, Venus and Mars. And someday in a space rocket You could reach for the stars. But if you want to fly up high Right now and right here. Try airships or hot air balloons To float from here to there. But wait, there’s so much more If you want to be up in the air. Gliding and parasailing Are sports for those who dare. And when you are tired and dizzy From all the zooming around. You could still be up in the air From right here on the ground. Get your kite, get your balloon And fly it into the sky. Watch it bob and dive and dance Against the clouds that float by. So when you stand at your window, Look up and down and all around. There are many, many things up in the air Just as there are on the ground.

Baby-Jaguar-Gets-A-Bath.txt

Baby Jaguar Gets a Bath This is baby jaguar. He lives in a zoo. Baby Jaguar likes to play with his mom. Mother Jaguar says, "If you lick me, I’ll give you a bath!" Baby Jaguar goes away. He does not want a bath! He lays down on a big rock, but the rock is too hard. He lays down on a stump, but it is too hard as well. He lays down on the grass. Now he needs a bath! And Mother Jaguar is all set to help!

the-magic-letter-pratham-FKB.txt

The Magic Letter Ijas lives in Haryana and Vikram lives in Andhra Pradesh. Even though they live so far away from each other, they are best friends. Not long ago, Ijas and Vikram had been neighbours. The two boys had loved playing cricket, solving riddles, and eating biryani. They had celebrated everything together, from birthdays to festivals. Ijas had been sad when his best friend moved away, but Vikram’s letters always cheered him up. He LOVED solving the puzzles that Vikram sent. On the day of Eid, an envelope from Vikram arrives. Ijas opens it and pulls out a card. Eid Mubarak, Ijas! A surprise awaits you. Read the letter. As Ijas opens the letter, he wonders what Vikram has sent him. The last time, it had been a number puzzle. BUT WAIT. The paper is BLANK! Is this a mistake? Is he supposed to turn the piece of paper into something? Ijas tries to fold it. Nothing happens. Ijas holds the paper to the light. He rolls it and looks through it. He runs his fingers over the surface of the paper. Nothing happens. Ijas looks at the card again. That’s when he notices the orange and yellow flame on the card. Had Vikram coloured it? But wait, Vikram does not like to colour! Ijas rushes to the kitchen. "Ammi, I need something hot!" Ammi wipes her hand on a towel. "The biryani isn’t ready, Ijas. You’ll have to wait." "I don’t want to eat biryani!" Ijas explains that he wants to heat the letter. Ammi helps him light a candle with the flame from the stove. Ijas takes the paper close to the candle. "If you hold the paper too close to the flame, it will burn," Ammi warns. He holds the paper a safe distance from the candle and taps his foot impatiently. What will happen? A few moments later, brown lines appear on the paper, as if by magic. "WOW! Look at these words, Ammi!" shouts Ijas. Ammi reads the words out loud along with Ijas. "Where we play with marbles." Ammi is confused by the message, but Ijas jumps with excitement. "I know where to go," yells Ijas. He runs down two flights of stairs, past a parking area and stops in front of a bench. But there is nothing there. Ijas is sad. He was sure that there would be another clue waiting for him. He turns around and gasps. "VIKRAM! What are you doing here?" Ijas can’t believe his eyes. This is the best surprise ever! "Can’t you guess?" says Vikram, beaming. "I came because I was missing your Ammi’s biryani." Ijas laughs and hugs him. At that exact moment, Ammi calls out to Ijas. "BIRYANI IS READY!" Top Secret To create your own secret letter, you will need the following: Lemon Water A bowl A blank paper A paintbrush Method: 1. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into a bowl. 2. Add a few drops of water. Stir well. 3. Dip the paintbrush into the lemon juice mix and write your message on the sheet of paper. 4. Allow the invisible ink to dry. 5. Share your secret message with a friend! The message will be revealed only when the paper is heated with a candle or a warm light bulb. Have fun!

10118-ammachi-s-amazing-machines.txt

Ammachi's Amazing Machines "Ammachi! Ammachi! Could we make coconut barfi today?" Sooraj asked his grandmother. "PLEEEEEAASE?" "Hee hee hee! Only if you help me make it, eh?" replied Ammachi. "YAY!" "Ready?" shouted Sooraj. "Ready!" said Ammachi. "We’ll only pick the ripe ones, okay? The ones that are brown all over... Watch out! Here they come!" WHOOOSH... WHUMP! "Now to get the husk off…" POTCH! CRAANKK! Sooraj’s stomach went: "GRRRRRR!" Ammachi giggled. "Then we crACK the shell… like THIS!" KHATAK! "And grrrrrraaaaate the frrrrrrrruuuit!" "Toss it into the pan with all the other ingredients…" "It smells SO good, Ammachi!" "Then we pour it all out on to a tray… Wait for it to cool, baba!" "Now cut it into neat little slices…" SQUEAK SQUEAK "YIPPEE! Our coconut barfi is ready to be eaten!" "YUM YUM YUM!" Ammachi's barfi was made using SIMPLE MACHINES! Simple machines make it easier to do work. There are six kinds of simple machines: 1. Inclined plane 2. Lever 3. Wheel and Axle 4. Wedge 5. Pulley 6. Screw Can you identify the simple machines that Sooraj and Ammachi used in the process of making coconut barfi?

023-A-DOG-ON-A-LOG-Free-Childrens-Book-By-Monkey-Pen.txt

On a beach by a tree, sat my family and me. Then shouted a hog, "There's a Dog On A Log!!" A Dog On A Log? Well, how can that be? He must be saving that big, frightening flea. Now why would a dog be saving a flea? Especially in the water on the branch of a tree. I couldn't believe what I saw happen next. Even that Dog On A Log was perplexed. The flea pulled on a rope and up came a boat. I'll bet you can't guess what happened next. A flea family ran from the dog's little toe. They got into the boat and began to row. Once on the shore, they ran through the sand. Over a cookie in my left hand. Right to the hog, that's where they went. They found a new home with an unpleasant scent. As for the Dog, he's still riding that log. As for me-Ouch-I think I have a flea.

037-THE-NAUGHTY-MONKEY-Free-Childrens-Book-By-Monkey-Pen.txt

Ashley ,the Rabbit has three new friends! They are Sophie, Josh and Tom. Today she is playing with Sophie in the garden behind Sophie’s house. "Are you dry today, Ashley?" asks Sophie. She is making a joke about the day Ashley fell in the pond in the park. "Yes, I am dry today," smiles Ashley. "Thank you for helping me to get out of the pond." Sophie and Ashley are sitting under a big tree at the back of the garden. Plop! Something falls down from the tree. "What was that?" asks Ashley. "I don’t know," answers Sophie. Plop! Plop! It happens again two times! "Look at this," says Sophie. Ashley moves closer to Sophie. Sophie is pointing at something. Ashley looks at it. It’s a banana peel! They look around the ground. They find two more banana peels. Plop! It’s another banana peel. But this time it drops down right on top of Sophie’s head. Yuk! Sophie and Ashley hear someone laughing. They look up into the tree and what do they see? It’s a monkey. It’s a very naughty monkey. It’s Baba, the Monkey! "Hey, you, up there!" says Sophie. "What are you doing?" But Baba does not answer; he only laughs. Plop! He drops another banana peel. This time it drops on Ashley’s head! Sophie and Ashley are not happy. This is a very naughty monkey. Why is he dropping banana peels down to the ground? Why is he dropping banana peels on top of their heads? "You come down here right now!" says Ashley. "Yes," says Sophie. "You must help us clean up this mess." But Baba just laughs. Now he starts to swing from branch to branch. Oops! He misses a branch. He falls to the ground. Plop! But this time it’s not a banana peel. This time it’s a naughty monkey. He’s not moving. Oh, no! Is Baba hurt? Sophie and Ashley are scared They are not happy about the banana peels. But they don’t want Baba to be hurt They run over to see if Baba is okay He is on his back. They look down at him. He jumps up and laughs and runs around in circles. He is not hurt He was just pretending to be hurt He runs and jumps and does cartwheels and somersaults. Sophie and Ashley laugh at Baba. He is a naughty monkey, but he is also a very funny monkey. "My name is Baba!" he says as he runs around. "I’m Sophie and this is Ashley," says Sophie. Sophie and Ashley start to run around with Baba. Now they try to chase him, but he is too fast. He runs around the tree and they follow him. He looks behind him and does not see the banana peel on the ground. Baba slips on the banana peel. His feet go way up into the air. Plop! He lands on his back again. This time Sophie and Ashley sit on top of Baba. He can’t move now! Why are you sitting on top of me? shouts Baba. Let me go! Let me go! We can’t let you go until you answer a question. says Ashley. Yes, says Sophie. Why do you drop banana peels? "I don’t know," laughs Baba. "I don’t know what to do with the peels after I eat the bananas." "But this is not good," says Sophie. "We don’t want banana peels in our garden." "You’re right," says Baba. "I’m sorry. I made a mess and now I must clean it up." So Baba starts to pick up banana peels. There are many banana peels, so Sophie and Ashley help Baba. Now the garden is clean. "Thank you for helping to pick up banana peels," says Sophie. "Let’s have a snack. What do you want to eat?" "How about a banana split?" says Baba.

Explorer-Ellas-Magic-Forest.txt

Why is phonics important to learn? The English language seems like it is full of a lot of crazy pronunciations and spelling. While a small amount of English must be rote learned due to exceptions from rules, much of it can be decoded using phonics. When you know phonics, you are like a detective following clues to solve a mystery. In this series, we use only words that your little reader will be able to break down into standard phonemes. This will build reading confidence while strengthening their phonics foundation. Is this the right level for my little reader? If your reader can decode about 90% of the words in this book independently, this will be an appropriate platform to begin their study of phonics. By understanding a majority of the words, a reader can use context to decode new terms. If a reader breezes through, you might need to take them up another level. If this level is still a bit too tricky for them, get your reader to try some of the earlier levels first. Challenges can be good, but too much too quickly could overwhelm your reader. Take things slow and steady. Enjoy the books and the journey together! How can I be a good learning buddy for my reader? If you are helping somebody to read this book, there are plenty of ways that you can go about it. Do the initial exercises together before you begin to read so that you have both experienced the isolated sounds and discussed them. If the reader gets stuck, cover up all but the first phoneme in the word so that the sound can be isolated again. Slowly move along and reveal more phonemes. Once they can say each individual part of the word, you can focus on blending. Say the words so that they can hear them, and get them to repeat it out aloud several times. To consolidate knowledge after you finish a page, talk about what happened and what is in the picture. Then, try saying some of the words on the page and see if the reader can identify them. Get the reader doing this as well, saying words which you need to find. Above all, you should be patient. Create a safe place to make mistakes so that the reader is willing to give things a go. Special Words This book has some special words that you should take your reader through before you begin. Many special words are those that we use in day-to-day conversation. Unfortunately, a lot of their phonetic structures do not conform to rules that your reader has learned. These words can be frustrating and confusing, but they are also a part of natural reading, writing, and conversation. explore, she, really, finding, the, no, there, to, before, into, could, words, of, so, they, unicorn Say each word to your reader a few times so that they can get used to its sound. Get them to repeat it back to you. Afterwards, see if your reader can think of any words that rhyme with this sound in order to help lock in how to pronounce it. Finally, think of some basic sentences that use this word. For example, if the word is ‘the’ you can create basic sentences with a subject, verb, and object: "The hat is on the table." Ella looked at a map. The map showed no forest. But there was a huge forest next to Ella. Ella likes exploring. She really likes No explorers had found this huge reading maps and forest before. Ella decided that finding new places. it grew by magic. She walked into the magic forest. At first, Ella saw no animals in the magic forest. She saw trees with leaves and bark that had sparkles. Ella saw flowers that floated. Then, Ella saw magic bugs. The bugs had wings with lights. The magic bugs could spell with words of light. Ella could read the words in the magic bug lights. The bugs told Ella to walk deeper into the magic forest. Ella saw magic birds. The magic birds sang magic songs that had no notes. The songs were made with art - the magic birds painted in the air. Ella could see long arrows so she followed the arrows. Ella saw magic deer and magic rabbits playing in the flowers that float. Then Ella saw tracks. They were hoof tracks. She looked at the deer hoofs but they were not the same. These were not deer tracks. Ella went deeper and deeper in the magic forest. She followed the hoof tracks and walked with care. Ella saw an end to the hoof tracks and found herself next to a sleeping horse. This horse had a long horn and rainbow hair. Hang on! It was not a horse. It was a unicorn! The unicorn got up and let Ella get on its back. Ella and the unicorn walked around the magic forest with the animals. Ella and the unicorn are pals. Ella and her unicorn had found a magic land.

DOROTHY-THE-DANCING-DOUGHNUT-Boodlebobs-EP-02-By-JO-KEMP.txt

DOROTHY THE DANCING DOUGHNUT This is a story all about Dorothy and yes, she’s a doughnut. Dorothy loved dancing. She knew the names of all the dances – the waltz, the tango, the foxtrot. She even knew the monster mash and the jive. But she was a TERRIBLE dancer. It was because of her shape – and her shoes – and she couldn’t change her shape (and she certainly wasn’t going to change her shoes). "OOOOH OOOH… I love to dance!" she sang as she tripped and crashed around. "I think you should give up dancing," said Ivy, "You’re such a TERRIBLE dancer!" Everyone gasped. Everyone knew that Dorothy was a terrible dancer but it wasn’t right to tell her… …to hurt her feelings like that."Maybe you should have a few lessons just now", said Tina quickly, "You know, polish up your act." "Ohhhh! That would be wonderful!" beamed Dorothy and did a sort of pirouette. Boodlebobs [EP-02] - DOROTHY THE DANCING DOUGHNUT 5 The next morning, there was a large notice pinned to the door. Free Dancing Lessons Quick Step Inside Dorothy burst in excitedly to see all her class-mates identical in their tu-tu’s and their shoes. "We’re the House Mites," they chorused and tittered. "And I’m a doughnut!" replied Dorothy. "A dancing doughnut! Look!" She bounced and kicked then started to jive. She swerved and tripped, sprang and skipped until she was completely exhausted. Flushed with excitement, she waited for the thunderous applause… But there was none. Just a terrible silence until everyone started to cry. Everyone had been squashed, bashed, bruised or broken by Dorothy’s dreadful dancing. "We came here to dance!" they chorused. "Not be flattened… …by an elephant!" Boodlebobs [EP-02] - DOROTHY THE DANCING DOUGHNUT 6 "I am not an elephant!" said Dorothy indignantly, "I’m a dancer. I’m a dancing doughnut…" "…a clumsy dancing doughnut!" piped up a squeaky House Mite Now that was a horrid, unkind thing to say. Poor Dorothy was so upset. With a heavy (very heavy) heart, she turned and looked at her reflection in Tina’s teapot. It didn’t help that it made her look even wider than she was. About three times wider and three times shorter! "You’re right," said Dorothy, "I’m just a big clumsy doughnut and I’ll never be able to dance…." "How about a nice cup of tea, just now" said Tina putting her arms around Dorothy (well that is, as far as she could reach). Dorothy shook her head. "I just want to dance," she said, "But they’re right. I make such a mess of it." "What you need is a dancing partner," said Tina. "But who would want to dance with me?" replied Dorothy. Boodlebobs [EP-02] - DOROTHY THE DANCING DOUGHNUT 7 "How about me?" said Roger sidling into the kitchen. In his quest for the limelight, he’d look such a STAR next to Dorothy! m e?" He twirled his moustache and set both eyebrows jiving. Dorothy ou t couldn’t resist. ab "You?" she said going weak at the knees. w "Ho YOU-HOO!" she quickly recovered and grabbed him. Poor Roger. From somewhere the music started, or was it just in her head? And in a cloud of sugar dust, she whirled and swirled and glided. They danced the Waltz.. The Tango.. Then the Foxtrot.. And into the Time Warp, To finally the Moonwalk just as the moon came up. Boodlebobs [EP-02] - DOROTHY THE DANCING DOUGHNUT 8 Roger got squashed and bashed and bruised. He got pushed and shoved and elbowed. "I could dance forever!" exclaimed Dorothy going into a spin. Faster and faster she pirouetted until finally she had lift-off. "Meet me on Cloud Nine," she flirted as she spiralled out of the window. "No chance," muttered Roger feeling his bruises. "You can keep the limelight!" he called after her as he vamoosed up the path… In completely the other direction! The end Boodlebobs [EP-02] - DOROTHY THE DANCING DOUGHNUT 9 CUT OUT and stick on! COLOUR ME IN CRANKWORTH THE knowledgeable MOLE

Fruit-.txt

Fruit Literacy for Anywhere Fruit grows on plants all over the world. Different fruits come from different countries. These are apricots from Armenia. Fruit Level 2 Fruits and vegetables are different. Fruits have seeds but vegetables don’t. Some seeds are very big, like in a peach. Some seeds are tiny, like in a kiwi. Fruits have seeds to make new plants. When animals eat fruit they carry the seeds far away. This lets plants grow in new places. Fruits grow in different ways. Some grow together in groups. Others grow alone. Some fruits grow high up in the trees. Others grow close to the ground. Squash grows near the ground. People cook squash like a vegetable. It is a fruit because it has seeds. Fruits can look very different. They can be small like a lychee. They can be large like a melon. A watermelon is a very large fruit. Different fruits have different skin. Peaches feel soft and furry. Apples feel smooth and shiny. Lemons feel rough and hard. Sometimes the skin of a fruit is good to eat. Apples have skin you can eat. Sometimes the skin of fruit is not good to eat. Longan skin is not good to eat. People take the skin off and eat the white part inside. Some fruits look the same outside but different inside. This is a dragon fruit. Sometimes they are white on the inside. Sometimes they are purple. Some fruits have many varieties. There are over 1,000 different types of banana. Bananas grow in over 100 different countries. These are red bananas from Tanzania. Some countries can grow more fruit than others. Countries that are warm can grow many fruits. Mangoes grow well in warm countries. Fruit is good to eat. It is good for our bodies. Fruits have vitamins that make us healthy. These are Oranges. They have a lot of vitamin C. For some people, fruit is their job. They plant it, pick it, and sell it to make money. This woman sells fruit in Mexico. Farmers plant seeds in the ground to grow fruit to sell. Grapes are grown on farms to make wine. These farms are called vineyards. There are many vineyards in France. Some countries are cold. It is difficult for them to grow fruit. Fruits are sent all over the world for people to buy. These are bananas. They grow in warm places but are sold almost everywhere. Some fruits are expensive. Only some people can buy them. These are durians. They grow in Malaysia. They can be very expensive. In France, people eat fruit with bread. In Martinique, people eat fruit with their dinner. Some people eat fruit for dessert. This is mango and sticky rice. It is a dessert from Thailand. We eat fruit as a food, but we can make it a drink too. When we drink fruit, we call it juice. This is mango juice. Fruit can be made into jam. Jam is made from fruit and sugar. Jam lasts a long time. This is strawberry jam in jars. Fruit is sometimes used to make art. Paintings use pictures of fruit. Some people even carve fruit. This is a watermelon carved to look like a flower. Sometimes fruit can make a mess. In some countries there is a special party where people throw tomatoes at each other. It is called Tomatina. Fruit is an important part of the world. Fruit allows plants to make new plants. Fruit gives us food to eat. It is an important way that animals and plants work together.

BORIS-THE-BRAINY-BOOK-Boodlebobs-EP-04-By-JO-KEMP.txt

BORIS THE BRAINY BOOK This is a story all about Boris and yes, he’s a book. "You can ask Boris about anything," said Felix "He can tell you why custard is yellow, why frogs are green and why milk shakes. Boris knew the name of everything, the size of everything, where it was from – where it was going to – and how to say it in Latin. He also knew the best jokes. "What do you get if you cross a kangaroo with an octopus, a sheep and a zebra?" "A striped woolly jumper with eight sleeves!" he laughed. "His jokes drive me up the wall!" said Benny just as an envelope landed on the mat. "Hello bill," he laughed. It was addressed to Boris and inside it had a question from his brother Bart who lived in Ontario. The question was, ‘How long is a piece of string?’ "Hmmm…" thought Boris, "I can’t say I know the answer to that one?" Benny had no idea either but he thought Elsie might know. Boodlebobs [EP-04] - BORIS THE BRAINY BOOK 49 He found Elsie swinging in the apple tree, "Do you know how long a piece of string is?" Benny sat patiently while Elsie thought about it but then suddenly the air was filled with a terrible noise as a big black shadow swept over him. "CAWWW!!" With it’s sharp talons and horrid black beak Crow had spotted Benny from high up in the tree-tops. "CAWW!! A lovely fat worm for my hungry chicks!" "HELP HELP!" cried Benny as he was carried higher and higher. Fedora, holding a big red balloon, was on her way to a party when she heard the commotion. "Oh poor Benny!" she gasped, "He’s about to become lunch!" Boodlebobs [EP-04] - BORIS THE BRAINY BOOK 50 Crow deposited Benny in front of three hungry chicks then flew off to find two more juicy worms. The greedy chicks with their yellow beady eyes looked hungrily. "He’s mine, he’s mine, no he’s mine!" squabbled the chicks giving Benny just enough time to clamber out of the nest and onto a rather thin branch which sagged under his weight. "Talk about being out on a limb," he thought. Benny looked down and wobbled. Then he looked back at the three wide-open beaks. "Between a rock and a hard place." He thought. Fedora, Elsie and Boris looked up. "If only I could fly," said Fedora wistfully. "If only my trunk was longer," said Elsie. "If only I’d known the answer," said Boris but then had an idea. He took hold of Fedora’s big red balloon. "Grab hold of the string when I let it go!" he called up to Benny, "Got it!" shouted Benny grasping it with both hands and started floating down to the ground but then… "CAWW! CAWW!" Boodlebobs [EP-04] - BORIS THE BRAINY BOOK 51 Crow came back carrying another fat worm and was so surprised to see Benny floating away she dropped it. Lucky fat worm. The lucky fat worm reached out and grabbed Benny in passing. But the crow had no intention of either – or both – escaping. POP! She burst the balloon with her horrid black beak and both Benny and Lucky Fat Worm hurtled headlong. Seconds before they hit the ground, Elsie’s long grey truck reached out and sucked them up. "Are you alright in there?" asked Fedora peering down Elsie’s trunk. "Yes, we’re fine," grinned Benny emerging. "What an adventure!" Boodlebobs [EP-04] - BORIS THE BRAINY BOOK 52 Boris was so pleased to have his friend back – and a new friend besides – and so pleased too that he was able to answer his brother’s question. "A piece of string is long enough to save two worms," he said happily. "I shall let my brother Bart in Ontario know that." The end

016-MIX-IT-UP-Free-Childrens-Book-By-Monkey-Pen.txt

"Hi! My name is Sally and I live in New York City, in The United States of America. It’s a chilly, cloudy fall day, and the rain is turning into an icy snowy mixture. I am bored! Last week the weather was beautiful when I had to go to school, but it gets dark early now so I cannot play outside. Now, when I don’t have to go to school, there is an early winter storm brewing. I am bored! My big brother, Josh is watching his favorite TV program and, as usual, he won’t let me watch anything I like, or even something we both like. Josh doesn’t like to share. I am bored! I don’t have any new books to read. I am bored! My Mom is listening to the news on the radio and they are talking about the low temperatures and the surprise winter storm that is moving in. I can’t even listen to music. I am bored … bored …… bored! I said aloud. ‘Sally,’ my Mom called out. ‘If you are so bored why don’t you draw a picture or color?’ "I can’t," I said. "I am out of paper." Sally was obviously bored. She moped around the apartment for a while, tried to find something to do, but there just wasn’t anything that interested her. She walked slowly to the window, pressed her nose against the cold glass, and watched the big snowflakes fall from the sky. She looked down and saw that they were already starting to cover the street and sidewalk. "Oh what a terrible day. I am so bored," she said with a sigh. She stayed close to the window and watched some birds land on the telephone wires below her apartment. "They look bored too," she said to herself. She watched the cars go up and down the street as they left their tire tracks in the pure, white snow. Across the street, a dog slipped on an icy spot as it chased a cat. She thought she saw the cat turn around and smile, or maybe laugh at the dog as it tried to stop spinning in circles. She giggled as the dog started running but couldn’t go anywhere. Its legs were moving, but on the ice, its feet just kept on sliding over the same spot. "Josh, you have to see this," she called out. But there was no reply. The snow was coming down faster and faster. Soon it was really deep. She saw people with shovels trying to clean the sidewalk or an area next to the street so they could park their car. Some people were walking with open umbrellas that looked like they were made of thick, white cotton candy. She licked her lips as she imagined how good a cotton candy umbrella would taste. Again, she saw the cat and dog slipping and sliding on the slippery sidewalk. She thought for a second and tried to say "slipping and sliding on the slippery sidewalk" three times very fast without making a mistake. "Wow! That is hard," she thought to herself. Farther up the street, she saw a man with two little boys starting to roll little balls of snow into big ones. "What are they doing?" she mumbled to herself. She watched them for several more minutes as they stacked the balls of snow on top of one another. She pressed her nose against the window for a closer look. "A snowman," she shrieked with joy. "They are building a snowman." "Mom, can I go out and play?" Sally yelled out to her mother. "Dress warm," her mother replied. "Be sure to stay close and come in before dark." In under a minute, Sally was outside playing with her friends and having a lot of fun. Oh! She wasn’t bored anymore either. The afternoon passed and Sally’s mother knew she would be coming in soon. She also knew that she would probably be chilly and would appreciate a hot cup of cocoa. Her mother thought for a second as she looked out the window to check on Sally. All of a sudden, Josh heard his mother laughing. "Josh, you have to come and see this," she chuckled. He did and they both laughed at the dog chasing the cat and slipping, and sliding, on the slippery sidewalk. "Josh, I am going to make some hot cocoa for your sister when she comes in. Would you like a cup?" "You bet," replied Josh. His mother always made the best hot cocoa. "Hmm, now let me see. Which special recipe should I use from my Pick & Sip Hot Cocoa Recipes?" their mother thought as she looked over their favorites. Pick & Sip Hot Cocoa Basic Hot Cocoa – Ingredients (Makes about 2 large or 3 medium sized Servings) 1/8 cup cocoa powder 1/4 cup sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons water 2 cups milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Hot Cocoa – Directions In a medium size pot mix together the cocoa powder, sugar, and salt. Stir in water. Cook over medium heat and stir it constantly until it starts to boil. Continue stirring mixture for another 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Add milk and stir constantly until hot but do not boil. Remove from heat, add the vanilla, and whisk until foamy. Pour into your favorite mugs, serve, and enjoy. Pick & Sip Variations Add the following ingredients when you mix in the Vanilla Extract. Pirates Pleasure – 1 splash of ground Cinnamon and 1 splash Nutmeg. (What’s a "splash"? About 1/2 of a 1/8 teaspoon). Loco Mocha Cocoa - 1 teaspoon instant coffee. Southern Belle – 1/4 teaspoon Mint Extract. Fruit Frenzy – 1/4 teaspoon of your favorite fruit extract. Like Orange or Cherry. North Woods – 1/4 teaspoon Maple Syrup. Busy Bee – 1/4 teaspoon Honey. Hot Cocoa – Toppers Whipped Cream Marshmallows Whipped Cream or Marshmallows sprinkled with sugar or candy bits. Softened Ice Cream. Hot Cocoa – Stirrers Cinnamon Stick Candy Cane (Peppermint Stick) Licorice Whip "I think I’ll make the Southern Belle hot cocoa, topped with vanilla ice cream, and use a candy cane stirrer." She said to herself. Just as she finished cooking, the door opened and a red-cheeked Sally came in and took off her gloves, coat, hat, scarf, and boots. "What’s that wonderful smell?" Sally said with a smile. "I hope it’s what I think it is." All three sat and sipped the hot cocoa while Sally told them about her adventures outside.Sally giggled and said, "And I thought I was bored."

60744-whoop-goes-the-pufferfish.txt

Whoop, Goes the Pufferfish It’s a beautiful and sunny morning at a rocky shore in Mumbai. At low tide, all seems peaceful at a tide pool. A pink Porcelain Crab is looking for food. An orange Starfish is moving s-l-o-w-l-y with its tube feet. But wait. Is it really peaceful? Oh no! A baby Pufferfish is stuck in the tide pool. The Pufferfish swims to the left and bumps into a rock. It swims to the right and bumps into a rock. It swims here and there and everywhere, but there seems no way out. "HELP! I am stuck!" cries the Pufferfish. WHOOP! It puffs up to protect itself from danger.It swims around in circles. "Don’t panic, little fish," says the Porcelain Crab. "The tide will come back in," says the Starfish. But the Pufferfish is too frightened to listen. Round and round it goes. "WHO IS MAKING ALL THIS NOISE?" A majestic Octopus swims into the pool from under a rock. The Pufferfish stares in awe. 8/12 "You feel trapped because the tide is low," says the Octopus. "When the tide is high, the water will cover all these rocks. And you will be able to swim back home to the sea." The Pufferfish is relieved. It waits. In time, water flows under the Porcelain Crab’s rock. It flows over the Starfish. It flows into the tidepools. The water rises. The Pufferfish rises with it. Finally, the baby Pufferfish can swim over the rocks. It is overjoyed. "Thank you, everyone!" it calls out and swims away into the sea. "Goodbye, little one. Swim safe." What is a tide pool? Tide pools are shallow pools of seawater on rocky shores. You find these at low tide when the rest of the water has flowed back into the sea. Tidepools are in the intertidal zone, the part of the beach only seen at low tide. Low Tide, High Tide Low tide is when the water flows back far High tide is when the water covers into the sea. most of the shore. Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon on the Earth.

Sleep-time-With-Lilly-Bed-Time-Rhyme-Childrens-Story.txt

The sky was dark and draped in sparkles of light, Day has passed and turned to night. Lilly’s mom was getting her ready for bed. "Now that the book is all done and read. It’s time to say good night," she said and kissed Lilly on the head. "But mom I am not done with this day, Maybe another story we could read or a game we could play?" "No buts Lilly… when you see the moon You know it is time for bed soon." "Listen closely, even the night crickets make it clear. Their chirping is a cue that it is time for sleep my dear." She left the room and put on the night light. Lilly sat up as soon as her mom was out of sight. "With this day I am not done. Sleep is for babies and I am not one." She sniffed and wiped away a tear. "I know…I will call upon the Forest Fairy she will take me from here." Moments later the Forest Fairy appeared. "Forest Fairy, take me on a night adventure please?" "Oh no Lilly," the fairy says with a yawn, An adventure will have to wait till dawn." "And I bet that you are tired after the long day, There was school, homework, chores and play." "But I don’t want to go sleep it is so boring. Nothing happens when you sleep Forest Fairy." "Many things happen when we sleep. As we sleep, we dream and rest And tomorrow we will be at our best." "And if you want to be strong and grow, Sleep is the key you know." Lilly frowned in disbelief. "Think of the flowerbed in the meadow Lilly." "Which one Forest Fairy?" "The Tulips, my dear Lilly." "Oh, that is such a beautiful flower bed, so colourful and bright." "And do you know why because they sleep at night." "At sunrise the tulips open its petals to meet the day, To welcome the bees and butterflies that come their way." "And bees make pollen into honey." "That’s right Lilly." "Mmmm yummy, honey so golden and runny." Lilly stretches and rests against the pillows with a yawn. "When the sun disappear for the day and the moon is in sight, The tulips know it’s time to close its petals tight, And rest up during the night." "So like the tulip let us close our eyes and drift off to sleep," "To go to a dreamland with magic, wonder and white woolly sheep, Tomorrow is another day for adventure and play, And with a good night’s rest the better the next day." Lilly was fast asleep at the end of the tale. The Forest Fairy lifted her wand and magical dust came into sight. She closed Lilly with some blankets and whispered, "Sleep well my friend and good night." The End

Supercow-Volume-II-The-Bully.txt

One fine ordinary day, Cow was taking a stroll in the park. Today there was no crime to fight; all the bad men were locked up. And there were no lives to save; the life guard was on duty at the beach,, and the neighbourhood watch was on patrol in the streets. But, Cow could hear a call for help! Who could it be? It was a young boy. He was being bullied by some older kids. The children were being very mean to him. Quick as a flash, Supercow was there! The biggest bully was so surprised, he lost his balance, and fell on his bottom. Supercow hung the big bully by his shirt collar to a tree, to give him a time out, asking him to think about what he had done wrong. After a short time, the big bully realised his mistakes, and he said "Sorry". All the kids now realised how wrong they had been. They felt very ashamed of what they had done. Seeing him so upset, one girl went to comfort the little boy being bullied, and gave him a big cuddle. The big bully realised how wrong he had been, and promised to never be mean to anyone ever again; Supercow let the big bully down. Seeing all his work was done, Supercow flew away to save another day. And Cow went back to what was just, an ORDINARY day. THE END

Penguins.txt

Penguins Penguins are a strange type of bird. They are very different than most birds because they do not fly. Penguins swim. They are birds of the water. Penguins are great at living in the ocean. Instead of wings, penguins have flippers. They use these flippers to push themselves through the water. Their feet are webbed like a duck’s and they use them to kick and steer. In order to be light enough to fly, most birds have hollow bones. The bones of a penguin are solid. This makes it easier for them to dive deep into the water. Penguins have dark backs and white bellies. This is a form of camouflage. Camouflage helps animals hide. Penguin camouflage is called countershading. Countershading is very useful in the ocean. It provides cover from predators above and below. From above, penguins will blend in with the dark depths of the ocean. From below, penguins will blend in with the light sky. The thick feathers of a penguin are built for cold waters. They are very closely spaced and are also waterproof. Underneath is a layer of soft down feathers. This keeps a warm layer of air near the skin. Penguins form long-lasting families. They mate with the same partner each year. Each has a unique mating song. Penguins use this to identify each other. Once the female lays the egg, both the male and female help raise their young. Penguins waterproof their feathers by coating them with oil. Penguins have a gland that lets out oil near their tail. By touching their beak to the gland they can spread the oil to their other feathers. Penguins need healthy feathers to survive. When Penguins take care of their feathers it is called preening. They use their beaks to clean their feathers and keep them healthy. While penguins are molting, they are unable to hunt. Their soft down feathers are exposed and these are not waterproof. Because of this, penguins eat a lot before they molt. Penguin’s feathers go through a large amount of wear and tear. To prevent them from wearing out, most penguins molt once a year. The old feathers fall out as new feathers grow to replace them. When they are young, the thicker outer layer of feathers has not grown in yet. This means their parents have to provide food for them. They do this by regurgitating their food. The parent hunts and catches food. They then throw it back up into the chick’s beak. Penguins eat seafood. They hunt squid, shellfish, and other fish. Being good swimmers helps them hunt and have food to eat. The tallest of them is the emperor penguin in Antarctica. Female emperor penguins lay one egg at a time. After the female penguin lays the egg, she passes it over to the male penguin to hatch. She must pass the egg very carefully. It’s important not to let the egg be in the cold for too long or it will freeze. There are 18 different kinds of penguins. They are different in size and color. They live all over the southern half of the world. This is called the southern hemisphere. Penguins lay eggs like other birds, but not all penguins make a nest. Instead, the male emperor penguin carries it between his feet. He protects it from the cold with a flap of belly skin. Not all penguins live in the snow. African penguins are the only penguins from Africa. They build nests under bushes and rocks to avoid the hot sun. Little penguins are the smallest penguins. They are known by many names. They can be called blue penguins or fairy penguins. Erect-crested penguins only come to shore to breed and raise their chick. The females lay two eggs. The second egg is often two times bigger than the first one. The bigger one is more likely to reach adulthood. Chinstrap Penguins have a thin black line that wraps around their chins. They are known as the most aggressive type of penguin. Penguins in warmer climates cool off in many ways. Their feathers can be used to keep them cool as well as warm. By puffing their feathers up, it allows cooler air to reach their skin. They also pant. Panting causes the throat and mouth to cool down. Holding out their flippers to the air also releases heat. Penguins Penguins are an endangered species. This means that they are at risk of disappearing. Review Questions! ? 1. How are penguins different from other Pollution, climate change, and taking too many fish make it hard for penguins to survive. birds? How are they the same? We should be careful to help all 18 types of 2. What do emperor penguins do instead of penguins survive in the future. building a nest? 3. What are some names for the smallest penguins? 4. Why do penguins need to be great swimmers? Penguins Art Project! Draw a penguin swimming. Think about the body parts that help it swim and make sure to show them in your picture. Remember the special coloring too; your penguin needs to be safe from predators!

A-FRACTIONATED-FAIRY-TALE-freekidsbooks.txt

A FRACTIONATED FAIRY TALE Once upon a time a young girl named Katharine lived in a snug cottage not far from the castle, where her mother stitched the royal quilts. Katharine’s mother brought home scraps of fabric for Katharine, who made beautiful miniature quilts. Quilt-making was easy and fun for Katharine but she longed for something more challenging to put her mind to. If only I could get an education, Katharine thought, I’d be able to find my true calling. Every night, Katharine’s mother reported on life at the castle. The favorite topic was the unseemly behavior of Prince Henry, just the same age as Katharine and the only child of the King and Queen. Katharine loved listening to stories about Henry. Most of the royal staff described Henry as "bossy" and "demanding" and "downright unpleasant." Henry’s parents were always too busy for him. They solved every problem by hiring a Royal Somebody-Or-Other to fix it. He had tutors for everything from art to zoology, even for activities like swimming and chess. Katharine thought Henry was just plain lonely. She felt sorry for him. One day, Katharine’s mother told her that Prince Henry proclaimed he would eat only peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches on perfectly square white bread and that each sandwich must be cut into two equal-sized pieces. The Royal Sandwich Chef cut Prince Henry’s sandwich the only ways he knew: into two long rectangles, or two right triangles. When his parents took no notice of him, Prince Henry marched down to the Royal Kitchen and announced, "Every sandwich must be cut into two equal-sized pieces in a DIFFERENT way--or I will not eat." The Royal Sandwich Chef told the King and Queen. They went straight to Prince Henry’s chamber. "What is this nonsense about your sandwiches?" asked the King. "The Royal Sandwich Chef knows only two ways to cut your sandwiches. If you won’t eat them you will starve!" said the Queen, flitting around Henry like a mother hen rounding up a stray chick. "Then I shall starve," said Henry. "My sandwich must look different every time, or I refuse to eat." "Well," said the Queen, "we need a Royal Sandwich Designer. But where will we find one?" "Let’s hold a Royal Sandwich Designing Contest," suggested Henry. "Good idea!" said the King. "We must work out the rules," said the Queen. So the three of them put their heads together. Prince Henry’s parents had not spent this much time with him in years. He bit his lip to keep from smiling. The Royal Guards posted the rules all about the kingdom. When Katharine saw the contest rules, she leaped around the cottage and then bounded up to her loft to draw some sandwich designs before bedtime. The next morning Katharine waited near the end of the line. She was the only child in the contest. At exactly nine o’clock, the Royal Herald announced the start. The first entry was a square cut into two equal-sized rectangles. "Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" the Royal Mathematician muttered under his breath. "The Royal Chef knows this design already. But the rules do not exclude it. Oh, my! We must pay one gold coin." The contestant received a coin and departed. The Royal Mathematician turned the paper around for all to see. About half the contestants saw that it matched their only design, so they left. The next contestant’s design was two right triangles. The Royal Mathematician grumbled again, then awarded a gold coin. The remaining contestants groaned when they saw the triangles. All but three people stepped out of the line! The first, a young man, handed a paper to the Royal Mathematician. He studied it, then shook his head sadly. He showed the design to the crowd, saying, "These two pieces are NOT equal in size. No coin." The next contestant was Katharine. She handed a design to the Royal Mathematician. "Good job!" he said, as a grin spread across his face. "We finally have a NEW design-- and a very INTERESTING one, I must say." He showed Katharine’s design: Then the Royal Mathematician sent it to the Royal Chef so the prince could be served breakfast at once. While the throng cheered, Katharine collected her gold coin and returned to the line. Suddenly, trumpets blared. Prince Henry came outside to watch the contest. He was eating his newly cut sandwich. The other contestant gave her drawing to the Royal Mathematician. "Excellent! Two equal-sized trapezoids," he said. He handed her a gold coin. The people applauded as he displayed the design. A hush fell over the spectators as the woman walked away. Katharine was alone in line. The Royal Mathematician said, "Young lady, with one more new design, you will become the Royal Sandwich Designer. But I hope you have MANY ways to cut sandwiches into halves, or our prince will starve." Katharine showed another pattern to the Royal Mathematician. He quickly gave her a gold coin, then held up the new design and declared, "Katharine is indeed our Royal Sandwich Designer!" The crowd roared their approval. "I have a lot more," she said, handing the Royal Mathematician a stack of papers. "I use my quilting squares and triangles to make my designs, and grid paper to record them. See?" Then she took her quilting pieces from her bag and spread them out on the Royal Mathematician’s table. Henry ran over to have a look and started making his own designs while Katharine explained her methods. At that moment the King and Queen came out of the castle. They watched Katharine and Henry. They had never seen Henry look so happy. The King said, "Katharine will be paid three gold coins a day as the Royal Sandwich Designer." "We are so grateful to Katharine for saving our son’s life," said the Queen. "She shall be an Honorary Princess. She is welcome to go wherever she wishes in the castle." Everyone cheered. "Katharine, do you have anything to say?" asked the King. "Yes," said Katharine. "I want to thank my mother for making it possible for me to win this contest." Katharine’s mother nodded proudly from the front row. "And I want to thank Prince Henry for coming up with this splendid sandwich-cutting problem," Katharine continued. "I have been looking for a challenging problem to put my mind to. Prince Henry is surely the most talented problem poser in the kingdom." Prince Henry beamed. "With your permission," she looked toward the King and Queen, "I would like to study at the castle with Prince Henry and the royal tutors. May I?" "Pleeeeeease say yes," begged Prince Henry. "Of course!" said the King and Queen. So Katharine visited the castle every day and studied with Henry. They became good friends. Katharine and Henry planned sandwich parties for the village children. The King and Queen attended every one, without fail. And they all lived happily ever after. The End

and-also_imagination_story-FKB.txt

Thabo pretends that his bed is a raft on the sea! His little sister Keitu says, "Yes! And also! There are sharks." "No!" says Thabo. Thabo pretends that their taxi is a spaceship! His little sister Keitu says, "Yes! And also! Watch out for shooting stars!" "No," says Thabo. Thabo pretends the playground is a jungle! "No," says Thabo. His little sister Keitu says, "Yes! And also! We are lions." "Oh!" says Thabo, "Wait! Wow! Yes! That’s a great idea!" "I know!" says Keitu. Thabo pretends to be a lion! Keitu also pretends to be a lion! Keitu says, "Yes! And also! Thabo pretends the other kids are a We can jump on this log river of crocodiles! to float away." "Yes! And also!" Thabo says, "We can Keitu says, "Yes! slide down the rainbow!" And also! Watch out for the dinosaurs!" Thabo says,"I had the Keitu says, "And also! best day playing We should play again tomorrow!" pretend with you."

11144-sniffles-childrens-story.txt

Sniffles Sniffle sniffle. Uh-oh! Divya has the sniffles. Divya can’t have the sniffles today! She has to PLAY! It’s the finals of the Famous Football Cup! They’ve WON! THEY’VE WON THE FAMOUS FOOTBALL CUP! "High five, Rustam!" "Good game, Gurmeet!" "Well done, Mohit!" "You did it, Pooja!" "Congratulations, everyone!" A-A-A-AAACHOOOO! No more football for Divya until she gets better. She misses all her friends. A week later… No more sniffles! Divya can’t wait to see all her friends! Uh-oh! What’s this? It looks like Rustam has the sniffles now… And Gurmeet... ... And Mohit... ... And Pooja too! OH NO! EVERYONE has the sniffles! Colds are caused by tiny particles called viruses. They can float around in the air that we breathe, and sit on things we touch. When these viruses get into your nose and throat, they give you a sore throat, or a headache, or a clogged nose -- or even all three at the same time! A cold can move very quickly from you to your friends. If you touch your friends when you have a cold, or sneeze or cough near them, they too will fall sick. Did you know that a single cough or sneeze can shoot your nose and throat viruses 12 feet through the air? How terrible! This is how you can avoid catching a cold: Stay far away from anyone who has a bad cold. If you meet or shake hands with someone who has a cold, wash your hands well. Otherwise, the virus will travel from your hands to your nose. Do not share drinking glasses, eating utensils or clothes with someone who has a cold. Eat lots of vegetables and fruits, drink plenty of water, exercise, keep warm and stay healthy!

The-Mixed-Up-Pet-Shop.txt

Today my Mum and I went to the pet shop to buy a new puppy. When we got there everything was mixed up. The kitten was in the mouse house. The mouse was in the fish bowl. The fish was in the puppy box. The puppy was in the bird cage. The bird was behind the counter. The shop keeper ran to the door, crying, "Help me"! So we did. We put all the animals back where they belonged and then we bought our new puppy. At home we played outside with our new puppy and guess what he said... "Cheep! Cheep!"

Magozwe-Finds-a-Home.txt

Magozwe Finds a Home In a certain city, there lived street boys. The youngest of them was called Magozwe. When Magozwe was five years old, his parents died. He went to live with Uncle Bunu. Uncle Bunu was a bad man. Magozwe ran away and lived on the streets. Life on the street was difficult. The boys begged from people. One day, Magozwe found a storybook from the rubbish container. The book had pictures of a pilot. Magozwe wanted to be the best pilot ever. One day Magozwe met Thomas. Thomas took Magozwe and his friends to get food. Thomas asked Magozwe to read. Magozwe replied, "I do not know how to read." Magozwe also said to Thomas, "I ran away from Uncle Bunu's home. He was a bad man." Thomas asked Magozwe, "Do you want to learn to read?" He gave Magozwe a new storybook. Magozwe thought about going to school. He remembered what Uncle Bunu said. "You are stupid. You do not know anything." Magozwe was afraid. Thomas said, "Do not be afraid. You will be fine." Thomas took Magozwe and the other boys to a home for children. They were all very happy. Magozwe went to school. He liked being in school. He worked very hard. One day Magozwe told Thomas, "I will be the best pilot ever!"

Brushing-is-No-Fun-.txt

Brushing is No Fun! When Rohan woke up, he began to play with Jimmy, his dog. "There’s something you should do first!" said Riya, his big sister. "BRUSH YOUR TEETH!" "I don’t want to brush my teeth! Jimmy doesn’t brush his teeth!" "Animals take care of their teeth too, but in other ways! We must brush our teeth to keep germs away!" "Germs?" "Germs are very tiny creatures that you cannot see. If you don’t brush properly, they stay in your mouth and hurt you!" "Ouch!" "YES! That’s why we must take good care of our teeth by brushing twice a day - morning and night!" "But brushing is no fun!" "I’ll tell you a secret, Rohan! Psst…" Rohan smiled. Mummy called out, "It’s breakfast time!" "There’s something we should do first!" said Riya. "WASH OUR HANDS!" "But Jimmy never washes his hands!" Riya laughed, "He doesn’t use his hands or paws to eat like we do! We must wash our hands with soap to get rid of germs." "Are germs on our hands too?" "Germs are EVERYWHERE!" "Aaaah-chhhooo!" Riya covered her mouth with her hands as she sneezed. "Don't do that! My teacher says that we should sneeze into our sleeve, not our hands!" said Rohan. "Why?" "Because when we sneeze into our hands, germs stick to them. If we don’t wash our hands, we spread germs and make others sick!" "Here comes Germy!" Riya shouted, chasing Rohan and waving her dirty hands. "EEEEEEEK!" Later Riya showed Rohan the proper way to wash hands. "Wet your hands and turn off the tap. Then rub in some soap on the palms, the back of the hands and between the fingers. Scrub hands for twenty seconds! Now, it’s time to rinse off and dry!" "But that’s a long time!" "Remember my secret?" Rohan smiled. When they came back home after playing, Riya nudged Rohan, "There’s something we should do first!" Mummy teased, "Play some more?" "TAKE A BATH!" "Mummy, don’t you know that germs are everywhere? We can’t see them, but they stick to our skin and clothes!" "That’s why we must bathe every day…" "…to get rid of them!" "Start by getting yourself wet," said Mummy. "Then apply soap all over!" Riya and Rohan giggled as Mummy’s ticklish fingers soaped them up. "Then it’s time to rinse off!" "And dry with a clean towel!" "SUPERCLEAN!" "It’s Jimmy’s turn next!" "Do you want to listen to a story?" asked Papa. "There’s something we should do first!" reminded Riya. "Tidy UP!" Rohan yawned. "Do we have to?" "Remember you couldn’t find your ball the other day? Putting things away in the proper place makes it easy to find them later!" "And keeps our house neat!" "You both are so smart!" said Papa proudly. "Bedtime!" "Papa! There’s something we should do first!" said Riya, pulling Rohan along. "Make the germs disappear with our magic secret!" Rohan nodded. A few minutes later, Mummy and Papa heard a familiar tune. "So that’s your secret!" said Papa. "Humming a song to make brushing fun!" "And while washing our hands too!" "That’s a great idea!" said Mummy. Rohan and Riya enjoy taking care of themselves. Do you? They make up a game with the germs and guess who wins? Germs say, yucky, mucky and dirty is FUN! I say, I brush and wash and I know I have won! Germs say, never bathe, it’s a waste of time! I say, smelling nice with soap is so fine. Naughty germ says don’t pick up your things, The house looks better that way. I say, I tidy up because I like my things That is a good way to end my day! And I feel better in every way I feel better in every way! I FEEL BETTER IN EVERY WAY!!!!! Now make up your secret song and hum it when you have to do boring things!

CAMERON-THE-COURAGEOUS-CABINET-Boodlebobs-EP-05-By-JO-KEMP.txt

CAMERON THE COURAGEOUS CABINET Boodlebobs This is a story all about Cameron and yes, he’s a cabinet. Cameron had seen better days; better days than the days he now spent in the box room. It was like a box and full of boxes. "See this scratch," he said and Malcolm the moth looked up from his lunch - a large blue cardigan. "I got it in Burma…. Or was it Bermuda?" "Bermuda?" said Malcolm brightly, "You mean like the shorts?" Malcolm was only interested in clothing. Cameron liked to boast he’d been everywhere and had fought lions, tigers and elephants. Malcolm knew all the tall stories and believed none of them. "I’ve been around you know…" he continued. "..I’ve seen the world." "I haven’t." piped up a tiny voice," I’ve never been anywhere except this room." "Nor have we!" chorused his friends, "We’re just House Mites and that’s where we stay…. …around the house!" Boodlebobs [EP-05] - CAMERON THE COURAGEOUS CABINET 59 And it occurred to Malcolm that he’d never been anywhere either. The only thing he’d been around was a light bulb. "We need a holiday!" he exclaimed, "And Cameron… …you could take us….. ……to the SEASIDE!" "To the seaside!" sang all the House Mites, "Hello sea… with you and me we make eighty three!" Boodlebobs [EP-05] - CAMERON THE COURAGEOUS CABINET 60 "Now hang on a moment," protested Cameron, "Fighting in the jungle is one thing but the seaside…no, I don’t think so." "Why not?" said Malcolm. "Ummm… because I don’t know the way!" he answered quickly. Malcolm felt so disappointed, as too did the House Mites. "It’s not that simple!" protested Cameron. "Oh go back to fighting in the jungle," muttered Malcolm. You see, Cameron’s stories were one thing but they weren’t actually altogether… …true. But he couldn’t tell them that! Then he thought about it, "Well…" he smiled. "I suppose we could ASK someone the way to the seaside!" "YEAH!!!!!!!!" cheered all the House Mites. Boodlebobs [EP-05] - CAMERON THE COURAGEOUS CABINET 61 The next morning, everyone awoke very early. "All aboard!" said Cameron counting the House Mites into his drawer while Malcolm fluttered down onto his shoulder as they trundled out of the door. But which way to the seaside? Before they could decide, or even take a guess, Mole (who knows everything) surfaced from deep underground. "It’s that way," he said twitching his nose. "Everyone knows you just follow your nose". So they did and in no time at all they arrived at the seaside. "We’re at the seaside!!" squealed the House Mites in delight as they buried into the sand making sandcastles. Malcolm gazed out to sea, "Oh! Look at the boats!" he pointed and this gave Cameron another idea. "This morning I was a cabinet and now I’ll be a boat!" he laughed. "All aboard!" he called for the second time that day as he flung himself into the waves. SPLASH! Boodlebobs [EP-05] - CAMERON THE COURAGEOUS CABINET 62 "Now all we need is a sail." So he rummaged around and pulled out an old, not-yet-moth-eaten jumper. They found some coat hangers and soon they’d made a rather good sail. Malcolm wasn’t happy – he rather fancied having the jumper for lunch – but he soon changed his mind as the wind took them. They went so fast!! So there they were. One old cabinet that was now a boat. One old cardigan that was now a sail. Eighty-one House Mites having the time of their life and a moth happy to have the wind in his wings. "Can you see what I can see?" said a seagull watching from the beach. "No," replied the seagull’s friend. " What I THINK I can see is too silly for words…" "So I think it’s best to say nothing."

Saw-Blank_space_for_a_girls_name-ClarkNess-FKB.txt

Fiction Cat ________ saw a cat. It was a big cat. "I saw a cat," said ________. "It was a big cat," she said. Bat ________ saw a bat. It was a big bat. "I saw a bat," said ________. "It was a big bat," she said. Rat ________ saw a rat. It was a big rat. "I saw a rat," said ________. "It was a big rat," she said. Ant ________ saw an ant. It was a big ant. "I saw an ant," said ________. "It was a big ant," she said. Bee ________ saw a bee. It was a big bee. "I saw a bee," said ________. "It was a big bee," she said. Hen ________ saw a hen. It was a big hen. "I saw a hen," said ________. "It was a big hen," she said. Elk ________ saw an elk. It was a big elk. "I saw an elk," said ________. "It was a big elk," she said. Pig ________ saw a pig. It was a big pig. "I saw a pig," said ________. "It was a big pig," she said. Dog ________ saw a dog. It was a big dog. "I saw a dog," said ________. "It was a big dog," she said. Cod ________ saw a cod. It was a big cod. "I saw a cod," said ________. "It was a big cod," she said. Fox ________ saw a fox. It was a big fox. "I saw a fox," said ________. "It was a big fox," she said. Cow ________ saw a cow. It was a big cow. "I saw a cow," said ________. "It was a big cow," she said. Owl ________ saw an owl. It was a big owl. "I saw an owl," said ________. "It was a big owl," she said. Bug ________ saw a bug. It was a big bug. "I saw a bug," said ________. "It was a big bug," she said. Pup ________ saw a pup. It was a big pup. "I saw a pup," said ________. "It was a big pup," she said. Fly ________ saw a fly. It was a big fly. "I saw a fly," said ________. "It was a big fly," she said.

Bheema-the-Sleepy-Head-.txt

Bheema, the Sleepyhead Bheema loves to sleep and just cannot get up early. Ramu, the washerman, scolds Bheema often. One day, Gauri, the cow, asked him, "Bheema, why are you so sad?" Bheema said, "I cannot get up early and Ramu shouts at me every day. Will you wake me up every morning, please?" "Yes, I will," said Gauri. Early next morning, Gauri mooed loudly, but Bheema did not wake up. Coming back from the river in the evening, Bheema met Moti, the dog. "I can never get up in the morning on time. Will you wake me up?" Bheema asked Moti. "Yes, I will," said Moti and the next morning he barked and barked but did Bheema wake up? No Sir! That evening Bheema met Cheenu, the rooster. He said to Cheenu, "You crow in the morning and everybody wakes up. Will you wake me up too?" Cheenu agreed. The next morning, Cheenu crowed long and loud, but Bheema did not wake up. The next evening, Bheema saw Kalu, the crow, cawing away happily. "Kalu, will you wake me up in the morning, please?" he asked. Kalu said, "Why not? I will caw and wake you up." The next morning Kalu cawed all he could but Bheema did not wake up. Bheema was sad. The next morning, a fly came and sat on his nose. "Aaah…chhoooo… ahchhoo!" Bheema got up with a big sneeze. "Wow! I woke up. How did I wake up?" he asked in wonder. "I woke you up," said the fly."Will you wake me up like this early every morning?" "Sure," said the fly. Bheema was happy. Now he would have no problem getting up early every morning!

shongololo-s-shoes_readonline.txt

Shongololo's Shoes Where are all my shoes? I know I left them here! I haven’t seen your shoes. Go ask Snail! No shoes here. Go ask Giraffe. I’m in a hurry – go ask Frog. Shoes? How many? Go ask Flamingo. Seen your shoes? No, not me. Will I ever find my shoes? Shoes, eh? You should ask the Monkeys. Hello hello? We’re busy. Go ask Owl, she knows everything! Hmm. I have an idea. Why don’t you ask Lion? These are yours? I’ll give them all back if you come to my party!

015-KROAKER-THE-BULLFROG-Free-Childrens-Book-By-Monkey-Pen.txt

Not long ago, in a crystal-clear river, near a small town lived two very big fish. In fact, they were so big that they were not afraid of anything. They swam anywhere they wanted. They tangled the lines of children fishing in their river. They ate when they were hungry and splashed anyone sitting on the bank. They were the big, brave rulers of the crystal-clear river. One day, a large bullfrog and his family moved into the area. The bullfrog saw the two big, brave fish in the crystal-clear river and wanted to talk to them. But he was afraid. He didn’t know a lot about the crystal-clear river,or the big brave fish that lived there, and was afraid of being eaten. For a long time he watched the big, brave fish, the crystal-clear river, and everything around him to make sure it was safe. The bullfrog was very smart and used his common sense to guide him. Then, with a mighty hop, he jumped into the crystal-clear river to introduce himself. "I’m Kroaker, the biggest and smartest bullfrog in the world." he said. "Is that so?" replied one of the fish. "We are the biggest and bravest fish in the crystal-clear river." The other fish looked at Kroaker and said. "If you are nice we may let you share our water." The three talked and over time, the two big, brave fish and Kroaker became friends. Every day the three of them would meet at the same spot in the crystal-clear river to eat, talk, and play. Late one evening, as the three were talking, two fishermen passed by. Kroaker saw them, and common sense told him to hop into the water and hide under the bank. The two big, brave fish slowly swam in circles so the fishermen could see just how big they were. One of the fishermen saw them and said, "This crystal-clear river has some really big fish. Let’s come back tomorrow morning and catch them." As the fishermen turned and walked away, they discussed what type of bait might work best to catch big, brave fish. "Worms." said one. "No,sausages." said the other, and they continued their discussion as they walked the twisty path along the crystal-clear river’s edge. The two big, brave fish and the Kroaker overheard the fishermen. "My friends," said Kroaker. "Did you hear what they said? You should swim away and hide. I am afraid they may catch and eat me, so I will take my family to a nearby pond to be safe." The two big, brave fish bubbled out laughs as they jumped in and out of the water. One said, "My dear bullfrog friend, don’t be frightened of their mere talk." Kroaker looked at the two brave fish and said, "I would rather be safe than sorry." "From what I heard they might come back so I will leave with my family to the safety of the pond." Kroaker left and the two big, brave fish swam to the bottom of the crystal-clear river. The next morning, just after sunrise, the two fishermen returned to the crystal-clear river where the day before they had seen the two big, brave fish. They walked slowly and quietly so as not to disturb them. "Look," whispered one of the fishermen, "there they are." The fishermen gently cast their bait and let it slowly drift in the current to attract the big, brave fish. It worked! In moments, each had hooked one of the big, brave fish. Then the battle between the fishermen and the fish began. The big, brave fish used all their tricks to free themselves. They dived deep, swam fast, and leaped from the water, thrashing their tail and head in an attempt to get free. The battle raged for over ten minutes but in the end, the big, brave fish were no match for the fishermen. They were caught! Kroaker watched from the safety of the tall grass that separated the pond from the bank of the crystal-clear river. Oh, the anglers were excited! Each had caught a big brave fish on their first cast of the day. What a story they had to tell when they returned home! Kroaker carefully hopped back to the pond and told his family what he had seen. "Both my big, brave fish friends were very talented, and still they were caught. But I, with only common sense, saved my family. I will miss them." "We have to learn a lesson from this," said Kroaker to his family. "At the first sign of danger, use common sense and act quickly to save yourself."

Writing-on-Walls.txt

WRITING on the WALL I wanted to write as much as I could, I wanted to write for all I was able, I wanted to write whether or not I should, I wanted to write on the chairs and the table; I wanted to write on the walls in the halls, I wanted to write on the floors and the doors, I wanted to write on the bats and the balls, I wanted to write on mine and on yours; I wanted to write on the bricks and the blocks, I wanted to write on the rug and the stairs, I wanted to write on the grandfather clocks, I wanted to write on my teddy-bears; I wanted to write up high in the sky, I wanted to write way down below, I wanted to write far away and nearby, I wanted to write on my big toe; I wanted to write on a thing I can send, I wanted to write on a thing I can bend, I wanted to write where no-one can see, I wanted to write, because I am me! Mum didn't want me to write on the walls in the halls, Mum didn't want me write on the floor or the door, Mum didn't want me to write on the chairs or the stairs, Mum didn't want me write on the blocks or the clocks; She wanted me to write, only on the paper! I wanted to write on the walls, I really did; But I knew it would make Mum sad. I really wanted to be a good kid; I didn't want to be bad. So do you know what I did? I wrote ONLY on the paper. THE END

3565-inhabitants-of-the-sea.txt

Inhabitants of the Sea This is a Seahorse. It is mostly found in shallow tropical and temperate waters throughout the world. This is an Octopus. Octopuses inhabit diverse regions of the ocean, including coral reefs and the ocean floor. This is a Clown Fish. Clown Fish are native to warmer waters and live at the bottom of shallow seas in sheltered reefs or in shallow lagoons. These are Dolphins. They are found across the world with most species of Dolphins preferring the warmer waters of the tropical zones. A few species however prefer colder climates. This is a Sea Turtle (also known as Marine Turtle) Sea turtles can be found in all oceans except for the polar regions. This big fish here is a Manta Ray. Mantas are found in temperate, subtropical and tropical waters. This is a Starfish (also known as Sea Stars). Starfishes are found in salt waters all over the world, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean and beyond.

Why-Cant-We-Glow-Like-Fireflies.txt

Why Can't We Glow Like Fireflies? Fireflies are small winged insects that glow in the dark but why do they shine and what creates this spark within them? They’re bright and twinkling like little stars! I wish I could have glowed like them but I can’t! Can anyone tell me why? Imagine a dark, moonless night when you have gone camping with your classmates and you lose your way. What would you do? Will you not try contacting your friends by flashing your torchlight? Well, fireflies or ‘lightning bugs’ as they are sometimes called do the same, except that they have an unlimited supply of light within themselves! That is why fireflies never worry about fused light bulbs or electricity tariffs. They seem immensely happy just flying around and glowing- this is their signal to say, "Hey, look! I’m here!" The glow of the firefly is produced by a protein called luciferase and a pigment called luciferin. Proteins are special food used by our bodies to create muscles, bones and skin while pigments are natural colouring substances found in plants and animals. When these two meet inside the tiny belly of the firefly, they react with the oxygen already found in there. A celebration takes place, a soft firework display, so to say and bright light is produced which is the ‘glow’ of the firefly! Fireflies therefore are bio- luminescent but they are not the only ones. Different types of fish and marine creatures in the sea also produce their own lights! The glow of the firefly functions like a light switch and is periodically turned on and off by the insect. It does this by sending a special ‘message’ from its brain to the ‘light organ’ inside its body that is its abdomen and soon the chemical reaction begins and the glow is produced! The grown up fireflies use their ‘glow’ to call out to their mates. In fact, female fireflies prefer ‘flashy males’ that can blink the longest or at a faster pace. Once they see this special glow, the females respond to it by switching on their own lights. The firefly-mates soon meet and baby fireflies get created! The younger fireflies or the larvae, unlike their parents, use their glow mainly to chase predators away. The chemicals within their bodies are toxic and have a horrible taste so creatures that come to feast on them get put off and go hunting elsewhere for tastier munchies! Fireflies are never actually alone! There are more than 2,000 species of fireflies on this earth. During springtime, especially on dark nights, you may spot a few of them flitting around brightly! Fireflies maybe tiny, smaller than your fingers perhaps, but grouped together, these glowing insects can light up an entire garden and all for free! Sounds incredible, doesn’t it? Amazing facts about fireflies 1. Fireflies are not flies but beetles! They are often called ‘lightning bugs’ but they aren’t bugs either. 2. Different species of fireflies glow in different colors that range from yellow to green. Fireflies that flit around in the dark emit a greenish glow while those found outdoors during twilight give out a yellowish light. 3. There are a few non-vegetarian fireflies that feed on mites and other fireflies! 4. Adult fireflies aren’t the only ones that glow, their eggs and larvae glow as well! If you tap a firefly’s egg, it flashes in response to your touch. 5. Fireflies live in all continents except Antarctica. They love tropical climate but also thrive in temperate zones. They flit around forests, meadows and gardens during summer everywhere except in Antarctica that is much too cold for them. Do It Yourself 1. Find out what else glows in the dark. Both, living and non-living. 2. While playing in a group, imagine yourselves as fireflies. Carry a small torch in your hand and make different formations like fireflies. 3. Make a firefly with trash. For example, with a plastic bottle and glow stick. You can also try your own special ideas.

032-GABBY-ABBY-Free-Childrens-Book-By-Monkey-Pen.txt

"Hi! My name is Abigail and I just love to talk. That is how I got the nickname ‘Gabby Abby’. Talk, talk, talk, and … talk. If I am not talking, I am asking questions. I only stop talking when I am listening to the answer. Other than that: Talk, talk, talk, and … talk! Unless I have to stop to eat, have a drink, or go to sleep. Other than that: Talk, talk, talk, and … talk! Oh! I just love to talk. I learn so many new things and then I can then share the information with my friends. Did you know that spiders have 8 legs? I trip a lot and I only have 2! When a snake closes its eyes, it sees through its eyelids. How do they ever sleep? Flamingoes at with their heads upside down. I tried it and it is hard to do (and a bit messy). If you shave the fur off a tiger, it has striped skin. I wonder who did that! I will never wear lipstick. It is made with fish scales. Yuk! The original name for ‘butterfly’ was ‘flutterby’. I think flutterby is better because that is what they do! How do I know? I asked. And because I talk, talk, talk, and … talk! You know it too. Can a fish swim backwards? Why is the sun yellow? Does a hummingbird hum or can it sing like other birds? Maybe it forgot the words. When Abby reached school, she was ready to ask some questions. But Miss Pinkerton, her teacher, had other plans. "Today we are going to have a test on multiplication tables." Miss Pinkerton said. Abby and several other students slunk down in their seats. Miss Pinkerton asked, "Are there any questions?" Now Abby knew that sometimes her questions did not relate to the subject Miss Pinkerton was teaching the class. But she just could not resist asking. Abby raised her hand. "Yes Abby," Miss Pinkerton said. "Is a Zebra black with white stripes or white with black stripes?" asked Abby. The class burst out laughing but Miss Pinkerton quickly quieted them by putting her fingers to her lips and pretending to zip her mouth closed. "Actually Abby," Miss Pinkerton said. "A Zebra is white with black stripes." "I thought so," said Abby. "Who would like to start us off with the times 1 table from zero to ten?" Miss Pinkerton asked. Abby raised her hand excitedly. This one was easy. One times anything equals anything. "Tristan, would you please come to the board and write the times 1 table for the class?" Miss Pinkerton said. Tristan proudly walked to the board and wrote the times 1 table. 1 x 0=0 1x 1=1 1 x 2=2 1x 3=3 1 x 4=4 1x 5=5 1 x 6=6 1x 7=7 1 x 8=8 1x 9=9 1 x 10 = 10 "Excellent," said Miss Pinkerton. "McKenzie, would you please do the times 2 table for us." This continued through the times 8 table and the students did a wonderful job. They had obviously studied hard. Now Abby was worried. She knew that the times 10 table was easy; all you had to do was to put a zero after the first number. But the times 9 table! That was hard. What would she do if Miss Pinkerton called on her? "Abby," said Miss Pinkerton. "I would like you to show the class the times 9 table." Abby didn’t want to. She knew she had not studied but she had to go to the front of the class and do the best she could. She approached the board and wrote the table. 0x9= 1x9= 2x9= 3x9= 4x9= 5x9= 6x9= 7x9= 8x9= 9x9= 10 x 9 = Abby looked at what she had written and said to herself. "I know some of the answers like 10 x 9 is 90, 1 x 9 is 9, and 0 x 9 is 0. I will write them down in their equations. She was starting to feel better since she had some correct answers written down. 0x9=0 1x9=9 2x9= 3x9= 4x9= 5x9= 6x9= 7x9 = 8x9= 9 x 9 = 10 x 9 = 90 Abby thought for a second and decided to count the parts she did not know. "Let’s see," she said to herself. "The first one I don’t know is 2 x 9, so I’ll put a 1 next to it. The second one I don’t know is 3 x 9, so I’ll put a 2 next to it. Oh! I think I am in trouble." She realized that she did not know too many answers. As she thought about each, she wrote the numbers next to the equations she did not know. The times 9 table looked like this. 0x9=0 1x9=9 2x9=1 (First one Abby didn’t know) 3x9=2 (Second one Abby didn’t know) 4x9=3 . 5x9=4 . 6x9=5 . 7x9=6 . 8x9=7 . 9x9=8 (Eighth one Abby didn’t know) 10 x 9 = 90 There were many snickers and chuckles from the class but Miss Pinkerton said, "Class-quiet down and let Abby finish. Remember that it is not nice to bully a person by laughing or making fun of them." Well, Abby was almost in tears. She was just about to give up when she had an idea. Maybe, just maybe, if she checked her table, from the bottom up, she could get some more answers correct. She was not going to give up! Abby thought to herself. "9 x 9 well that’s the first one I don’t know," and marked the table as she did before. She then thought "8 x 9 … Oh! I don’t know that one either." So, she marked the table and it looked like this. 0x9=0 1x9=9 2x9=1 3x9=2 4x9=3 5x9=4 6 x 9 = 5 7 x 9 = 6 8 x 9 = 72 (Second one Abby didn’t know) 9 x 9 = 81 (First one Abby didn’t know) 10 x 9 = 90 Abby was really nervous but she continued with the rest. She looked at the equation, realized she did not know the answer, and marked it. When she was done, she had completed the table. 0 x 9 = 0 1x9=9 2 x 9 = 18 3 x 9 = 27 4 x 9 = 36 5 x 9 = 45 6 x 9 = 54 7 x 9 = 63 8 x 9 = 72 9 x 9 = 81 10 x 9 = 90 "Excellent work Abby," Miss Pinkerton said. "Aren’t you glad you asked me how you could remember the Times 9 Table?" Abby had a big smile but knew she had to give up some talk … talk … talk for some study … study … study. She remembered Miss Pinkerton telling her that not everything had an easy trick to help you get through the problem. Before taking her seat, Abby asked. "Miss Pinkerton, can an elephant jump?" Miss Pinkerton just smiled and said "No."

whats-in-the-pot_english_20170320-3-18.txt

" "What’s for supper?" "It’s a surprise", asked Sam. said Mama, putting a big pot on the stove. She added a jug of water. Sam was worried. "Are we having water for supper?" he wailed. "It’s a surprise. Wait and see." replied Mama. "You are still a bit short," said Mama. "The pot might fall over. But you can help me by fetching things." "Can I help?" asked Sam. "I could stir." "Can you bring me an onion, please." "They will taste nice once "This doesn’t smell very nice." they are cooked." "Now I need some tomatoes. No, that is an apple. The tomatoes are also round and red, but you will find them in the fridge." "Can you bring me potatoes. They are round and brown." "Is supper ready yet?" "If you are hungry you can "What about these?" eat the apple while you wait." "No, we won’t need biscuits. We can save those for after supper." "What’s in the pot?" "It’s a surprise. Wait and see." "What about this?" "That is a watermelon. It will be too big for the pot." "See if you can find some spinach. It is also green." "Please get some bread. No, it won’t go into the pot but on the table." Mama carried the pot to the table and started to dish up. "What’s in the pot?" asked Sam. "Soup!" My favourite!

catch-a-ride-on-raindrops-pratham-FKB_stories.txt

Catch a Ride on Raindrops Splash in the puddles, Jump in the rain, Catch a ride on raindrops, Falling from the sky. Rain hits the ground, And seeps far below, Down where the worms live, Past where the termites dig, Snakes slide and ants creep, Down the rain seeps. Trickle between rocks, Squeeze into cracks, Moisture moves, out of sight, Deep underground. Spring from the earth, Rush with the streams, Race with the fishes, Far across the land. Warmed by the sun, Up the water floats, Into skies, far above, Vapour turns to cloud. Thundering in the sky, They bulge and rumble and grow, Till water bursts, in pouring rain, Down to the earth again. How to Ride the Water Cycle Water travels far and takes many forms over the course of the water cycle. It comes to the earth as rain from the sky. It fills rivers and soaks into the ground to join the water table. The water table, like a river underground, emerges into open air in the form of springs and lakes. Water travels up into the sky as vapour when it's warmed by the sun, and comes together as wispy clouds. When clouds grow dark and heavy with water, they open with pouring rain, bringing water back to earth once more.

Grandma-like-to-juggle.txt

Our Grandma was a juggler. She juggled anything with swiftness. Kitchen, market, office Grandma juggled everywhere. Flying spectacles, mango umberalla Grandma's juggling annoyed everyone. One day Grandpa brought for her colourfull juggling balls Grandma was very happy. Grandpa was happy and could sleep peacefully While Grandma juggled the colourful balls.

Chunu-and-Munu-Read.txt

Chunu and Munu Read Chunu and Munu are reading in a library. "Chunu, look at this boy spinning around. This picture is so nice!" "Munu, look at these red blossoming flowers." "Chunu, look at these beautiful butterflies with different colored wings." In the library, there are books with wonderful pictures here, there, and everywhere! "Chunu, read this. It is a book filled with songs." "Munu, please tell me a story." "Please tell me a story that touches the heart." "Come Chunu, let’s sit together. You take one book, and I will take another one. Let us read together." "Oh, what is this? A dog and a rabbit going to school!" "Look at this bear sitting on a chair! He has warm eyes." "I will tell you a story. Which one do you want to listen to? A story about a rabbit or a dog?" "Tell me a story with lots of art and pictures." "I’m so happy to be at the library. I will come here everyday to read books." "Chunu, let’s take some books home where we can also enjoy reading them. Books can be our friends. Let’s read books, let’s love books!

Finbo-.txt

Finbo Far away in the deep blue ocean, there lived a little blue whale named Finbo. Even though he was called little, he was not little by any means. The baby Finbo was very much bigger than all of his friends. His favourite pastime was playing "hide and seek" with his friends in and around the rocky areas. But there was one thing which disappointed him all the time. That was, whenever they played hide and seek, Finbo ended up being on the losing end. No matter how hard he tried to hide, his friends would find him in no time. Since Finbo was so big, it was very easy for his friends to find him, because he stuck out from behind wherever he was trying to hide. And when his turn came Finbo could never find his tiny friends. They were so tiny that they could hide anywhere. Sometimes they hid behind Finbo’s own tail! But, Finbo could never see them, until they came out and showed themselves. Therefore Finbo had to spend the whole day searching for them. This happened almost all the time. When Finbo got tired of searching, he gave up the game and went to his mother, whimpering. "Uh…uh…uh….I can’t do this all the time. I can’t stand it any more….." Finbo complained. "Why, my darling, what’s wrong?" his mother asked. "Mama, whenever I hide, they find me right away. But when ever they hide, I can’t find them even if I search all day long. Why, Mama? Why am I so big?? Why can’t I be tiny, like my friends?" Finbo asked, sadly. "But, darling, you are a whale. You are different from all the fish in the sea. We are the biggest animals on earth. And don’t forget, you’ll be even bigger when you grow up," said his mother. "Even bigger? Oh no, I don’t want to be any bigger. I’m tired of being big," Finbo said crossly. "No Finbo, you must be proud of it." said his mother. "Proud of what? Being big?" Finbo asked. His mother started explaining. "Finbo, listen to me carefully. We have many things to be proud of. First of all, we are not fish. We are mammals who live in the water. We don’t lay eggs like other fish. You were born like a baby and not hatched from an egg. Baby whales drink milk from their mothers, just like the children on land do.... ..... And we have hair on our bodies, too. We are the loudest animals on earth. No one else has a fountain on top of their head like we do. We have no enemies, and all the others are frightened of us. You need not shrink away with fear from anyone and....." His mother tried to convince him. But it was hard for him to understand. "But… but mama…but...even if all that is true, I still can’t play hide and seek. I don’t want to be big and different any more." Finbo started whimpering again. "Uh…uh…uh…" "Finbo, everyone should be happy about who he is and what he has. You’ll see one day, what would it bring you, being who you are…" said mother blue whale. On the following day, Finbo and his friends went to the rocky area to play hide and seek. "Finbo, shall we go far out there, beyond the rocky area?" asked one tiny friend. "Far away? Oh no, I won’t go too far," said Finbo. "Finbo, are you scared?" they asked. "No, I’m not sacred. But I’m not going, because my mother told me not to. It’s very dangerous out there," said Finbo calmly. "Hey, Big Finbo is scared it seems. Let’s go there and show him how brave we are," said all his tiny friends, laughing at Finbo. "My little friends, as my mother says, being brave doesn’t mean that you go looking for danger. And I’m obedient to my mum," said Finbo. "Oh, Finbo, what’s the use of being big…" Finbo’s friends laughed at him and swam away. Finbo felt very lonely. No one to talk to, no one to play with. He wandered around sadly. But, a little later…. He heard shrieking voices coming through the water. It sounded very familiar to him. He swam towards the sound, quickly. It was his tiny little friends, darting through the water, crying out with fear, as if someone was chasing them. They rushed forward and hid behind Finbo’s tail. The next moment, a big shark raced toward them, with his mouth wide open. The moment he saw Finbo infront of him, his eyes bulged out and his mouth dropped. Finbo grunted once. The big, bad shark took one sharp look at Finbo from the corner of his eyes, and vanished at once, in fear. Finbo’s friends, who were peeping from behind his tail, couldn’t believe their eyes. They were amazed to see how the big bad shark ran away as he saw their friend, Finbo. They were very proud of him. All of them came to him and thanked him over and over. They apologized to Finbo for teasing him. Finbo welcomed all the thanks humbly. "My friends," said one of the little fishes. "Finbo is wise. He told us not to go into danger. Of course, being brave does not mean running towards danger. We learnt that today. From now on, we should not go so far away to play." All of them agreed. "Yes, yes, Finbo is a very good friend. Even though we teased him, he came forward to help us at once, without being angry with us." they said. "My friends, you need not go anywhere to play. I’ll take you to show things you have never seen. It would be much more interesting than swimming far away," said Finbo. He swam up, close to the surface of the sea, with his friends. And then he asked his friends to sit on his head one by one. And when spurted his fountain, they were shot out of the water into the beautiful world above. They saw the sky, birds, sun, clouds, ships and far away lands. They cheered with joy. It was an amazing sight to the little fish who had never seen anything other than the things under the sea. "Finbo, you are such a wonder. And such a good friend too. We love you very much." They circled around him and hugged him. Finbo was very happy that he was big and different, because he could be of great use to his friends.

mr-earthworm-wants-a-bath-early-stem-FKB.txt

Mr Earthworm Wants a Bath - Early STEM Mr Earthworm is very angry. He likes looking pretty, and is fed up of being covered in mud and never being able to have a proper bath. So he asks his wife, who is very handy with tools, to install a bathtub with running water. The bathtub is easy to make. First Mrs Earthworm finds an old flower pot lying in the kitchen garden. She patches up the few holes and some gaps. And it’s done! The installation of running water at their home was quite another thing. The first attempt was with straws connected to the surface. But the flow was too weak and during heavy rains the mud rose obstructing the mouth of the pipes. She improved the device by connecting a garden hose directly onto a drainpipe. However, the flow was not quite satisfactory. Mrs Earthworm thought hard. Then she found another bowl to collect the water. She made a knot to act as a tap. Now the water supply was perfect. The next problem was that this water was not suitable for Mr Earthworm. It had too much residue, is not clear enough, and it does not smell good. Mrs Earthworm had listened carefully in Science class, and so she knew how to make a filter using sand, seeds, and stones. Mrs Earthworm was really proud of her work. But when she presented it to Mr Earthworm, there was a small problem. There was something else that dampened Mr Earthworm's craving for a bath - the temperature. The water is too cold! Mrs Earthworm got back to work and added a handmade water heater, all they needed to do was light the fire to warm the water in the pipe. Now it’s perfect! Mr Earthworm can finally relax in the bath that he so wanted so much. - THE END -

Bears.txt

Bears There are lots of different kinds of bears. Bears can be big or small and they come in many colors. Bears live in the mountains, in the forest and even in the snow. Most bears are omnivores which means they eat plants and meat or fish. Panda bears only eat bamboo, and they eat for up to fifteen hours every day! Left: Baby black bear, 1 day old Top: Two baby panda bears, 1 day old Baby bears are very small when they are born. Baby bears stay with their mothers until they are a year and a half old. Bears are good swimmers and they can climb trees too. Bears can stand up on their back legs to look around if they hear or smell something. Most people only see a bear if they go to the zoo. But if you go camping or hiking in the woods, you might see a bear. Then you hope the bear doesn’t see you!

Tanias-Treasure-Hunt.txt

I'm a little _____ short and stout, I'll be happy, to help you out. Pussy cat pussy cat where have you been? I've been to London to look at the Queen. Pussy cat pussy cat what did you there? I frightened the little mouse __________ There was an old woman who lived in a ______ Look in there to find your next clue. This clue is the last one: Old Mother Hubbard Went to the ______ To give the poor dog a bone; When she came there, The cupboard was bare, And so the poor dog had none.

what-is-it_english_bookdash-FKB-3-18.txt

What is it? What is it? It hasn’t got a trunk. It’s not like me. What is it? It hasn’t got a tail. It’s not like me. What is it? Ugh! Where are its feathers? It’s not like me. What is it? Look at those tiny feet. It’s not like us. Do you think it’s dangerous? Do you think it wants to eat us? Achoo! Achoo! Aargh! Eek! Ru n ! It’s chasing us! Be careful. Come back. What is it? It’s a baby just like me!

eureka-R-.txt

Eureka! It was a lovely sunny morning in September. Ganesh Chaturthi meant it was a holiday from school. Tania and her friends were at Karishma's house celebrating the festival of the elephant headed God Ganesh. There was an idol of Ganesh decorated with flowers and surrounded by lamps. Karishma's mother was distributing modaks. Modaks are dumplings made of rice flour stuffed with jaggery and grated coconut. They are supposed to be Ganesh's favourite food and was Tania's favourite part of the celebration. Karishma's mother also served puranpolis and some other Maharashtrian delicacies. Replete with tasty wholesome food, Tania, Tanisha, Sonali, Rajiv and Nikhil decided to go outside and play to make the most of a rare sunny day in the midst of the Bombay monsoon. Tanisha announced that her sister Trisha had taught her a new game called 'The Queen of Sheba'. She said, "One of us has to be the queen of Sheba and ask everyone to get something from the surroundings and the person bringing the best sample wins." Tapping her wrist watch she added, "Of course there is a time limit. " "Sounds like fun", said Nikhil. "Tanisha since the game was your idea you should be queen." Tania, Sonali and Rajiv agreed. Tanisha was thrilled. She said "Let us do a trial round so I can explain better." Then in her most haughty voice, "The queen of Sheba wants a feather. The person bringing the longest feather wins. You have 1 and a half minutes. Your time starts now." Tania, Sonali, Nikhil and Rajiv shot off in different directions in search of feathers. Nikhil was the first to return with a feather closely followed by Sonali and then Tania. Rajiv arrived last just as the time was up but he was empty handed. Poor Rajiv had not found a single feather. Nikhil, Sonali and Tania placed their feathers next to each other to compare their lengths. Sonali's was the longest so she won. With a clearer idea of the game they all waited eagerly for the next round. The next time Tanisha asked them to get individual blades of grass and the one getting the largest number of individual blades would win. Nikhil, who managed to get 33 blades won this round. The game was quite enjoyable. Tanisha was inventive with her orders and fair in her judgements and made a great queen, until .... It was round 5 and Tanisha had asked for a rock and said the person bringing the biggest rock would win. The rocks Sonali and Nikhil brought were clearly smaller than the other two. But Tanisha simply could not tell whether the rock Tania had brought was bigger or smaller than the one Rajiv had brought. They had very different shapes and it was very difficult to compare. Tania and Rajiv started fighting and Tanisha looked really harassed. Then Tanisha spotted Tania's papa sitting on a bench nearby reading a book. She said loudly so that she could be heard over the din, "Okay, stop! I see Tania's papa there. We should ask him. He may know how to decide which one is bigger." Every one agreed this was a good idea. They all approached Tania's papa. Tanisha explained their problem and asked if he could help. Papa nodded and said "Over 2000 years ago the king of Syracuse had a similar problem. The king had given a goldsmith a block of pure gold to make a crown for him. The goldsmith though talented was also known to be dishonest. He presented the king with a beautifully crafted crown. " "But the king suspected that the goldsmith had substituted some of the pure gold with silver and kept the gold for himself. The king wanted to know if he had been duped. Desperate to know the truth, the king approached the scientist Archimedes. Archimedes promised to do his best." "Archimedes knew that if a gold and silver bar are of the same weight the silver one is bigger because silver is lighter. So if silver was mixed in then the crown would be bigger than a block of pure gold of the same weight as the crown." "So the problem was to figure out if the crown was bigger than a block of gold of the same weight or not. It was so hard to tell because of the funny shape of the crown . So the problem was essentially the same as the one you have." "So then what did Archimedes do papa?" asked Tania. "Did he figure it out?" "Patience, Tania. I am coming to that. Archimedes was still thinking about the problem when he went for a bath. The water level in the bath tub went up when Archimedes stepped in. That triggered an idea and Archimedes got so excited that he ran out of the bathroom, forgetting even his clothes, shouting eureka! eureka!" "What is eureka?" interrupted Rajiv puzzled. "Eureka is the Greek word for 'I got it!'", said papa. "So he did figure it out then. But how? I don't understand." said Tania. "Okay let me explain with an example. Suppose you have a glass with a little water in it. You mark the water level." "Now say you put a lemon in that glass. Then what happens?" "The water level goes up, just like in the story of the thirsty crow" said Tania. Papa prompted "The bigger the lemon..." "The higher the water level rises" finished Nikhil. "So now you can imagine what Archimedes did. He took a glass container and filled it with some water and marked the water level. Then he put the block of pure gold of the same weight as the crown in and marked the new water level. Next he replaced the block with the crown. The water level rose higher than it had for the gold block. That meant that the crown was bigger than the gold block. So it was not made of pure gold." Then papa turned to Tanisha and said, "So now do you know how to solve your problem queen of Sheba?" "Yes!" exclaimed Tanisha. "Look Rajiv, your brother is washing his new motorbike there. We can ask him to lend us the bucket." The kids filled the bucket with some water and marked the water level. Then they put Tania's rock in and marked the new level. Next they replaced Tania's rock with Rajiv's rock. This time the water level rose higher than it did for Tania's rock. That meant Rajiv's rock was bigger making him the winner. That evening, at dinner, Tania looked very thoughtful. She asked, "Papa we could not have used that idea to compare the size of two objects if one of them floated right, like a piece of wood I mean? "I am really impressed you thought of that. It is good to know the limitations of any scientific method. But it is also important to see if you can come up with a simple work-around. Can you think of a way to work around that problem Tania?" Tania thought for a moment and said "You could push the wooden piece in so it is submerged in the water". She sounded very sceptical that the solution could be that simple. To her surprise papa said "That is correct Tania, but you need to push it just a little below the surface so your finger does not get submerged too pushing the water further up." "The real problem would be to compare the size of 2 things if one of them was spongy like a sponge or a pillow. Then the sponge would soak up the water and the water level would not rise much. In that case you would have to look for a different solution." Papa added "Tania I think this was a great way to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi." "What do you mean?" asked Tania puzzled. "Well Ganesh doesn't only eat modaks you know. He is also a patron of arts and sciences and the God of intellect and wisdom." said Papa grinning.

why-is-there-a-hole-in-the-wall_english_Bookdash-FKB.txt

Lungisa lived in a village called esiKhaleni Some people also called it Hole-in-the-Wall. or Place of Noise. "Why is there a hole in the wall?" Lungisa asked his mother. "Because one of the sea-people used a giant fish head to break through the wall so that he could get to the woman he loved." "Why is there a hole in the wall?" Lungisa asked his teacher. "Because waves crashed against the rock for millions of years, and made a hole in the sandstone," said his teacher. "Why is there a hole in the wall?" Lungisa asked his granny. "So that our ancestors will have a gateway to us." "Why is there a hole in the wall?" Lungisa asked his auntie. "It is a window to God." "Why is there a hole in the wall?" Lungisa asked his friend. "Because a ship crashed into the wall." "Why is there a hole in the wall?" Lungisa asked his little sister. "So that my brother will keep on asking questions," she said. And Lungisa laughed. But he kept on asking.

Monkeys-Mustardseed-early-reader-FKB.txt

Monkeys The monkey is sitting on a rope. The monkey is in a cage. The monkey is licking a stick. The monkeys are playing in the snow. The monkey is resting on a log. The monkeys are sitting on a rock. The monkeys are playing with a ball. The monkey is walking on the rope. And she has a baby!

018-HEY-MOM-WHAT-IS-DIVERSITY-Free-Childrens-Book-By-Monkey-Pen.txt

"How was school?" Sally’s mom asked. "It was fine," she said with a big smile. "But my teacher, Ms. Talbert, started talking about something I didn’t understand. She called it DIVERSITY." "Hey mom! What is DIVERSITY?" "Sally, let me get you a snack and I will explain what it really means." "I have red hair, you have strawberry-blond hair, and your Dad has … NO HAIR." Sally laughed at the way her mother said no hair. "Everyone’s hair is different. Different colors, styles, lengths. It can be straight, curly or in between. And sometimes it’s not even there." "You are a girl and your little brother is a boy. You are both human but different. I am old and you are young. We are different ages." "Your friend Jaylynn lives with her sister and father, and her mother lives in another state. They are a family just like us, but there are differences." "You have a brother and she has a sister. You both have a father and mother at home, she only has a father." "We live in a house and Jaylynn lives in an apartment." "They are both places to live but they are different." "You like the color purple and your brother likes the color red.You both have a special color but the colors are different. You like soccer and your brother likes baseball. You both like sports but the sports are different." "Hey mom! I understand!" Sally shouted. "Even though things are the same, they are different and that is DIVERSITY. I like being different. I can’t imagine everyone and everything being the same."

031-TERRANCE-TURTLES-NEW-HOME-v2.txt

On a huge mountain, in a big forest, there was a medium sized meadow and a small pond. in this small pond lived Terrance, the turtle and his two best buddies, Sam and Sally swan. Oh, you may think it odd that a turtle and swans were buddies, really true friends, but I assure you – they were. Every day the three of them would search the pond for food, swim together and play games, and tell stories on the shore. When it got dark, Sam and Sally would return to their nest under a large tree and Terrance to his den on the shore, by their tree. One year there was very little rain and the pond began to dry up. The three friends were concerned and talked about what they should do. "We should stay here" said Terrence. "The rain always comes and the pond has been our home since we were born." "I don’t think the pond will last." said Sally. "I think we need to find a new home." said Sam. Then Sam flew away in search of a new pond. After several days, Sam returned to find the pond almost dry and his friends not doing well at all. "Sam!" Terrance shouted excitedly. "We are so glad to see you! The pond is almost dry. Sally is hungry and scared, and my shell is starting to crack. Did you find a new home?""Yes," said Sam. "It is beautiful but very far away and I don’t know how you WILL get there." The three talked for a long time. Then Terrance said, "I will stay here and dig deep into my den and the two of you, my true friends, fly to your new home." "No!" shouted Sally. "We will all go." "There has to be a way." said Sam. The three sat under the bright sun in silence, thinking of a way to get to the far-away pond. "I know how to do it!" shouted Terrance. "See that stick?" He said to Sam. "Sally and you WILL each take an end in your bill and I will bite it in the middle. Then, you can fly to our new home while I hang onto the stick. We can all be together." Again, the three sat in silence thinking about Terrance’s idea. "It will work." said Sally. "I agree." said Terrance. "Maybe." said Sam. Sam looked at Terrance and Sally for a few minutes and said, "Yes, I think it will work but none of us can talk or open our mouths, no matter what! Does everyone understand? Does very one agree?" "Yes." said Sally. "I agree too." said Terrance. "Terrance," Sam firmly said. "It is most important that you DO NOT talk or open your mouth. Remember, you can’t fly!" "I understand." said Terrance. WITHIN MINUTES, Sally and Sam each had the stick firmly held in their bills. Sam opened his mouth and bit down on the stick. They were off. Sally swan and Sam swan flew side-by-side, separated by a stick, with Terrance turtle hanging in the middle. It was a very strange but funny sight. As they flew, climbing higher and higher, no one dared talk or open their mouth. Faster and faster, higher and higher, Sally and Sam flew. Terrance was terrified! As they passed over a town, they could hear the people talking and laughing. "Look up in the sky!" shouted one boy. "What is it?" asked another. As the people looked up, they began to laugh at the strange sight. They laughed, whistled, hooted, and hollered at the silly swans carrying a turtle on a stick. Terrance heard all the noise but couldn’t look down to see what was going on. Ignoring the advice THAT Sam had given HIM, he opened his mouth to ask him what was happening. Before he could say a word, he was falling and looking up at his flying friends. Oh, don’t worry. Terrance didn’t get hurt. You see they were close enough to their new home so Terrance fell into THE big, deep pond. But not listening to his true friend could have ended IT differently FOR HIM.

Bookworm-Babies-.txt

Bookworm Babies Over the last year Tania had grown very fond of reading. Knowing her fondness for animals mama got her a hardbound copy of the Aesop's fables with fantastic illustrations. This book really captured Tania's imagination. Initially mama would read it to her. Tania loved the stories since they usually featured various animal characters. Her favourite story was the "Thirsty Crow", also known as "The Crow and the Pitcher". The crow in this story was so smart and resourceful. Tania really admired it. In time she learnt to read by herself. Tania was also very fond of Noddy books and the bedtime stories by Enid Blyton. One Sunday morning mama took Tania to a children's library. It had 2 large rooms, one for little children and the other for young adults. Mama took Tania to the room with books for little children. The walls were lined with shelves filled with colourful children's books. There were some comfortable little stools and mats to sit on. Tania loved the place as soon as she saw it. She browsed the shelves, selected 3 or 4 books and made herself comfortable on a mat. Soon she was engrossed in reading. Mama realised Tania was not going to need her, so she went to the next room and picked out a book to read. When mama came back a couple of hours later Tania had her nose buried in a short story book. She was surrounded by 6 more books, 3 of which she had already finished. One was a book of rhymes, another was a short book about animals and the third was a short story from the Noddy series. Mama waited till Tania finished the story that she was reading and then told her they had to go home, since it was almost lunch time. Tania was very reluctant to leave the library. On the way home she asked "Mama can we come back to the library tomorrow?" Mama said "Baby you have school tomorrow morning." "Okay, then in the afternoon after school?" Mama said, "Tania, this library is quite far away from home and because of traffic it takes a long time to get here. I am glad you had such a good time and I can bring you here once a month but not more often than that. Unfortunately, there is no children's library near where we live ." Tania looked disappointed. Mama said "Tania I always buy you the books you want. Why are you so sad?" Tania replied "This place is so lovely. As soon as I entered I felt like reading and reading and never leaving. There are so many books to choose from. It is nice to just browse the books and then decide which to read, and it is so cosy." That evening during dinner Tania said "Mama, I have an idea. What do you think about me starting a reading club?" "A reading club? Where would you do that? How would it work?" "Here in the society club house. I'll make a flyer and post it on the notice board to spread the word. Every one will have to bring some books. That way each of us will get to choose from a large collection of books. We can do this every Saturday and Sunday afternoon for a couple of hours." "That sounds like a great idea Tania. Why don't you talk to Tanisha and see if you can get it to work." The next day Tania discussed the idea with Tanisha. Tanisha loved reading, so she thought it was an awesome idea. They were trying to think of a catchy name for the club when Tania remembered the bookworm costume Tanisha wore to Karishma's costume party. They played around with the idea and came up with the name "Bookworm Babies". Tania got her art supplies out and they made the flyer together. Mama talked to the society chairman and got permission to post the flyers on the noticeboards. Throughout the week Tania got calls from mothers and kids living in the society. Mama found an old book case that Tania could use. She also gave her a rug and a stool. Tanisha's mother also contributed a bookcase. There was a storage closet in the clubhouse where they stored the book cases, stools, chairs and rugs, so they could easily take them out when the reading club was in session. Saturday finally arrived. Tania was excited. She helped mama make cookies for the inaugural meeting of the Bookworm Babies. Mama packed some lemonade with the cookies. Mama knew reading would be even more fun if there was something to munch and sip. At about half past one Tania skipped off to the clubhouse with a back pack full of books. Mama had already dropped of the lemonade and cookies. Tanisha arrived soon carrying books and a stack of plastic cups for the lemonade. The watchman helped them get the bookcases out of storage and they arranged the 25 odd books they had between them on the shelves. Soon Karishma, Sonali, Nikhil and Rajiv arrived. They now had about 70 odd books. It was a good thing there was a second book case. Nikhil's mother had sent a rug with him and Rajiv's mother had sent a chair. Karishma and Sonali had helped the boys bring them in. The clubhouse also had a few plastic chairs. The kids all picked out some books and made themselves comfortable on one or the other of the available seats. There was still room to seat a couple more people. They also helped themselves to some lemonade and cookies. They really enjoyed themselves reading, munching and sipping. Nikhil was reading a book that Tania brought in and they stopped for a while to talk about how funny something in the Noddy story was. Vivek joined them at 3:00. He was on his way back from piano classes. He had brought some Asterix comics with him. Tanisha pounced on them. She loved reading those and he had some that she had not read before. The 7 of them had a delightful afternoon with so many books to choose from. They were looking forward to the next session. Tania got back home and told mama all about the wonderful time she had. She said, "Mama, it was just like the Secret Seven in the Enid Blyton stories, except that we read about mysteries instead of solving them." Mama smiled. She felt proud that Tania was reading enough to make references to fictional characters in conversation.

039-MY-FIRST-PET-Free-Childrens-Book-By-Monkey-Pen.txt

My name is Allie Kay and I would like to tell you about my first pet. However, before I can, you have to understand that I am a little older than you are and have a family of my own. Oh! Don’t worry. I am not going to talk to you like a big person. I am going to let my imagination take me back in time to when I was 7 years old. The best part is that I don’t have to try to remember everything. All I have to do is open my journal and read. If you are a girl, or a boy, and don’t have a journal to write down all the special things, get one. As you grow you can read it and your imagination will magically send you back in time. Ah! There is the entry - My First Pet. Dear Journal: This morning I asked my Mom if I could have a pet and she said no. She said that pets make a mess and are a big responsibility. Then she said I wasn’t old enough, or responsible enough, to take care of a pet. Well, I know I would take good care of a pet. I am so sad. I really, really, really want a pet of my own and I can’t have one. After reading her journal entry, the magic happened. Allie Kay was transported back in time and was seven years old. Imagination and memories are the best time machine. I just got home from school and put my books down when my Mom said, "Allie Kay, if you have any homework you had better get it done now. Your brother is spending the night at a friend’s house so I have decided to take you to the carnival." I shrieked in excitement and couldn’t help doing my Happy Dance. They were always different. Sometimes I put my hands under my arms, like little wings, and strut like a chicken. Other times I spin around like a great ballerina. Today, for some reason, I put my hands in front of my ears, wiggled them, puffed up my cheeks, and moved around like a fish. "I will do my homework right now, mom." I said. Oh! I just couldn’t wait. "I’m goin’ to the carnival, I’m goin’ to the carnival, I’m goin’ to the carnival," I sang as I did my Happy Dance. Mom asked me what I wanted to do first. Without hesitating I said, "Cotton Candy. Let’s get Cotton Candy." Mom didn’t get any but I got the jumbo size, rainbow colored, fluffy, sticky, D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S spun sugar blob on a stick. It was wonderful. Mmm! I can still taste it. "Mom, let’s ride the ferris wheel," I said excitedly. After a short time in line, it was our turn. We stepped up a few stairs, took our seat, and a man buckled us in. We were off. I shrieked with excitement as we started going around, higher, and higher. I screamed when we got to the top. It was really high. When we started going down I got a tickle in my stomach. It made me laugh. It was G-R-E-A-T! "Let’s play a game, mom," I said. "There, that one where all the kids are throwing balls." As I walked up to the game I saw fishbowls and each one had a fish in it. I really got excited. "Mister, Mister," I said to the man behind the counter. "How does the game work?" The nice man said, "You get 1 ball for 25 cents. If you can get it in a bowl, you win a pet fish." He said the magic word. PET! "Allie Kay, let’s go to another game," Mom said. "I told you, you can’t have a pet." "Oh, please mom, please," I said in my saddest voice. Then the nice man looked at my mom and said. "Lady, it is really hard to win so I don’t think you have to worry." "Oh, please mom, please," I said again. Then a strange thing happened. My mom said, "Okay Allie Kay, if you can get the ball in the bowl, in one try, you can have a PET FISH." I didn’t know what to say. Mom said I could have a PET FISH. As I looked at all the fish, and watched others tossing balls at the bowls, I spotted the prettiest goldfish I had ever seen. I just had to have him. I took aim, gently tossed the ball at the bowl, and then tightly closed my eyes. I just could not look. "We have a winner," I heard the nice man say. When I opened my eyes, he was holding out the fishbowl and the prettiest goldfish for me to take. "I am going to name you Moebus," I said to the fish. (I think I saw him smile). Then I looked at Mom. I didn’t know her face could look so funny. As we were leaving the game, the nice man said. "Remember, don’t feed him too much." I had MY FIRST PET! When we got home, I told mom not to worry. I would be responsible and take very good care of Moebus. Every day I would feed Moebus and talk to him. I even tried to get him to do tricks. But that didn’t work. After several days, Moebus didn’t look too good. I asked mom what I should do but she didn’t know. She said she never had a pet and that I had said I would be responsible for Moebus. I was sad and scared. I didn’t want anything bad to happen to Moebus. "Allie Kay," mom said. "The man down the street has a fishpond, maybe he can help Moebus." I picked up the bowl and headed to my neighbor’s house as fast as I could. Mom was right behind me. I had seen the man many times and knew that his children were grown and had children of their own. But I had never talked to him. I was nervous and a little scared. But I rang his doorbell. "Hi," I said in a bubbly voice. "My name is Allie Kay and I live down the street." "Nice to meet you," he said. "I am Ted but my Grandchildren call me Pop Pop, and you can too. Oh, I see you have a very pretty goldfish. What’s his name?" "Moebus," I replied. Pop Pop continued. "Moebus looks like he needs his water changed, come on out back to my fishpond and we will refresh him." Pop Pop said. "Allie Kay, you are a very responsible young person. You recognized that Moebus was a little under the weather and got him some help. Others may have just let him live in dirty water, getting sicker, and sicker. You must really love Moebus." "Oh! I do," I said. "Moebus is my first pet. Will he be alright?" At that, Pop Pop put Moebus in the fishpond with all the other fish. I started to say something and Pop Pop said. "Don’t worry. Let’s get Moebus a bigger bowl (I’ll trade you this small one for a big one)." How could I refuse? Pop Pop then gave me a big bowl and said go get some gravel, wash it, put it in the bowl, and fill the bowl with water. I did and by the time I was done, Pop Pop had Moebus in a net and ready for his new home. My mom and I thanked Pop Pop and as we were leaving, he said two things. To me - "Remember to change his water every three days and if you need help please ask." To my mom – "You must be proud to have such a responsible and caring pet owner as your daughter." As mom and I stood by the table and watched Moebus swimming in his new home, she gave me a hug and said, "I am glad you got your first pet."

ELA_Grade2_Unit4_The-Gym-writtenQ-reading-comp.txt

Name 8.3 The Gym After leaving Dwight’s Lights, Kim stopped for a moment to think about where she should try next to find a job. "Mom’s pals, Tom and Beth, run a gym that is nearby, I might have a chance getting a job at their gym, so let’s go!" On the way to the gym, Kim explained to Kurt that a gym is a place where people go to exercise and get in shape. She explained that people pay to be members of a gym. Kurt had never visited a gym. The gym seemed odd to him. He stood staring at a man who was jogging in place. "He keeps running," said Kurt, "but he is still in the same place!" "It’s kind of like the wheel that rat of yours likes to run on," said Kim. "It lets him run in place." "He’s not a rat," said Kurt. "He’s a hamster!" Kurt kept on looking at the man jogging in place. "Why not just run in the park?" he asked. "Some people think the gym is fun, just like you think the park is fun," Kim said. "All the people here are working hard," Kurt said. "Why do they pay to work so hard?" "It makes them feel good and strong after they have finished," Kim said. Just then Tom and Beth came over to see them. "Hi, Kim! Hi, Kurt!" said Beth. "It’s good to see you. What brings you here?" Unit 4 39 © 2013 Core Knowledge Foundation Kim said, "I’m looking for a summer job. I stopped to see if you need help. Are you hiring?" "We just hired someone for a job in the snack bar," Beth said, pointing over to the counter. "People like to have a cool drink and a snack when they finish in the gym." "That looks like a good job," said Kim. "I wish I had gotten here sooner." "Bad timing," said Beth. "We don’t need more help right now. But you will find a job somewhere else." Tom took Kurt and Kim to see the rest of the gym. Kurt pointed at a man who was doing curls. "What’s he doing?" Kurt asked. "He’s doing curls," Tom explained. "Would you like to do some curls?" Kurt nodded. "Here," Tom said. "Use this one. Lift it up. That will strengthen your biceps—the tops of your arms. Then let it down. That will strengthen your triceps—the backs of your arms." Kurt did five or six curls. Then he clenched his arm and yelled, "I am the man of steel!" Kim just smiled at Kurt. Kim spoke to Beth and Tom. "Well, I suppose we should go," she said. "Thank you for meeting with me." "No problem," said Tom. "Good luck with the job hunt," said Beth. "We will send word to you if we need help here." "Why don’t you go see Alberto at the corner market?" added Tom. "He may have a job for you. Plus, he’s one of the nicest men I have ever met." 40 Unit 4 © 2013 Core Knowledge Foundation Name 8.4 The Gym 1. What is a gym? _________________________________________________ Family Member Directions: Have your child reread the story and answer the questions in complete sentences. _________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 2. Why do people pay to join a gym? _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 3. Who are Tom and Beth? _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ Unit 4 41 © 2013 Core Knowledge Foundation 4. Why don’t Tom and Beth hire Kim? _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ 5. What advice does Tom give Kim? _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ 6. What do you do to exercise? _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 7. Would you rather run outside or run inside a gym? Why? _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 42 Unit 4 © 2013 Core Knowledge Foundation

tumi-goes-to-the-park_english_20170316-3-18.txt

It’s Tumi’s first trip to the park. "Mama, what’s that? " "It’s a slide," says Mama. "May I go on it?" asks Tumi. "Of course!" says Mama. "Wheeeee!" "Look Mama, I swing like a monkey." "I just went past you "Clever girl! says Mama. ten times, "You know how to count!" Mama!" says Tumi. "Do you want to play?" asks Tumi. "Yes!" says the boy. "I’m Tumi." "I’m Zakhe." Tumi sees the sandpit. "Let’s build a sandcastle!" says Tumi. "I’m taking a photo for Gogo," says Mama. "It’s time to go home now, Tumi," says Mama. "Bye, Tumi!" says Zakhe. "Bye, Zakhe!" "See you next time!" waves Tumi. "Mama, thank you for bringing me to the park," says Tumi.

How-Old-is-Muttajji-.txt

How Old is Muttajji? Putta and Putti jumped out of bed. It was Muttajji's birthday and they had a train to catch! Muttajji, who was the twins' mother's mother's mother, lived in Mysore with Ajji, who was the twins' mother's mother. No one actually knew when Muttajji's birthday was; but Ajji had always celebrated it on the Makara Sankranthi holiday. "Amma, will there be a cake?" asked Putti. "A big, spongy cake with pink icing and a rose on top?" "Naah," said Putta. "Old people don't have birthday cakes. And 200 candles won't fit on any cake." "Muttajji isn't 200 years old, silly," said Putti. "How old is Muttajji, Amma?" Amma smiled. "Why don't you ask her when we get there?" The moment they reached the old green house in Mysore, the twins burst into Muttajji's room. "Happy birthday, Muttajji! How old are you today?" Muttajji hugged the twins. "How old am I? Who knows? How does it matter?" "But it does!" cried Putta and Putti together. Muttajji smiled. "Well," she said, "I know that around five years before I was born, our Maharaja went to a grand party for Indian Maharajas and Maharanis in Delhi. A British king and queen had come to visit, and our Maharaja got a gold medal." "Oooh! A party! There must have been lots of cake!" said Putti. "Who was this king, Muttajji? If you know, we can find out which year he visited. if we add five years to that, we will know when YOU were born!" Muttajji shrugged. "I've forgotten, Putta." Putta's face fell. "Wait," said Muttajji. "Let me see if I can remember something else. Aaaan! When I was about your age - nine or ten - my uncle from Bombay visited us and told us about clean trains." "Clean trains?" "Yes!" Muttajji was excited. "They had started running in Bombay that year. You never got dirty travelling in them. No black dust on your clothes and face, no grime, nothing!" The twins stared at her. Why would anyone get dirty travelling by train? "Some years later," continued Muttajji, "I got married. The law was that a girl should be at least 15 before she was married, and my father would never break the law, so I must have been 16 then. Very soon after my marriage, your Muttajja got a job in Bombay, and we left Mysore." "Did anything important happen the year you got married, Muttajji?" asked Putta. "Yes," said Muttajji sadly. "Our Maharaja inaugurated our big dam, and the beautiful gardens next to it, during the Dasara festival that year. But I missed it; I was in Bombay. " "A big dam?" Putta sat up. "Is it still there?" Muttajji hooted with laughter. "Of course! Rock-solid too. It was the dam that tamed the Kaveri. No more floods in the monsoon, and enough water for the fields in the summer." Ajji put her head around the door. "Are you talking about KRS, Amma?" "Aaaan, KRS," Muttajji said, looking fondly at Ajji. "Your Ajji was my fifth child, the youngest, but always the smartest. Do you know, twins, my children came like clockwork, one every two monsoons. The day your Ajji decided to come out, your Muttajja could not be found. Later, he told us that he had gone to see Gandhiji give a speech at the Gowalia Tank Maidan. He was so excited. 'Quit India!' he kept shouting the whole day, silly man, disturbing the baby.' "Quit India!" Putti's eyes grew round with excitement. "We studied it in history, Putta! The movement started in 1942! That means 1942 was the year that... " "...Ajji was born," pouted Putta. "Not Muttajji." "That's a start!" said Putti. "Which year were you born, Ajji?" "I will be 74 this year," said Ajji. "So I was born in?" Putti quickly did the calculations. "1942!*" she said. Ajji nodded. *(2016 - 74 = 1942) "Now, Ajji is Muttajji's fifth child and all her kids were two years apart!" said Putta. "So if Ajji was born in 1942..." "...Muttajji's fourth child was born in 1942 - 2 = 1940, the third in 1940 - 2 = 1938, the second in 1938 - 2 = 1936, and the first in 1936 - 2 = 1934." "So Muttajji was married in 1932!" cried Putti. "Not necessarily," said Putta. "Muttajji didn't say her first child was born two years after her marriage. She only said a dam was built in Mysore the year she got married." "Maybe this will help, twins," said Ajji, bringing in bowls of vermicelli payasa, Muttajji's favourite sweet dish. "KRS is the Krishnarajasagar Dam. The Brindavan Gardens are the gardens attached to it. We went there last year to see the musical fountains, remember?" The twins nodded. "Mmmm," said Putti. "Your payasa is the BEST, Ajji!" "When was KRS built, do you know, Ajji?" Ajji shook her head. "I'm not sure. But you can go with Ajja to the central library after lunch and find out there." In the library, Putti found a book on the history of Mysore. "Here it is!" she whispered. "Two of Mysore's most visited tourist spots, the KRS Dam and the adjacent Brindavan Gardens, were opened to the public in 1932.'" The twins grinned - that meant Muttajji had indeed married in 1932, 84* years ago! *(2016 - 1932 = 84) "Muttajji thinks she was 16 when she got married," said Putti, "but she could have been 15 or 17 or 18." "She also said she was about 9 or 10 when her Bombay uncle told her about the 'clean' train," said Putta. "Ajja may know what that means." Ajja was in the reading room. "Ajja," whispered Putti, "in the olden days, did people get dirty travelling by train?" Ajja nodded. "There were steam engines then, which ran on coal, not electricity," he said. "Black coal dust used to fly out of the chimney and land on everyone and everything. Terrible!" "That's it, Putti!" hissed Putta."Electric trains were the 'clean' trains!" He pulled out a book on the Indian Railways. "It says here," he pointed, "that India's first electric train came to Bombay in 1925!" "And Muttajji says she was about 9 then," said Putta. "If she is right, then Muttajji was born in 1916*. " "But she could be wrong, you know," frowned Putti. "Only one way to make sure," said Putta. "We have to find out if that big party for kings and queens in Delhi, which Muttajji said happened five years before she was born, happened in 1911**." They ran back to Ajja. *(1925-9 = 1916); **(1916 -5 = 1911) "Ajja, was there a grand party for a foreign king who visited India around 1911?" Ajja frowned. "1911? Why is that date so familiar? Aaan yes. It was the year the Gateway of India was built in Bombay. And yes, it was built to welcome the British Emperor of India, George V! There must have been several grand parties, not one." Ajja tapped his forehead, looking very pleased with himself. "Not bad for an old brain, eh?" "Not bad at all!" cried the twins. "Thanks, Ajja!" They knew exactly how old Muttajji was! Five minutes later, the twins were racing homewards. "Muttajji, " they panted, rushing straight to her room, "did the Mysore Maharaja get his gold medal from King George V?" "Aaaaaan!" Muttajji said happily. "That's it! George! What clever children you are!" "That means, Muttajji, that you were born in 1916! You are exactly 100* years old today!" *(2016 - 1916 = 100) "That's great detective work, twins!" smiled Amma. "I think you - and Muttajji - deserve a special treat. A big, spongy one, with pink icing, and a rose on top." "Hurrayyyyyy!" cheered the twins. The Grand Maharaja-Maharani Party (and other fun stuff from Indian history) Remember all the important historical events Muttajji talked about in the story? They all really happened! Here is a little more information about them. The Grand Maharaja-Maharani Party (1911) - When the British Emperor George V and his wife Queen Mary visited India for the first time, they hosted a grand party for over 400 Indian kings and queens. It was called the Delhi Durbar. To feed 200,000 guests, bakeries put out 20000 loaves of bread a day, and over 1000 cattle and sheep were slaughtered for every meal! Many Indian rulers received gold medals from the Emperor, including the Maharaja of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV. The Clean Trains (1925) - On Feb 3, 1925, India's first electric train left Bombay's Victoria Terminus for Kurla station. With that, India became the 3rd country in Asia and only the 24th in the world to introduce railway electrification. The Dam That Tamed The Kaveri (1932) - The Kaveri river runs through southern Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The river was always a blessing, keeping Mysore fertile, but, like every other river, it used to flood in the monsoons and run dry in the summer. All that changed when a dam was built across the river and the Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) reservoir created. The reservoir still provides most of the drinking water for Bangalore city. Gandhiji's Big Speech (1942) - The 'Quit India Speech' was a speech made by Gandhiji on 8 August 1942, at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay. Gandhiji asked people to fight against British rule not by using violence, but by disobeying their laws. Five years later, on August 15, 1947, the non-violent war got the results Gandhiji wanted - the British left, and India became independent. Today, the Gowalia Tank Maidan is called the August Kranti Maidan in memory of that peaceful revolution.

sindi-and-the-moon-online.txt

Wesley van Eeden Sindi was a very lively little girl who loved to sing and dance. She lived on a farm with her parents and her Gogo. Sindi enjoyed following Gogo around and feeding the animals. One evening while Sindi and her family were having dinner, Sindi’s mother had something to tell her. "Sindi," she said, "after the long Christmas holidays, you are going to go to school." Sindi was so excited. She was happy that she would finally get to learn how to read and write. When Sindi was happy, she danced. Her joy spread to the farm animals. The dogs barked more loudly. The cows mooed more beautifully. The butterflies flapped their wings and landed in her hair. When Sindi danced, she swayed from left to right, as if she were pushed and pulled by the wind. She sang along with its soft, slow music. As the holidays were ending after Christmas, Sindi started to wonder what school would really be like. She did not want her mother to know that she was nervous, so she asked Gogo what school would be like. "School is very serious," Gogo said. "There is no more time for song and dance, only learning." This did not make Sindi happy at all. The night before school started was very hot. Sindi just could not sleep! She tiptoed outside and sat on the stoep, looking up at the dark sky. The moon was big and bright and beautiful and the stars were twinkling. Sindi spoke to the beautiful moon. "Dear moon so bright," she said, "are you afraid of the dark? Is that why you ask the stars to keep you company?" "I am going to school tomorrow, what will it be like?" "Will they let me sing? Will they let me dance?" Sindi started to sing. What she saw next made her rub her eyes in disbelief. Was she dreaming? The moon was smiling! And the stars were dancing to her song! Agentle voice spoke to her. "Dear little Sindi," the voice said. "School is a wonderful place. You will learn many things: to read and write, to sing and dance and to make many friends." "But for now, Sindi, you must rest. Tomorrow will be beautiful." Sindi had never seen anything this amazing. She wanted to wake everyone up and show them the talking moon and dancing stars. But the moon stopped her. "Shhhh, Sindi,"it said. "This is our little secret." The moon winked. Sindi returned to bed, comforted by the moon’s wise words, and slept peacefully. The time came for school. Mama held Sindi’s hand as they approached the school. She was confident that the day would be beautiful, because the moon had told her so. Children were arriving with their mothers and fathers. They all looked excited. Sindi could not wait to make friends. By lunch time, Sindi loved everything about school. "I wish the moon could see me now," she said to herself. "Now I will learn to read. I will learn to write. But also I will sing and dance!" And all of Sindi’s new friends danced with her, just like the animals had done. They clapped their hands and sang to her tune.