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King Alfred and the Cakes

From Fifty Famous Stories Retold, by James Baldwin

This story comes from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin, first published in 1896. King Alfred really did rule England over a thousand years ago, and he really did fight the Danes and win. The story of the cakes is a legend — a tale people have told for hundreds of years to show that even a great king can make mistakes. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. Children love this story because it shows that everyone, even a king, can forget something small when their mind is on something big.

Band

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

Length

short · about 348 words in 5 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Fifty Famous Stories Retold, James Baldwin

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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