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The Tortoise and the Ducks

A fable retold from Lida B. McMurry's Fifty Famous Fables

This fable comes from Fifty Famous Fables, a collection by Lida B. McMurry published in the early 1900s. The story teaches about the danger of pride and the importance of keeping promises. The tortoise's dream of flight comes true, but he cannot resist the urge to answer an insult—and breaking his word costs him everything. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised.

Band

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

Length

short · about 387 words in 5 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Fifty Famous Fables, Lida B. McMurry

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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