Fabulous
Fables
The Mice and the Cat
by Tara McCarthy
THE FLIES LEARN to
fly 4
by Julius Lester
© 2009 Scholastic Canada Ltd. V001
2
f r o g ’s
new
shoes 8
by Jon Scieszka
Fabulous Fables 1 of 9
The Mice and the Cat
by Tara McCarthy
The mice once held a meeting to decide
what to do about the cat. The cat made their
lives miserable. He was always sneaking up
among them and eating one of their number.
Though the mice talked for hours, not one
of them could think of a solution to the problem.
Finally a young mouse spoke up.
“I know what we can do!” he said. “The
trouble with the cat is that he is so quiet. We
have no warning about when he is coming. So
let’s get a small bell, put it on a collar, and tie it
around the cat’s neck. Whenever we hear the
bell, we can run for cover.”
Adaptation of Aesop’s fable “the Mice and the Cat” from MULTICULTURAL FABLES AND FAIRY TALES
by Tara McCarthy. Scholastic Inc. /Teaching Resources. Copyright © 1992 by Scholastic Inc. Reprinted by permission
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The other mice were delighted with this
idea. They praised the young mouse for his
cleverness and wished they had thought of the
idea themselves.
But then an old mouse asked, “And which of
us will volunteer to approach the cat and tie a
bell on him?”
The mice fell silent. Not one of them
volunteered to bell the cat.
Moral:
Ideas that won’t work
are not worth anything.
Fabulous Fables 3 of 9
fly
every
From ACKAMARACKUS: JULIUS LESTER’S SUMPTUOUSLY SILLY FANTASTICALLY FUNNY
FABLES by Julius Lester, illustrated by Emile Chollat. Scholastic Inc./Scholastic Press. Text copyright
2001 © by Julius Lester, illustrations copyright © by Emile Chollat. Reprinted by permission.
THE FLIES LEARN to
by Julius Lester
year, along about the time the leaves
inside the trees start to uncurl, flies go to
school. That’s right! Now, I know you’re probably
thinking: What do flies need to go to school for?
Well, because people are always coming up with
new things like sugar-free drinks (which flies
don’t like), tofu ice cream (flies think it’s
awesome), and trout jerky (don’t knock it if you
haven’t tried it, the flies report).
So
the flies take classes
like
“Where to Find Holes in Houses,” “Takeoffs and
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Landings,” and read the latest magazines and
wings are over! It is time we did what people do.
books, such as Martha FlyStewart’s Fly Living,
You don’t see them flapping their arms to get
The Gourmet Fly’s Guide to Leftovers, and Bug
anywhere, do you?”
Zappers: Killers of Children.
While in school, the flies get checkups from
the school fly nurses and doctors. Having to flap
their tiny wings very, very, very fast to get
anywhere is exhausting. They have to watch
their diets, exercise regularly, and get lots of
sleep so they can stay in shape.
But one year Felicia Fly taught them something
that changed being a fly forever.
“My fellow flies!
Our days of
wearing ourselves out by flapping our little
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“Noooooo, Miss Felicia,” the flies said all at
once.
“When people want to go far away, how do
they do it? They get inside a big fly and let it do
all the flying.”
The flies looked at Felicia as if they didn’t
have the slightest idea what she was talking
about, which they didn’t.
“Why, just last week I flew from Los Angeles
to New York, with a changeover in Chicago, of
course, in one day!” Felicia continued.
The flies could not believe
their ears! None of them had ever been
“Now, think about it, fellow flies. You’re
hanging from the ceiling in someone’s house,
watching television, right?”
The flies all chuckled
and
nodded to each other. Hanging upside down on
the ceiling and watching television was one of
their favorite things.
“And suddenly you hear a voice on the
television say, ‘Fly American.’ ‘Fly United.’ ‘Fly
Southwest.’”
The flies nodded. They had heard that.
Then, they understood what Felicia
was talking about.
outside their hometowns.
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“People call them ‘airplanes,’ but they’re
nothing but giant flies!” Felicia
announced triumphantly.
Felicia didn’t get a chance to say another
word because the flies headed for airports, got
on airplanes, and went to all the places they’d
Which proves two
things:
ever heard about on television and a lot they
hadn’t.
They had a grand time
visiting relatives they’d never seen, eating
foods they never knew existed, and learning to
whine in people’s ears in foreign languages. But
all that flying on airplanes did not make the
flies lazy because they knew: A fat, lazy fly will
end up as a spot on the wall.
1. F lies can do anything
they want once they put their
minds to it.
2. T he fly sitting on your
schoolbook might be
reading it.
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f r o g ’s n e w s h o e s
by Jon Scieszka
Frog was watching TV one afternoon when he saw
this great commercial for new skateboard shoes.
The guy in the commercial puts on the new shoes,
then 360 kickflips a curb, fakie ollies a trashcan, and
rides a nosegrind into the sunset.
Frog ran right out and got the shoes.
He laced them up and jumped on his board.
He tried the 360 kickflip and wiped out.
He tried the fakie ollie and smashed into the
trashcan. He tried the nosegrind and spread
himself on the pavement.
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Cat skated over and
[
helped him up.
“Nice shoes,” said Cat.
“Thanks,” said Frog.
moral
Everyone knows frogs
can’t skateboard, but
it’s kind of sad that they believe
everything they see on TV.
]
“Frog’s New Shoes”, from SQUIDS WILL BE SQUIDS: FRESH MORALS, BEASTLY FABLES by Jon Scieszka,
illustrated by Lane Smith, copyright © 1998 Jon Scieszka, text; copyright © 1998 Lane Smith, illustrations. Used by
permission of Viking Penguin, A Division of Penguin Young Readers Group, A Member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
345 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014. All Rights Reserved.
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