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The Pelican Chorus

A poem retold from Nonsense Books by Edward Lear

Edward Lear's Nonsense Books, first published in the nineteenth century, is a collection of playful poems full of made-up words and funny birds. This text reflects its era. Lear loved to invent silly names and sing-song verses. 'The Pelican Chorus' tells the bittersweet story of a pelican daughter who leaves her proud parents to marry the King of the Cranes and fly to a faraway land. It is a poem about love, pride and saying goodbye — and it shows that even nonsense can carry real feeling.

Band

Purple · Pre-readers and first readersTypical starting range: ages 4–5

Length

short · about 369 words in 6 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Nonsense Books, Edward Lear

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (6 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Colouring page
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.

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