The Birds, the Beasts, and the Bat

A fable retold from Fifty Famous Fables by Lida B. McMurry

This fable comes from Fifty Famous Fables, a collection by American educator Lida B. McMurry published in the early twentieth century. The story teaches a lesson about loyalty and honesty: when you change sides to suit yourself, you lose everyone's trust. Fables like this one use animal characters to show us how our choices have consequences. This tale has been retold for centuries and remains a vivid reminder that trying to please everyone by being dishonest pleases no one in the end.

Band

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

Length

short · about 397 words in 4 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Fifty Famous Fables, Lida B. McMurry · 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.