Purple bandReady now · Open and print today

Lawkamercyme

A tale from More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs

This tale comes from More English Fairy Tales, collected by Joseph Jacobs and first published in 1894. Jacobs gathered traditional English stories and rhymes, including this humorous tale from Halliwell's Nursery Rhymes. The story is also found in Eastern traditions, where it illustrates the puzzle of knowing who you are. This version keeps the simple fun: a man tries to remember himself in a clever way, but a trick leaves him more confused than ever. Young listeners enjoy the silliness of the pumpkin plan and the puzzle at the end—and often have their own ideas about how the man could have solved his problem. This text reflects its era.

Band

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

Length

short · about 335 words in 5 sections · 4 pictures

Source

More English Fairy Tales, Joseph Jacobs and John Dickson Batten

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.

Report a concern about this reader · What’s in a HummingRead reader