Max冬‪冬‬ Max冬冬

Blue MountainAll night we climbed the mountain,Excited in the dark, The flare from the small lamps up aheadLooked like a tiny spark.We reached the top just as the sunWas wiping the sleep from its eyesAnd sending out red fingersTo investigate the skies.It suddenly leapt out of bed,Wrapped the world in an orange flame,And we gasped in wonder at the sight,This was why we came.We watched the shy blush spread acrossThe face of the bashful sky,We saw the cars like tiny antsIn the roads below, crawl by.We heard the birds chirp awake,Saw them flit across to plunderThe rose-apples and the hog-plum tree.Heard a waterfall roar like thunder.We washed our faces with the dew,Breathed the perfume of the Four O’Clock,Watched a lizard climb a stone to sun itself,Then scuttle away in shock.We headed back down the mountain,The sun was wide-awake and bright,Our legs were tired and heavy,But inside, our hearts were light.

Say Please, Little BearDaddy Bear and Little Bear were on their way to playgroup.But Little Bear kept wandering off.“Keep hold of my hand, Little Bear!” said Daddy Bear.“Go gently, Little Bear!” said Daddy Bear at playgroup.But Little Bear didn’t listen.“Little Bear, it isn’t nice to snatch!”“It’s better when we share, Little Bear,” said Daddy Bear.Later, Daddy Bear took Little Bear to Little Bunny’s birthday party.They went shopping on the way.“Please hold my hand, Little Bear!” said Daddy Bear wearily.Then something in the shop window gave Daddy Bear an idea.“Look, Little Bear,” he said. “Mouse wants to speak to us!”“Mouse wants to come to the party too, Little Bear,” said Daddy Bear. “But he hates to be late!”They reached Little Bunny’s party on time. Mouse whispered in Daddy Bear’s ear.“Mouse says, excuse me, please,” said Daddy Bear.Little Bear ran to play on the train. Mouse whispered in Daddy Bear’s ear again.“Mouse says, can she have a ride on the train, please?”Little Bear snatched the popcorn from his friends.Mouse whispered in Daddy Bear’s ear once again.“Mouse says, would you like some popcorn, Bunny and Mole?”When it was time to go, Little Bear stood silently on the doorstep.“Mouse says, thank you for having me,” said Daddy Bear.Little Bear looked at Mouse.Then he looked at Daddy Bear.Then he looked at Little Bunny’s mummy and said, “And thank you for having me.”“Oh, thank you for coming, Little Bear,” smiled Little Bunny’s mummy.“You and Mouse can come and play any time.”“Mouse likes the way you said thank you,” said Daddy Bear.“And so do I.”

Into the ForestOne night I was woken up by a terrible sound.The next morning all was quiet.Dad wasn’t there.I asked Mum when he was coming back but she didn’t seem to know.I missed Dad.The next day Mum asked me to take a cake to Grandma, who was poorly.I love Grandma. She always tells me such fantastic stories.There are two ways to get to Grandma’s house: the long way round, which takes ages, or the short way through the forest.“Don’t go into the forest,” said Mum. “Go the long way round.”But that day, for the first time, I chose the quick way.I wanted to be home in case Dad came back.After a short while I saw a boy.“Do you want to buy a nice milky moo-cow?” he asked.“No,” I said. (Why would I want a cow?)“I’ll swap it for that sweet fruity cake in your basket,” he said.“No, it’s for my poorly grandma,” I said, and walked on.“I’m poorly,” I heard him saying, “I’m poorly…”As I went further into the forest I met a girl with golden hair.“What a sweet little basket,” she said. “What’s in it?”“A cake for my grandma. She’s poorly.”“I’d like a lovely cake like that,” she said.I walked on and could hear her saying, “But it’s a lovely little cake, I’d like one like that…”The forest was becoming darker and colder, and I saw two other children huddling by a fire.“Have you seen our dad and mum?” the boy asked.“No, have you lost them?”“They’re cutting wood in the forest somewhere,” said the girl, “but I wish they’d come back.”As I walked on I could hear the dreadful sound of the girl crying, but what could I do?I was getting very cold and wished that I’d brought a coat.Suddenly I saw one. It was nice and warm, but as soon as I put it on I began to feel scared.I felt that something was following me.I remembered a story that Grandma used to tell me about a bad wolf.I started to run, but I couldn’t find the path. I ran and ran, deeper into the forest, but I was lost.Where was Grandma’s house?At last—there it was!I knocked on the door and a voice called out, “Who’s there?”But it didn’t really sound like Grandma’s voice.“It’s me. I’ve brought a cake from Mum,”I pushed the door open a little.“Come in, dear,” the strange voice called.I was terrified. I slowly crept in.There in Grandma’s bed was …Grandma!“Come here, love,” she sniffed. “How are you?”“I’m all right now,” I said.Then, I heard a noise behind me and turned round …DAD!I told them everything that had happened.We all had a hot drink and I ate two pieces of Mum’s delicious cake.Then we said goodbye to Grandma, who was feeling much better.When we got home I pushed open the door.“Who’s there?” a voice called.“It’s only us,” we said.And Mum came out, smiling.

Millions of CatsOnce upon a time there was a very old man and a very old woman. They lived in a nice clean house which had flowers all around it, except where the door was.But they couldn’t be happy because they were so very lonely.“If we only had a cat!” sighed the very old woman.“A cat?” asked the very old man.“Yes, a sweet little fluffy cat,” said the very old woman.“I will get you a cat, my dear,” said the very old man.And he set out over the hills to look for one.He climbed over the sunny hills.He trudged through the cool valleys.He walked a long, long time and at last he came to a hill which was quite covered with cats.Cats here, cats there, cats and kittens everywhere.Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats.“Oh,” cried the old man joyfully, “Now I can choose the prettiest cat and take it home with me!”So he chose one. It was white.But as he was about to leave, he saw another one all black and white and it seemed just as pretty as the first,So he took this one also.But then he saw a fuzzy grey kitten way over here which was every bit as pretty as the others so he took it too.And now he saw one way down in a corner which he thought too lovely to leave so he took this too.And just then, over here, the very old man found a kitten which was black and very beautiful.“It would be a shame to leave that one,” said the very old man. So he took it.And now, over there, he saw a cat which had brown and yellow stripes like a baby tiger.“I simply must take it!” cried the very old man, and he did.So it happened that every time the very old man looked up, he saw another cat which was so pretty he could not bear to leave it, and before he knew it, he had chosen them all.And so he went back over the sunny hills and down through the cool valleys, to show all his pretty kittens to the very old woman.It was very funny to see those hundreds and thousands and millions and billions and trillions of cats following him.They came to a pond.“Mew, mew! We are thirsty!” carried the hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats.“Well, here is a great deal of water,” said the very old man.Each cat took a sip of water, and the pond was gone.“Mew, mew! Now we are hungry!” said the hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats.“There is much grass on the hills,” said the very old man.Each cat ate a mouthful of grass and not a blade was left!Pretty soon the very old woman saw them coming.“My dear!” she cried, “What are you doing?” I asked for one little cat, and what do I see?—“Cats here, cats there, cats and kittens everywhere, hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats.“But we can never feed them all,” said the very old woman, “they will eat us out of house and home.”“I never thought of that,” said the very old man, “what shall we do?”The very old woman thought for a while and then she said, “I know! We will let the cats decide which one we should keep.”“Oh yes,” said the very old man, and he called to the cats, “which one of you is the prettiest?”“I am!”“I am!”“No, I am!”“No, I am the prettiest!” “I am!”“No, I am! I am! I am!” cried hundreds and thousands and millions and billions and trillions of voices, for each cat thought itself the prettiest.And they began to quarrel.They bit and scratched and clawed each other and made such a great noise that the very old man and the very old woman ran into the house as fast as they could.They did not like such quarreling.But after a while the noise stopped and the very old man and the very old woman peeped out of the window to see what had happened.They could not see a single cat!“I think they must have eaten each other all up,” said the very old woman, “it’s too bad!”“But look!” said the very old man, and he pointed to a bunch of high gr

The Story of FerdinandOnce upon a time in Spain, there was a little bull and his name was Ferdinand.All the other little bulls he lived with would run and jump and butt their heads together, but not Ferdinand.He liked to sit just quietly and smell the flowers.He had a favorite spot out in the pasture under a cork tree.It was his favorite tree and he would sit in its shade all day and smell the flowers.Sometimes his mother, who was a cow, would worry about him. She was afraid he would be lonesome all by himself.“Why don’t you run and play with the other little bulls and skip and butt your head?” she would say.But Ferdinand would shake his head. “I like it better here where I can sit just quietly and smell the flowers.”His mother saw that he was not lonesome, and because she was an understanding mother, even though she was a cow, she let him just sit there and be happy.As the years went by Ferdinand grew and grew until he was very big and strong.All the other bulls who had grown up with him in the same pasture would fight each other all day.They would butt each other and stick each other with their horns.What they wanted most of all was to be picked to fight at the bull fights in Madrid.But not Ferdinand – he still liked to sit just quietly under the cork tree and smell the flowers.One day five men came in very funny hats to pick the biggest, fastest, roughest bull to fight in the bull fights in Madrid.All the other bulls ran around snorting and butting, leaping and jumping so the men would think that they were very very strong and fierce and pick them.Ferdinand knew that they wouldn’t pick him and he didn’t care.So he went out to his favorite cork tree to sit down.He didn’t look where he was sitting and instead of sitting on the nice cool grass in the shade he sat on a bumble bee.Well, if you were a bumble bee and a bull sat on you what would you do?You would sting him. And that is just what this bee did to Ferdinand.Wow! Did it hurt! Ferdinand jumped up with a snort.He ran around puffing and snorting, butting and pawing the ground as if he were crazy.The five men saw him and they all shouted with joy.Here was the largest and fiercest bull of all.Just the one for the bull fights in Madrid!So they took him away for the bull fight day in a cart.What a day it was! Flags were flying, bands were playing…and all the lovely ladies had flowers in their hair.They had a parade into the bull ring.First came the Banderilleros with long sharp pins with ribbons on them to stick in the bull and make him mad.Next came the Picadores who rode skinny horses and they had long spears to stick in the bull and make him madder.Then came the Matador, the proudest of all – he thought he was very handsome, and bowed to the ladies. He had a red cape and a sword and was supposed to stick the bull last of all.Then came the bull, and you know who that was, don’t you?-- FERDINANDThey called him Ferdinand the Fierce and all the Banderilleros were afraid of him and the Picadores were afraid of him and the Matador was scared stiff.Ferdinand ran to the middle of the ring and everyone shouted and clapped because they thought he was going to fight fiercely and butt and snort and stick his horns around.But not Ferdinand. When he got to the middle of the ring he saw the flowers in all the lovely ladies’ hair and he just sat down quietly and smelled.He wouldn’t fight and be fierce no matter what they did.He just sat and smelled. And the Banderilleros were mad and the Picadores were madder and the Matador was so mad he cried because he wouldn’t show off with his cape and sword.So they had to take Ferdinand home.And for all I know he is sitting there still, under his favorite cork tree, smelling the flowers just quietly.He is very happy.The End

Chapter 4 A Dumb Balancing Act “Are we gonna play football?” I asked Miss Small. “No,” Miss Small said. “How about basketball?” asked Ryan. “Nope.” “Soccer?” “Not even close.”“Baseball? Hockey? Tennis?” “No. No. No.” “Curling?” I asked. “No.” “I thought you said we were gonna have fun,” Michael complained. “I did,” said Miss Small . “So what are we gonna do?” I asked. Miss Small went to a box near the bleachers and pulled out some giant feathers that were as long as her arms. “We’re going to balance these peacock feathers,” she said. “What!” I asked. “Whoever can balance a feather on their finger the longest is the winner,” Miss Small said. She took a feather and balanced it on her finger. “See, it’s easy!” She gave each of us a feather. I put the feather on my finger. It fell off right away. I put it back on my finger, and it fell off again. I tried moving my finger back and forth like Miss Small did to hold the feather up, but it fell off anyway.Balancing feathers was not fun. It was dumb. I looked up to see if Ryan could balance his feather. But his fell off. I turned around to see how Michael was doing. His feather fell off too. In fact, there was only one kid in the whole class who was still balancing the dumb feather. It was Andrea Young! Her dumb feather was just standing up all straight on her dumb finger like it was glued there. “Good job, Andrea!” said Miss Small. “You have excellent balance.” And she gave Andrea a certificate that said she was a feather-balancing expert. “Thanks, Miss Small,” Andrea said. “Maybe Fizz Ed won’t be so bad after all!” I hate her.