1, A Baby and a Sock The mother gave her baby a red apple. The baby tried to eat the apple. His mouth was too small. And he didn't have any teeth. His brother took the apple. His brother ate the apple. The baby cried. His brother gave the baby a blue ball to play with. The baby smiled. His brother took the ball from the baby. He rolled the ball on the floor. The brown and white dog picked up the ball. The dog chewed on the ball. The baby cried again. His brother picked up the cat. He put the cat on the bed with the baby. The baby pulled the cat's tail. The cat jumped off the bed. The dog chased the cat. The baby cried again. His brother let the baby hold a sock. The baby played with the sock. The baby was happy. 2, Birds and a Baby The baby was lying on her back. A blue bird flew in through the window. The blue bird had blue eyes. It sat on the baby's crib. The bird had a bell around its neck. The bell rang. The baby smiled. The baby reached for the bell. The bird shook its head. The bell fell off the bird's neck. It fell next to the baby. The baby picked up the bell. The baby rang the bell. Another blue bird flew in through the window. This blue bird also had blue eyes. The baby had brown eyes. The birds looked at the baby. The baby looked at the birds. The baby rang the bell again. Both birds flew away. The baby started to cry. His mama came into the room. The baby smiled. Mama saw the bell. She asked the baby where the bell came from. The baby pointed at the window. 3, A Cat and a Dog The black cat jumped up onto the chair. It looked down at the white dog. The dog was chewing on a bone. The cat jumped onto the dog. The dog kept chewing the bone. The cat played with the dog's tail. The dog kept chewing the bone. The cat jumped back onto the chair. It started licking its paws. The dog stood up. It looked at the cat. It licked the cat's fur. The cat licked the dog's nose. The dog went back to its bone. A boy ran through the room. He was wearing a yellow shirt. He almost ran into the chair. The cat jumped off the chair. The cat jumped onto the sofa. The chair fell onto the floor next to the dog. The dog stopped chewing the bone. The dog chased the boy. The boy ran out to the street. He threw a stick. The dog chased the stick. The dog lay down. It chewed on the stick. 4, The Baby Bear The baby bear followed his mama. Mama bear walked through the woods. She was looking for berries to eat. She found some black berries. She started eating them. The baby started eating them, too. They ate all the berries. Baby bear was full. Mama bear was still hungry. She started walking again. She wanted to find more berries to eat. Baby bear lay down. He was full. He wanted to take a nap. But mama bear came back. She growled at baby bear. He understood mama's growl. When mama growled, he obeyed. He got up and followed his mama. Someday he would take a nap after a meal. A squirrel ran up a tree with a nut. It dropped the nut and ran back down to the ground. It picked up the nut and looked at baby bear. Then it ran back up the tree. Baby bear did not like nuts. They were too hard to open. 5, An Apple Pie The tree was full of red apples. The farmer was riding his brown horse. He stopped under the tree. He reached out and picked an apple off a branch. He bit into the raw apple. He enjoyed the apple. His horse turned its head to look at him. The farmer picked another apple off the tree. He gave it to the horse. The horse ate the raw apple. The horse enjoyed the apple. The farmer put a dozen apples into a bag. He rode the horse back home. He put the horse in the barn. He walked into his house. The cat rubbed up against his leg. He gave the cat a bowl of warm milk. He sat down on the sofa. He opened a book to read. His wife came home. She cooked the raw apples. She made an apple pie. They ate bread and hot soup for dinner. They enjoyed the bread and soup. They had hot apple pie for dessert. They both enjoyed the apple pie. 6, The Top Bunk He and his brother slept in a bunk bed. He had the bottom bunk. His brother had the top bunk. The top bunk had a guard rail. The rail kept the sleeper safe. His brother didn't like the rail. He always left it down. One time his brother fell out of the top bunk. He hit the carpet and woke up. He said, "Ouch!" Then he climbed back into the top bunk. When he woke up the next day, his back was sore. Mom took him to see the doctor. The doctor examined him. The doctor said he was okay. He said to keep the guard rail up. His brother said he would do that. That night his brother climbed into the top bunk again. He left the guard rail down. He said the guard rail was like jail. He didn't want to feel like he was in jail. He fell asleep. Then he fell out of the top bunk again. 7, Ask Santa It is December. That means it is Christmas time. Christmas time means Santa Claus is coming. Sara and Billy love Christmas. They love Santa Claus. They love the gifts from Santa. Last year they got nice gifts. Sara got a teddy bear and a rubber duck. Billy got a green boat and a rubber duck. The rubber ducks float. When Sara takes a bath, her pink duck floats in the water. When Billy takes a bath, his blue duck floats in the water. One time Billy put a goldfish into the tub. It swam for a while. Then it died. He buried it in the back yard. He was sad. This year Sara and Billy want bicycles. Sara wants a red bike. Billy wants a blue bike. Mama said she would talk to daddy. Sara asked mama, "Why don't you talk to Santa?" Mama said, "That's a good idea. When daddy comes home, he and I will talk to Santa." 8, A Birthday Bike January 7 is Benny's birthday. He will be eight years old. He is in the third grade. He goes to Park Elementary School. An elementary school is for kids. It is only one mile away. He walks to school. It only takes 20 minutes. When it rains, he wears a raincoat. He used to take an umbrella. But he lost the umbrella. His mother gave him another umbrella. He broke that one. His mom said, "You and umbrellas don't get along." For his eighth birthday, Benny wants a bicycle. He can ride the bike to school. After school he can ride with his friends. He can ride the bike to the swimming pool. He can ride the bike to the library. His mom and dad took him to the bike store. They asked him to look at the bikes. He looked at all the bikes. He chose a red bike. He showed his parents. Dad said it cost too much. He told Benny to choose another bike. Benny chose a blue bike. Dad said the blue bike was the right price. 9, In the Garden Mama was in the garden. "What are you doing?" Johnny asked. She said she was planting roses. Roses are flowers. They are very pretty. They are usually red. Roses have thorns. His mama said, "Thorns will stick you. Be careful around thorns." Johnny went to the front yard. His dog Rex was waiting for him. Johnny picked up a stick and threw it. Rex chased the stick. He brought the stick back. Johnny ran around the house. Rex chased him. Johnny ran through the garden. Rex ran through the garden. Mom yelled at Johnny and Rex. She told them to play somewhere else. She told them to stay out of the garden. Johnny apologized to his mom. He went to the garage and got his bike. He went for a bike ride. Rex ran next to the bike. 10, Today's Mail The mailman put the mail in the mailbox. Dad went outside. He said hello to the mailman. The mailman said hello. Dad opened the mailbox and took out a magazine and two letters. One letter was from his sister. The other letter was from his brother. The magazine was for his wife. It was a garden magazine. His wife liked to work in the garden. She grew flowers and vegetables in the garden. Dad went back into the house. He opened both letters. His sister invited him to a birthday party. His brother invited him to a wedding. Dad enjoyed reading the letters. He enjoyed getting the invitations. He picked up the phone. He left a message for his sister. He would come to the birthday party. He also called his brother. He said he would come to the wedding. 11, Boys Will Be Boys The two brothers loved each other. But sometimes they argued with each other. Sometimes they yelled at each other. Sometimes they pushed each other. Sometimes they hit each other. Sometimes they got into a fight with each other. Bobby was the older brother. Billy was the younger brother. Bobby was older than Billy. Billy was younger than Bobby. Bobby climbed into a tree. His kite was in the tree. He could not reach his kite. He fell out of the tree. Billy laughed. He laughed when he saw Bobby fall to the ground. Bobby was not hurt. But he was angry. "Why are you laughing?" he asked Billy. "That was funny!" Billy said. Bobby said it wasn't funny. Billy said it was funny. Bobby pushed Billy. Billy pushed Bobby. Bobby punched Billy in the stomach. Billy punched Bobby in the stomach. They put their arms around each other. They wrestled on the ground. They rolled around and around. Their mom came outside. "What are you two doing?" she asked. She separated them. She said, "You shouldn't hit each other. That's not nice. Wait till your father gets home." She sent them to their rooms. 12, A Good Meal The children were hungry. They looked out the window. Where was their mother? She walked into the house. The children ran over to her. "Mama, we're so hungry," they both said. She said lunch was coming. She walked into the kitchen. She opened a can of chicken soup. She poured the soup into a pot. She added water. She put the pot on the stove. She made two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She sliced an apple. The soup was hot. She poured it into two bowls. She put the sandwiches on two plates. She put apple slices on each plate. She put the bowls and plates on the table. The children ran to the table. "Thank you, mommy!" they said. Then they started eating. The cat and the dog watched them eat. 13. No Food, No Job I am an adult. I'm not a kid. I'm a grown-up. I need some money. I have no food. I am hungry. I am not thirsty, because water is everywhere. But water has no taste. I want to drink a soda. I want to drink milk. I want to drink coffee. I want to work. Nobody will hire me. Nobody is hiring anybody.companies are firing people.companies are laying off people. Everyone is looking for a job. I cannot pay my rent. I will have to live in my car. I don't want to live in my car. My car has no bed. Everyone should live in a house or an apartment. Many people don't have a car. They live on the street. A street has no bed. Nobody should live on the street. I don't know what to do. I don't know where to go. Maybe I will go to church. Maybe I will find help there. 14. New Shoes She is young. Her shoes are old. She wears them to work. She goes to work five days a week. She loves her work. She is a waitress. She works at a restaurant. The restaurant is near her home. She walks to the restaurant. She stands up all day long. She is young and strong. But her shoes are not. They are old. She saw an ad in the paper. All shoes were on sale at the shoe store. She walked into the store. She looked around. She saw some black shoes. They looked good. She tried them on. They were very comfortable. They felt good. They were only $25. She paid cash. She wore them home. She felt good. She was ready for work the next day. 15, No Friends for Me I am lonely. I am always by myself. I meet people every day. I smile at them. I say hello. I am nice to them. I want to have a friend. But I have no friends. What is wrong with me? I am polite. I am friendly. I am nice. I am kind. Why don't people like me? All I want is one friend. Everyone has one friend. I always see people with their friends. They laugh with each other. They have fun with each other. They do things with each other. What about me? I am by myself. I watch TV by myself. I go to movies by myself. I go to restaurants by myself. I go to the park by myself. I told my mother that I am lonely. She said it is my fault. "Why?" I asked. She said, "Because you never ask anyone to be with you." My mom is right. I never ask people to be with me. I am afraid they will say no.
