Donald, the Ornery Goose

Donald and Daisy Goose lived on an island. It was a beautiful island with tall green trees and shiny green bushes surrounded by a cold clear mountain stream that bubbled and gurgled over rocks and stones.

Donald and Daisy were very happy. Donald was a big white goose with an orange bill. Daisy was smaller. She was a gray goose with an orange bill like Donald's.

Donald was very proud and protective of Daisy. In fact, he was so protective that he wouldn't let any other goose be on the island. If a duck or goose tried to come near, Donald would chase it away.

Daisy watched Donald honk and hiss at people who went by. "Oh Donald," she would say, "you are such a brave goose," and she looked at him with lovelorn eyes. And yet although Daisy thought Donald was very brave and handsome, she missed not being able to visit with other geese or ducks, because he chased them all away.

"Donald," she timidly said one day, "maybe you shouldn't be so hard on others when they come to visit,"

"But Daisy," Donald said, "you know that when we build a nest for our family, you will want to be left alone. You'll be busy with the children and won't have time to visit anyway."

That was true, thought Daisy, but just the same, she would like to visit now and then with someone besides Donald. One day when she saw some old friends that she hadn't seen in awhile swimming towards the island, she asked Donald, "please, can we let them stay?"

"All right," said Donald. He would do anything for Daisy to make her happy. He stood back and watched their old friends, Harold and Virginia, as they climbed up the bank to the island. They all had such a nice visit and Donald tried hard, after that, to remember what Daisy said, not to scare everyone away.

But sometimes Donald forgets. If you should go to a place where you see a goose wandering around, don't go near it! It might be forgetful like Donald and try to chase you!

Nordic the Worm

Nordic had a headache, and the day had just begun.
He longed to leave his dwelling, and he longed to feel the sun
But yesterday his mamma told him that he must stay in
For robins had flown back to town. And true, he'd heard their din.
She told him of the saying, what the early bird could get,
And of young boys with fishing poles. He hadn't seen THEM yet.
He curled up in his burrow, but it seemed so damp and cold.
He wondered of the great outdoors, and thought he would be bold. ...
Although his mamma warned him, he decided to go out
And slithered to the doorway, when he heard a loud voice shout:
"I see one! Bring a shovel!" And he knew his doom was near.
Quite fearful now, he tunneled deep, his life seemed, oh so dear!
And as he tunneled deeper, he thought never would he doubt
Again his mamma's warning, when she says "Do Not Go Out!"

The Cricket That Wanted to See Snow

Leaves were falling everywhere, one, two, three. Sometimes a bunch fell at one time, and soon the ground was covered with them.

"Why are the leaves falling?" asked the littlest cricket. "What is happening?"

"It's fall," said mamma cricket. "In the fall the leaves come off the trees, and in the spring the trees get new leaves."

"What happens in between?" asked little cricket.

"In between fall and spring is winter, when snow starts to fall," said mamma cricket.

Little cricket thought about the snow. He wondered what it looked like and what it felt like.

One day the wind started blowing. It got colder and colder. Little cricket's mom told him that soon they would need to burrow underground where they would be safe and warm.

"But, Mom," protested little cricket, "I want to see the snow!" His mom tried to explain that snow was cold and that no crickets or grasshoppers could survive the cold days of winter if they stayed above ground.

Little cricket wasn't convinced. He decided to talk with Mr. Finch about snow and winter. Mr. Finch was busy pulling the last of the sunflower seeds out of a garden.

"Indeed," said Mr. Finch while cracking open a seed, "snow can be dangerous for many creatures, even though it can be quite lovely to see." He then went on and explained that snow was almost like starlight falling from the sky. When it lands on trees and bushes, it turns everything white. When the sun shines on snow, it sparkles and looks quite nice.

"When it snows," said Mr. Finch, "everything gets really quiet, unless the wind happens to be blowing. If the wind blows, some of us have to huddle in pine trees to stay warm and hunker down until things quiet down.

"Also," continued Mr. Finch, "when it snows everything gets very cold, so cold, that the ground becomes frozen and is hard to walk on. We finches don't even like to sing when it gets that cold. The wind stings ours eyes. Even pools of water freeze and it is hard to find something to drink."

Little cricket listened carefully.

"Well, Mom," he said, "I think I have heard enough. Maybe I don't really need to see snow,...