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“I do not know,” said the old lady.
“One day I sat down and something hurt me.
I got up.
There was the thorn bush.”
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“You poor lady,” said the policeman.
“I will pull the thorn bush out of your chair.
Then you can sit down again.”
“No!” cried the old lady.
“Don’t do that! I do not want to sit down.
I have been sitting down all my life.
I love my thorn bush.
I am crying because it is sick.
See?” said the old lady.
“All of the branches are falling over.”
“The thorn bush may be thirsty,” said the policeman.
“Perhaps it needs water.”
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I never thought of that,” said the old lady.
She poured some water on the chair.
The thorn bush shivered and shook.
Green leaves came out on the branches.
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Little buds came out near the leaves.
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The buds opened up.
They became large roses.
“Thank you, kind policeman!” cried the old lady.
“You have saved my thorn bush! You have made my 41
house beautiful!” She kissed the policeman and gave him a big bunch of roses to take home.
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“There,” said the mouse.
“I have told you my stories.
They will make your mouse soup taste really good.”
“All right,” said the weasel, “but how can I put the stories into the soup?”
“That will be easy,” said the mouse.
“Run outside and find a nest of bees, some mud, two large stones, ten crickets, and a thorn bush.
Come back and put them all into the soup.”
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The weasel ran outside very fast.
He forgot to close the door.
The weasel found a nest of bees.
He was stung many times.
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The weasel found some mud.
It was wet and gooey.
The weasel found two large stones.
They were heavy.
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The weasel found ten crickets.
He had to jump to catch them.
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The weasel found a thorn bush.
He was pricked and scratched.
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“Now my mouse soup will taste really good!” said the weasel.
But when the weasel came back to his house, he found a surprise.
The cooking pot was empty.
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The mouse hurried to his safe home.
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He lit the fire, he ate his supper, and he finished reading his book.
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Dear Parent:
Your child’s love of reading starts here!
Every child learns to read in a different way and at his or her own speed.
Some go back and forth between reading levels and read favorite books again and again. Others read through each level in order. You can help your young reader improve and become more confident by encouraging his or her own interests and abilities. From books your child reads with you to the first books he or she reads alone, there are I Can Read Books for every stage of reading:
SHARED READING
Basic language, word repetition, and whimsical illustrations, ideal for sharing with your emergent reader BEGINNING READING
Short sentences, familiar words, and simple concepts for children eager to read on their own
READING WITH HELP
Engaging stories, longer sentences, and language play for developing readers
READING ALONE
Complex plots, challenging vocabulary, and high-interest topics for the independent reader
ADVANCED READING
Short paragraphs, chapters, and exciting themes for the perfect bridge to chapter books
I Can Read Books have introduced children to the joy of reading since 1957. Featuring award-winning authors and illustrators and a fabulous cast of beloved characters, I Can Read Books set the standard for beginning readers.
A lifetime of discovery begins with the magical words “I Can Read!”
Visit www.icanread.com for information on enriching your child’s reading experience.
Credits
Cover art © 1977 by Arnold Lobel
Copyright
MOUSE SOUP. Copyright © 1977 by Arnold Lobel. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader December 2008
ISBN 978-0-06-179438-4
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)
Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900
Toronto, ON, M5R, 3L2, Canada
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca New Zealand
HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com
Document Outline
Cover Image
Title Page
Contents
Begin Reading
The Stories for the Soup
Bees and the Mud
Two Large Stones
The Crickets
The Thorn Bush
About I Can Read Books
Credits
Copyright Notice
About the Publisher
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