How Sammy Jay Was Found Out

From Old Mother West Wind, by Thornton W. Burgess

Old Mother West Wind is a collection of animal fables first published in 1910 by American author Thornton W. Burgess. Burgess wrote hundreds of stories set in the Green Meadows and around the Smiling Pool, teaching children about nature and behaviour through animal characters. In this story, a vain bird learns that stealing brings shame—a lesson carried in every word he speaks from that day on. The gentle justice and talking animals make this a classic early reader, where actions have consequences and the truth always comes to light.

Band

Purple · Pre-readers and first readers, about 4 to 5

Length

short · about 356 words in 6 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Old Mother West Wind, Thornton W. Burgess · Project Gutenberg

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

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.