A Whale

　　A whale is so big!

　　A whale is not a fish.But it is at home in the sea. Some whales like to swim with each other. Many whales make up a big pack, or pod.

　　Whales feed on sea life. Some whales eat seals and fish. Some eat plants. Some whales have teeth. Other whales do not.

　　Whales must come to the top of the sea to breathe.Some whales leap up and out of the sea. They seem to stop and wave.

　　Can whales speak? No, but they can click to each other. They can hum,too.

　　A beach is no place for a whale. A whale needs to be in the sea. That is where a whale feels safe。

　　The Moon

　　Look up at the sky at night. You will see the moon. On some nights the moon looks like a big ball in the sky. But the moon can look like a slice of light, too.

　　The moon looks very bright.But it has no light of its own. The light from the sun shines on the moon. That light makes the moon look bright!

　　In 1969 a U.S. spaceship went to the moon. The men from the spaceship stood on the moon.They picked up moon rocks to take back with them. The men looked around. What a sight!

　　One day you might fly to the moon.What will you find there?

　　Bats at home

　　Bats go home before the sun rises. Some bats like to rest on cave walls.Others make homes in trees and holes.Some bats make a home with each other. As many as ten bats can make a home in one small hole.

　　A box can be a home for a bat. A bat box has no holes, but it has a small slit.Bats use the slit to get into the box. A bat stays safe inside a bat box.

　　Meet the tent bat.It makes a home in a big leaf.It can use the leaf as a nest.See its big claws? The bat uses its claws to grab onto the tree.

　　A bat can grab a bug with its claws. Sometimes it grabs one bug at a time.Other times it grabs a bunch of bugs. Sometimes a bat uses its tail to snap up a moth. Then the bat can take the moth home to eat it.

　　All about seeds

　　Look at the grapes on that vine! The vine and grapes began as a seed.

　　Seeds can be many sizes and shapes. Some seeds grow big and get fluffy tops.They can blow away in the wind.The seeds have shells that help them float to a place to grow.

　　A grape vine is a seed plant. A vine grows up from a grape seed. Then grapes grow on the vine.Seeds grow inside the grapes. New grape vines can grow from these seeds.

　　Many plants come from seeds. Look at the plants growing in rows. They were seeds at one time. They will make more seeds. That way,more plants can grow.

　　The Fox and the Grapes

　　Fox was hungry."I must rush home,"he said."I must have lunch."Then something made him stop.Sniff,sniff,went Fox."What is that I smell?"Sniff,sniff."I smell ripe grapes!"

　　Fox opened the gate and went in. A bunch of ripe grapes hung from a thick vine."I'll just snatch that bunch of grapes,"Fox said with a grin. Snap, snap, went his mouth. Click, click, went his teeth. Fox tried and tried, but he could not reach the grapes.

　　Fox had a plan.He said,"I'll shake the vine.Then I'll pick up the grapes that fall!"Shake,shake,went Fox. Swing,swing, went the grapes. Fox tried and tried, but not one grape fell.

　　"I can't spend any more time here!"said Fox."Those grapes aren't so good anyway. They may smell fine,but I think they're bad. I don't want them at all!"

　　MORAL: It is easy to dislike what you can't have.

　　From Tadpole to Toad

　　In the spring a toad lays lots and lots of eggs in a pond or stream.The eggs float in long strings. You might find some if you looked in the right place.When time is right,little tadpoles hatch from the eggs.

　　Tadpoles have long tails and no legs.You might think they were fish if you didn't know.Fish try to eat the little tadpoles.So the tadpoles keep out of sight in the weeds.

　　Tadpoles grow and change. First, they grow back legs. Next,their front legs gorw.Lung gorw,too,so the tadpoles will be able to breathe out of the water.

　　The tadpoles tail is slow to go.When the tadpole has no more tail,it looks like a toad.

　　This tadpole has turned into a toad. A toad lives on land most of the time. A toad has dry skin with bumps on it.It puffs up its throat to croak.It blinks its bright eyes in the light.

　　Tadpoles eat plants,but a toad will try to catch a fly for lunch. What a sight!

　　The Fox

　　A fox is a lot like a dog.This is a red fox. A red fox is quick.It zips by as it runs to its home.

　　"Yip,yip,yip!"yells the fox.

　　The fox lives in a den. A den can be very big.It can be in rocks or in a hill.It can also be in an old log.

　　The fox likes to eat eggs.It also eats rats, hens and ducks.The fox will get food for its pups. The fox pups live in the den until they get big.

　　A mother fox can have up to six or seven pups.The mother fox is called a vixen. Her pups will run and jump in the sun.

　　"Yap,yap,yap!"yell the pups.

　　The wind and the sun

　　The wind and the sun were disputing who was the stronger.

　　Suddenly they saw a traveler coming down the road. The sun said, "Whoever can make the traveler take off his coat will be the stronger."

　　So the sun hid behind a cloud, and the wind began to blow as hard as it could. As the wind blew harder, the traveler wrapped his coat more closely around himself.

　　Then the sun came out. He shone on the traveler. The traveler soon felt quite hot, and took off his coat.