OCTOBER's free story (from my Back Yard Friends) to download and read to your preschool children. Good for Teachers, Parents, and Grandparents.
FEEL TO FREE TO COPY
(Give credit to me, the Author, Please.)
MERLE SQUIRREL
AND THE SCARECROW
by
M. C. Arvanitis
Merle Squirrel clapped his hands together as he
looked at his pile of acorns. “Those acorns will taste really good when I wake
up from my winter’s nap,” he said.
Bitty BlueJay swooped down from the oak tree.
“Don’t you know you can’t leave them lay on the ground? The crows will eat them
all before you wake.”
“Oh dear. Where can I hide them from the crows?”
he asked.
The crabby jay flipped her wings, “That’s not my
problem,” and she flew to her nest on the top of the tree.
“She’s right, it is my problem,” Merle said to
himself. Rachel Robin hopped by with a fat worm in her mouth. When she heard
Merle she gobbled it up. “What is your problem, Merle?” she asked.
“If I leave my acorns on the ground the crows
will eat them. Can you help me find a place where I could hide them? “
Rachael shook her head. “Sorry, but my family and
I are leaving for the winter. It is time for us to fly south. See ya.” And she
flew away.
Merle looked up at Ollie Owl, who watched him
from his hole in the tree. “Ollie, can I hide my acorns in your place? If I
leave them on the ground the crows will eat them.”
“OOO, sorry, no room.” Ollie disappeared back
into his hole.
Merle looked all over the farm for a place to
hide his acorns. Wherever he looked either another squirrel had claimed the
space or it would not be dry enough to keep acorns through the winter.
He continued to search. Each day brought him
closer to winter. He was getting desperate. Then he spied a strange looking
object standing in Farmer Ann’s cornfield. It had a wide brimmed hat, arms that
stretched straight out, a large jacket and baggy pants flopping in the wind. He
jumped on the arm of this thing to see it closer. The head was a pumpkin with a
face carved upon it. Why this must be the new scarecrow, the one that Farmer
Ann made each fall to scare away the crows,” he thought.
He greeted it, "Hello, Scarecrow.” The
scarecrow didn't answer. "Guess you don't feel like being friendly,
huh?” No answer. Merle was about to jump to the ground when he noticed the
scarecrow's jacket pockets. They were wide and deep and no one would ever think
of looking in them for acorns.
"Say, could I hide my acorns in your pockets
for the winter?" he asked.
The scarecrow didn't answer.
"Is that a yes or a no?"
Still no answer.
"Well, than, I'll consider it a yes."
Quickly Merle ran to his pile of acorns. It took him all day to carry the acorns to the scarecrow's pockets.
When he finally had the acorns stored he climbed
back onto the scarecrows arm and look into its pumpkin face. "Thank
you for letting me store my acorns in your coat pockets. I am going to take a
short winter nap now but when I wake I will be hungry. The acorns will taste
very good when the snow covers the ground and there is nothing else to eat. If
you get hungry you may have a few."
Merle climbed up to his nest in the oak tree.
Just as he settled down for the winter he saw a big black crow fly near. The
scarecrow waved its coat sleeves and the crow flew away. “Good,” he thought. "That Scarecrow will keep my acorns safe."
Early in the spring Merle’s tummy began to
growl. He woke up very hungry but he didn't worry. He knew where to find some
acorns. Quickly he jumped to the scarecrow's arm. "I've come to get my
acorns,” he said.
The scarecrow didn't answer.
"Thanks for looking after
them." Merle reached his paw into the pocket. The pocket was empty.
"Well, I did say you could eat a few, I guess." He reached into
the other pocket. That pocket was also empty. Merle jumped on the scarecrow's
arm. "Did you eat all my acorns?”
The scarecrow didn't say anything, but Merle
noticed that its face was sort of puffy.
"You did eat my acorns. I said you could eat
a few. I didn't say you could eat all of them." He swished his fluffy tail
in anger.
At that moment a big black crow zoomed down to
reach its beak inside the scarecrow's pocket. It reached to the bottom but came
up empty. It tried the other pocket and finally flew away with an empty beak.
"So it was the crows that ate my acorns. Oh
dear, I'm so hungry. I'll starve before the new acorns are ready for
dropping." Merle started to cry.
The scarecrow's jacket moved back and forth in
the breeze. But wait, its pumpkin head was moving too. It shook so hard that
the hat fell off. Merle jumped to the highest corn stalk in fright. He looked
down at the scarecrow’s head. He saw a big hole in the top of the pumpkin where
Farmer Ann had removed the seeds to carve its face. He looked again. The head
wasn't empty. It was full of his acorns.
Merle jumped back to the scarecrows
shoulders and planted a big kiss on the pumpkin’s cheek. “Thank you for keeping
my acorns safe.”
The
scarecrow said nothing but if you were watching very closely you could see the
mouth curve up into a smile.
Merle climbed on the pumpkin
head and contentedly ate his fill.
Every year after that Merle
Squirrel stored his winter supply of acorns inside the scarecrow's head where
the crows could not find them.
---------------------------------------
Song to sing: “Shoo
Scarecrow”
(Children stand with arms out feet flat on the floor. Only
body moves. They sway back and forth as they sing to the tune of “Little Brown
Jug”.
At the end they throw their arms out and up as if shooing
the crows.)
Fly away crow with coat so black
Fly away crow and don’t come back,
I’m standing here so the corn can grow,
So fly away, fly Away, Fly away crow.
SHOOOOOOOOOOO
---
BOOK SUGGESTION:
To use with this story,
Also read The Little
Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything
by Linda Williams, Megan
Lloyd (Illustrator)
