Sing a Song o' Sixpence

A tale retold from Mother Goose in Prose, by L. Frank Baum

This story comes from Mother Goose in Prose (1897) by L. Frank Baum, the author who later wrote The Wizard of Oz. Baum took the old nursery rhyme "Sing a Song o' Sixpence" and imagined the tale behind it: how a clever orphan boy named Gilligren turned one small coin into a new life at the King's court. The text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. Children will enjoy the ingenuity of a boy who never gave up, even when he was tricked.

Band

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

Length

short · about 350 words in 5 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Mother Goose in Prose, L. Frank Baum · 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
• · Colouring page

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.