Fall – Blackbird and Company

After the long recital, there was chatter between the children.
The students shared wonderment at the sight of the Statue of Liberty.
Mrs. Johnson gave us a warm welcome when we visited her house Sunday afternoon.
The girl’s parents taught her how to curtsey/ when she met new people.
Please whisper when you are talking in the library.

The full moon is shining in the night sky.
The only sound is the leaves rustling in the wind.
The hound dog is dreaming of rabbits.
In the farmhouse a curious boy is awake.
The night owl encourages the boy to investigate the music coming from the corn fields.
The scarecrow is making music on his fiddle to invite everybody to a hoedown in the barn.
The crow tells the skinny kid to show the old cow how.
The fat little pigs whirl around until they get dizzy and fall down.
At dawn, the night owl warns the skinny kid that morning’s coming, the magic time is over.
The skinny kid slips by the dog just before he wakes.
The boy quietly tiptoes through the kitchen and up the stairs.
Back in his bed, the boy thinks of the wonders of the barn dance.

After the noisy party was over, there was peace in the house.
I was awake early enough to witness the rising sun.
Mother needed to borrow some sugar from her neighbor for the cookies she was baking.
He tried to ignore the bee that was buzzing around him.
Shane won this year’s contest with his mammoth pumpkin.

The scarecrow’s hat, suit, hands, head and eyes are borrowed.
Scarecrows love silence, air, long, slow thoughts and birds most of all.
The scarecrow’s best quality is gentleness.
Birds perch on the scarecrow’s arms and chat/ all day.
The scarecrow is not real.
In the garden around the scarecrow, the farmer is growing sunflowers, pumpkins and beans.
The scarecrow does not worry about being turned back into straw and buttons.
In the evening, the scarecrow is with the owls.
At dawn, the scarecrow is with the rabbits.
He has watched a spider make a web like lace.
The scarecrow doesn’t care what he is made of or how long he might last.
The scarecrow’s hat has been a house for mice.
A flowering vine has held tight to his legs.
The scarecrow doesn’t mind that his eyes are always open.

Making an apple pie is easy, unless the market is closed.
The baker goes on a journey to gather ingredients for an apple pie.
First she packs a suitcase.
In Italy, the baker gathers some wheat.
The baker travels to France for an egg.
In Sri Lanka, the baker gathers cinnamon that is made from the bark of the kurundu tree.
Because the leopard is napping, the baker is very quiet.
In England, the baker borrows a cup or two of milk.
The baker stows away on a banana boat and fills a jar with salty seawater.
In Jamaica the baker cuts a few stalks of sugar cane.
The baker flies home because she doesn’t want the ingredients to spoil.
Finally, the baker goes to Vermont to pick some apples.
The baker uses her fine ingredients to bake a pie.
When the baker runs to the market to get ice cream and it is closed, she decides to eat it plain.

In the fall it is apple-picking time.
There are only three weeks to harvest the apples.
During apple picking, people have to wake up before the sun rises.
Each person picking apples is handed a purple ticket.
Because Anna has grown, she will pick a whole bin of apples.
When Mama fastens the canvas bag around Anna’s back, she notices that it’s not as loose as last year.
Anna leans into the ladder so that she is balanced and both hands are free for picking.
After lunch, the apple pickers will be hot and tired.
A full bag of apples earns the picker a half moon punch.
Grandma says that food tastes better when you eat outdoors.
Anna and her parents dance until the whistle blows, and Grandpa calls.
At the end of the day, Anna proudly announces “full.”
On the way home Anna dreams about apples, dancing and two half moons on a purple ticket.

Earl’s mother wants him to learn how to find acorns.
When Earl goes to visit Jill, she gives him an acorn and a nutcracker.
Earl’s mother makes him return the nutcracker to Jill.
Jill gives Earl a beautiful red scarf that she made for her doll.
Earl’s mother tells him he does not need Jill’s gift.
Earl creeps out while his mother is sleeping because he wants to find an acorn on his own.
In the tree, Earl discovers a Great Horned Owl.
The owls tells Earl that he can find acorns on the giant oak tree.
Conrad the bull becomes angry when he sees Earl’s red scarf.
When Earl drops his scarf, he commands Conrad to not tear his beautiful present.
When Conrad shakes the tree, Earl falls out along with hundreds of acorns.
In the end, Earl returns the scarf to Jill because he doesn’t need it anymore.