Reading Rainbow Article: Imogene's Antlers

posted by hornean

On Thursday, when Imogene woke up, she found she had grown antlers.

Getting dressed was difficult,

and going through a door now took some thinking.

Imogene started down for breakfast…

but got hung up.
“OH!!” Imogene’s mother fainted away.

The doctor poked, and prodded, and scratched his chin.
He could find nothing wrong.

The school principal glared at Imogene but had no advice to offer.

Her brother Norman, consulted the encyclopedia, and then announced that Imogene had turned into a rare form of miniature elk!

Imogene’s mother fainted again and was carried upstairs to bed.

Imogene went into the kitchen. Lucy, the kitchen maid, had her sit by the oven to dry some towels.
“Lovely antlers,” said Lucy.

The cook, Mrs. Perkins gave Imogene a doughnut, then decked her out with several more and sent her into the garden to feed the birds.

“You’ll be lots of fun to decorate, come Christmas!” said Mrs. Perkins.

Later, Imogene wandered upstairs. She found the whole family in Mother’s bedroom.
“Doughnuts anyone?” she asked.

Her mother said, “Imogene, we have decided there is only one thing to do. We must hide your antlers under a hat!”
Norman telephoned the milliner.

At three o’clock the milliner arrived.

Rapidly he sketched a few designs,

then set to work.

“Voilà!” said the milliner.
“Bravo! Bravissimo!” cried his assitants.

THUD! Imogene’s mother had to be carried away once more.

After dinner, Imogene practiced her piano lesson.

Then, yawning, she folded her music…
kissed the family…
and went to bed.

Imogene sighed, remembering the long, eventful day.

On Friday, when Imogene woke up, the antlers had disappeared.

When she came down to breakfast, the family was overjoyed to see her back to normal…

until she came into the room.

Digging Up Dinosaurs

posted by hornean

Have you ever seen dinosaur skeletons in a museum?
I have.
I visit them all the time.
I went again yesterday.

I saw APATOSAURUS.

I saw CORYTHOSAURUS.

I saw IGUANODON and TRICERATOPS.
I like to say their names.

SCOLOSAURUS was just where I had left it.
And TYRANNOSAURUS REX looked as fierce as ever.
TYRANNOSAURUS used to scare me.
I still can’t believe how big it is.
Just its head is almost twice my size.

I’m not afraid of dinosaurs anymore.
Sometimes I call them “you bag of bones” under my breath
I can spend hours looking at them.
I used to wonder where they came from and how they got into the museum....

Digging Up Dinosaurs

added by hornean

Summer

posted by hornean

Run outside to play in the warm summer sun where the grass grows tall and sunflowers fill the fields.

Baby bears play just like you.
They grow fat and round on fresh summer grass and learn to catch their first fish dinner down by the riverbank.
Summer is time to learn and to grow.

Baby mountain sheep learn the safest path to summer meadows. Gosling wings grow stronger, their voices louder.

Up in the trees, the songs of spring suddenly soften. Warbler mothers and warbler fathers, busy feeding their young, have little time to sing. Hummingbirds sip nectar for themselves and catch bugs for their tiny...

Snowy Day: Stories and Poems

added by hornean

Sports Pages

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Sunken Treasure

posted by hornean

“It’s there! It’s really there!”
The rotting hull of a ship has been found on the ocean floor. Within the wreck lies a fabulous treasure.

The story of each underwater treasure hunt is different, but each goes back to the same beginning…the sinking of a ship. The story of the hunt for the Nuestra Señora de Atocha, a Spanish galleon, begins the same way.

THE ATOCHA
The Sinking

It is 1622. The Atocha with its fleet of sister ships, makes its way back from South America to Spain. The Atocha is a treasure ship, laden with gold, jewels, silver bars, and thousands of coins.
The fleet makes a...

The Bionic Bunny Show

posted by hornean

“Good morning,” said Wilbur.
“You’re late,” grumbled the director.
Wilbur had only ten minutes to get made up, go to Wardrobe, and finish learning his lines.

“Hold still,” said Maxine, the makeup woman. “I have to make you look strong and smart. It isn’t easy, you know!” she joked.
With practiced skill, the Wardrobe Department transformed Wilbur into the Bionic Bunny.
First they snapped on his costume with the built-in muscles.
They tied his bionic sneakers, which made him taller.
They strapped on his bionic wristwatcher, which supposedly let him see anything anywhere.
Finally,...

Snowy Day: Stories and Poems

posted by hornean

WINTER MORNING
by Ogden Nash

Winter is the king of showmen,
Turning tree stumps into snow men
And houses into birthday cakes
And spreading sugar over the lakes.
Smooth and clean and frost white
The world looks good enough to bite.
That’s the season to be young,
Catching snowflakes on your tongue.

Snow is snowy when it’s snowing
I’m sorry it’s slushy when it’s going.

SNOW
by Karla Kuskin

We’ll play in the snow
And stray in the snow
And stay in the snow
In a snow-white park.
We’ll clown in the snow
And frown in the snow
Fall down in the snow
Till it’s after dark.
We’ll cook snow pies
In a big snow pan.
We’ll make snow eyes
In a round snow man.
We’ll sing snow songs
And chant snow chants
And roll in the snow
In our fat snow pants.
And when it’s time to go home to eat
We’ll have snow toes
On our frosted feet.

Sports Pages

posted by hornean

WATCH ME ON THE WING

Sweeper: the deeper I can play
the faster I can lay
out my traps for their fullback
moving too close to mid field.
I shine along the sidelines
from mid field
back to our goal.

I am the quickest,
sharpest,
most intelligent,
(and
most modest,) player on
my
team:
in this league.

I have the
superspeed:
I have the need to do a little
more
than play only one position. I
defend. I score. I run lik
wind
across the corn fields of
this
town.
I am a brown tornado on a
muddy
day.
The opposition knows
I come to play with
all I bring. They
watch:

watch me on the wing.

SWEET

You are at the line. You take a deep breath....

The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth

posted by hornean

In Ms. Frizzle’s class, we had been learning about animals’ homes for almost a month. We were pretty tired of it.
So everyone was happy when Ms. Frizzle announced, “Today we start something new.”

"We are going to study about our earth!" said Ms. Frizzle. She put us to work writing reports about earth science.
“And for homework,” she said, “each person must find a rock and bring it to school."

But the next day, almost everyone had some excuse.

Only four people had done their homework. And Phil was the only one who had found a real rock.

“I guess we’ll have to go on a field trip and...

Three By The Sea

posted by hornean

Lolly, Spider and Sam had a picnic on the beach.
“I’m as full as a tick,” said Lolly.
“Me too,” said Sam.
“Hot dogs and lemonade always hit the spot.”

“Now for a swim,” said Spider.
“Oh, no,” said Lolly.
“Not so soon after lunch.”
“Rats,” said Spider.

“How about a nap?” asked Sam.
“Oh, no,” said the others.
“Naps are no fun at all.”
“Very true,” said Sam.

“Want to hear a story?” asked Lolly.
“I brought along my reader.”
“A fine idea,” said her friends.
“Then let’s begin,” said Lolly.

LOLLY’S STORY

The rat saw the cat and the dog.
“I see them,”...

Reading Rainbow Logo

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Is This A House For Hermit Crab?

posted by hornean

Hermit Crab was forever growing too big for the house on his back.

It was time to find a new house. He crawled up out of the water looking for something to hide in, where he would be safe from the pricklepine fish.
He stepped along the shore, by the sea, in the sand...
scritch-scratch, scritch-scratch

...until he came to a rock.
Is this a house for Hermit Crab?
Turning himself around, Hermit Crab backed his hind legs beneath the rock. The rock would not budge. It was too heavy.
So he stepped along the shore, by the sea, in the sand...
scritch-scratch, scritch-scratch

...until he came to a rusty old...

Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie

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Martha Speaks

added by hornean

Ludlow Laughs

posted by hornean

When Ludlow was born, everyone immediately noticed this shape:

It wasn’t a cute little dimple.
It wasn’t an adorable nose.

And as the rest of him grew and developed and changed
IT DIDN’T.
It only opened for food, an occasional Burp! and plenty of grumbling.

Ludlow worked in a complaint department.

At the end of the day, he felt grumpier than ever.
Night after night he came home, grumbling and growling, and went to bed,
But one night something happened.

Ludlow had a dream.
Not just any dream—THE FUNNIEST DREAM IN THE WORLD!!!
(Ludlow: Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!)
He giggled. He guffawed....

Tight Times

posted by hornean

This morning I asked Mom, “Why can’t I have a dog?”
“Not now,” she said. “Not again.”
And not to bother her when she’s busy.

So I asked Daddy, “Why can’t I have a dog? Last year you said I could have one when I was bigger. And I’m a lot bigger, see? So why not now?”

“Because of tight times,” said Daddy. He said I was too little to understand.
“I’m not too little,” I said.
Daddy said he’d give me a shoulder ride and tell me all about it at breakfast.

He said tight times are when everything keeps going up.
I had a balloon that did that once.
Daddy said tight times are...

Arthur's Eyes

posted by hornean

This is Arthur before he got glasses.
He looked fine, but he couldn’t see very well.
Sometimes he got headaches.

Arthur had to hold his book so close that his nose got in the way.
He couldn’t see the board.
Francine had to read Arthur the problems.
“Are you blind?” she always asked.
Francine got every problem right.
Arthur didn’t.

No one wanted to play with Arthur.

Arthur’s father and mother took him to the optometrist.
Dr. Iris tested Arthur’s eyes.
“You need glasses,” said Dr. Iris.

Arthur tried on all kinds of frames.
He chose the ones he liked best.
“You look very handsome in your...

Miss Nelson is Back

posted by hornean

One Friday Miss Nelson told her class that she was going to have her tonsils out.
“I’ll be away next week,” she said. “And I expect you to behave.”
“Yess, Miss Nelson,” said the kids in 207.

But at recess it was another story.
“Wow!” said the kids. “While Miss Nelson is away, we can really act up!”
“Not so fast!” said a big kid from 309. “Haven’t you heard of Viola Swamp?”
“Who?” said Miss Nelson’s kids.

“Miss Swamp is the meanest substitute teacher in the whole world,” said the big kid. “Nobody acts up when she’s around.”
“Oooh,” said Miss Nelson’s...

Stellaluna

posted by hornean

In a warm and sultry forest far, far away, there once lived a mother fruit bat and her new baby.
Oh, how Mother Bat loved her soft tiny baby. “I’ll name you Stellaluna,” she crooned.
Each night, Mother Bat would carry Stellaluna clutched to her breast as she flew out to search for food.

One night, as Mother Bat followed the heavy scent of ripe fruit, an owl spied her. On silent wings the powerful bird swooped down upon the bats.
Dodging and shrieking, Mother Bat tried to escape, but the owl struck again and again, knocking Stellaluna into the air. Her baby wings were as limp and useless as...