&&000 Elson Basic Readers Book 1 c1930 &&111 &&000 The Toy Elephant p7 &&111 =Tom and =Polly had a new toy. It was a little gray elephant. His name was =Jumbo. "I like =Jumbo," said =Polly. "He is a good little elephant." But I want to see a big elephant. Big elephants are funny. Toy elephants are not very funny." =Tom said, "We will take =Jumbo to the zoo. Then he can see the big elephants." So =Tom and =Polly and =Jumbo went to the zoo. "I like the zoo," said =Polly. "=Jumbo likes it, too." They saw four big elephants in the elephant house. One elephant was very, very big. =Polly said, "Look, =Jumbo. See that big, big elephant." Then a man came alone and looked at =Jumbo. "Is that a baby elephant," he said? =Polly laughed and said, "Oh, no. This is just a toy elephant. His name is =Jumbo." &&000 Fun in the Rain p24 &&111 Down, down came the rain. =Patty and =Joe were in the house. They wanted to play in the rain. "Please, =Mother," they said. "We want to go out in the rain. May we go to see =Dick?" =Mother said, "Yes, you may go." So they put on their rain coats and rain hats and rain shoes. They they went out in the rain. =Splash, =splash went =Joe and =Patty down the street. "Look, =Patty," said =Joe. "I am a duck. =Quack, quack!" =Patty laughed and said, " Yes, yes, we are ducks. =Quack, =quack!" So they went along the street with a =quack, =quack, =quack and a splash, splash, splash. =Dick saw them coming and opened the front door. "Hello, =Joe and =Patty," he said. "Are you wet?" "No," said =Joe. "We are not wet. We have rain coats and rain hats and rain shoes." It was fun to be out in the rain." =Dick said, "Come in, come in. You are just in time. =Mother and I are making cookies. You may help us." &&000 A Surprise for Bobby p39 &&111 Every summer =Bobby went to see his grandfather and grandmother. They lived on a farm. =Bobby liked to go to the farm. He had a good time there. He liked to help =Grandfather feed the cows and pigs. It was fun to be at the farm. =Bobby liked to help =Grandmother feed the chickens. One day =Grandmother gave him a little yellow chicken. "You may have this little chicken for your own," she said. "But you must feed it every day." "Oh, thank you," he said! Every day =Bobby went to feed the little yellow chicken. He gave it water, too. Soon the summer was over, and =Father came to take =Bobby home. He said good-by to =Grandmother and =Grandfather. Then he ran to see his chicken. "Good-by, Little Yellow Chicken," said =Bobby. "Do not forget me. I will come to see you again next summer." &&000 The circus elephant p54 &&111 =BabyElephant was not happy. "I don't like the circus," he said. "I don't want to put on a funny hat and do tricks for boys and girls. I don't want to walk down town in the parade. I don't want to stand here. I want something," he said. "But I don't know what I want." Soon every one in the circus began to get ready for the parade. Then the big drum began to say," Come, come! Come, come!" =BabyElephant said, "Now I know what I want. I want to run away." So =BabyElephant ran away from the circus. By and by =BabyElephant came to the big woods. There he saw a gray squirrel. "Hello," said =BabyElephant. "This is a fine place to live. I think I will live here, too." The gray squirrel said, "Then you will have to hide some nuts. You must get ready for winter. Soon the snow will come, and then you will find nothing to eat. Have you thought about that?" &&000 Mother Pig's Joke p70 &&111 Once upon a time a little pig lived in a little house. He lived there with his mother. Two very fine apple trees grew in =MotherPig's front yard. They had big read apples on them. One morning =LittlePig said, "I wish I had an apple pie." =MotherPig said, "I will make some apple pies. But first I must go to the store. You must stay at home. Don't let any one take the big red apples." =LittlePig said, "Yes, =Mother. I will stay at home and look after the apples." So =MotherPig took her basket and went to the store. By and by =WhiteCow came along. "What fine red apples," she said! "May I have one?" "No, no, =WhiteCow," said =LittlePig. "=Mother is going to make apple pie for dinner today. Come back this evening, and I will ask her to give you a pie. =MotherPig's apple pies are fine." "All right," said =WhiteCow, and away she went down the road. &&000 The boy and his goats p86 &&111 Once there was a boy who had three fine goats. Every morning he took them up a hill to eat grass. The goats ate the green grass all day long. When night came, the boy took them home again. One summer morning the boy took his goats to the hill. They began to eat grass. The boy was tired, so he sat down under a tree. Soon he fell asleep. When he woke up, he could not see the goats on the hill. They had gone into a corn field. The boy soon found them, but he could not get them out of the field. What do you think he did then? He sat down and cried. Then a rabbit came along. "Why are you crying, little boy," asked the rabbit? "Oh, oh," said the boy! "I am crying because I can not get my goats out of the field." "Stop crying," said the rabbit. "I will get them out." Away ran the rabbit to get the goats out of the field. But he could not get them out. So he sat down and cried. &&000 Billy Goes to School p103 &&111 It was the very first day of school for =Billy. Breakfast was over, and he was all ready to go. He had a new hat and new shoes, and he looked very nice. "Take care of =Billy, =Alice," said =Mother. "Watch for the cars as you go across the street." "Hurry, =Alice," said =Billy. "I want to get to school early." =Billy and his sister started to school. Many other children were going to school, too. Soon =Billy saw the big red school across the street. Some children were playing in the school yard. Just then =Alice saw =Polly and stopped to talk with her. "Wait for me, =Billy," she said. But =Billy did not want to wait for his sister. He wanted to hurry. Some of the boys in the school yard were playing ball. =Billy wanted to play with them. He saw some cars coming, but he thought that he could get across if he ran very fast. So he started to run. Just then a big boy caught =Billy and stopped him. The big boy had a white band on his coat. He said, "Look out, little boy, or a car will run over you. Watch that light up there. When it is red, it says stop. When it is yellow, it says wait. When it is green, it says go." =Billy said, "Thank you! I will do what the light tells me to do." &&000 The lambkin p119 &&111 Once upon a time there was a wee, wee lambkin. The wee lambkin jumped about on his little legs. He ate the green grass and had a fine time. One day he thought he would go to his grandmother's house. "I shall be very happy," he said. "=Grandmother will take care of me and give me good things to eat." As the wee lambkin was going along the road, he met a fox. The fox liked to eat lambkins, and so he said: "Lambkin! Lambkin! I will eat you!" But the wee lambkin jumped about on his little legs and said, "To =Grandmother's house I go, Where I shall bigger grow. Then you can eat me so." The fox liked to eat fat lambkins, and so he let the lambkin go on. The wee lambkin jumped about on his little legs and went on. By and by he met a tiger. Next he met a wolf. The tiger and the wolf liked to eat lambkins. So they called out: "Lambkin! Lambkin! We will eat you!" =Lambkin began to dance around on his little legs. He said, "To =Grandmother's house I go, Where I shall bigger grow. Then you can eat me so." The tiger and the wolf liked to eat fat lambkins. So they let the wee lambkin go on to his grandmother's to grow fat. &&000 Johnny-Cake p127 &&111 Once a little old woman and a little old man and a little by lived in a little house. One day the little old woman made a round johnny-cake for supper. She put it into the oven. Then she said to the little boy, "You must sit by the oven door and watch the johnny-cake. Take it out of the oven when it is done." Then the little old woman and the little old man went out to weed the garden. The little boy sat down to wait by the oven door. All at once the oven door opened, and =Johnny-cake rolled out. He rolled across the kitchen floor and out of the house. The boy ran out of the kitchen and called, "=Mother! Father! Hurry! =Johnny-cake is rolling away!" The little boy, the little old man, and the little old woman tried to catch =Johnny-cake. They ran until they were tired, but they could not catch him. =Johnny-cake rolled on. He laughed and said, "This is very good fun. I roll and they run." &&000 The Little Red He p145 &&111 One day =LittleRedHen was eating in the barn yard. She found some wheat. "Who will plant this wheat," she asked? "I will not," said the dog. "I will not," said the cat. "I will not," said the pig. "I will not," said the duck. "I will, then," said =LittleRedHen. So she planted the wheat. By and by the wheat was ready to cut, and =LittleRedHen asked, "Who will cut this wheat?" "I will not," said the dog. "I will not," said the cat. "I will not," said the pig. "I will not," said the duck. "I will, then," said =LittleRedHen. So she cut the wheat. "Who will thresh this wheat," asked =LittleRedHen? "I will not," said the dog. "I will not," said the cat. "I will not," said the pig. "I will not," said the duck. "I will, then," said =LittleRedHen. So she began to thresh the wheat. &&000 The White Easter Rabbit p165 &&111 Once there was a white bunny who wanted to be an Easter Rabbit. "How can I be an Easter Rabbit," he said? "I do now know how. Oh, dear! What shall I do? I wish someone would tell me how to be an Easter Rabbit." And he started to cry. Soon a little gray mouse came by, saying, "=Squeak, squeak, =squeak." White Bunny called to the mouse, "An Easter rabbit I want to be. Oh, please, Gray Mouse, Will you help me?" But the mouse ran along, saying, "I am busy going =Squeak =Squeak. I have to time to help you today." After the mouse had gone, a bee flew by saying, "=Buzz, =buzz, =buzz!" And the white bunny called to him, "An Easter rabbit I want to be. Please, oh, please, Will you help me?" But the little bee flew off, and the bunny heard him say, "I have so many things to do I have not time to stop for you." "Oh, dear," said =LittleBunny, and he started to cry again.