Old King Cole
From Mother Goose in Prose, by L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum published Mother Goose in Prose in 1897, turning familiar nursery rhymes into short stories. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. In this tale, a wandering fiddler who takes life as it comes becomes king through an old law, and brings laughter and music to a kingdom that had forgotten how to be merry. The story reminds young readers that kindness and joy are just as important as crowns and thrones.
- Band
- Purple · Pre-readers and first readersTypical starting range: ages 4–5
- Length
- short · about 346 words in 4 sections · 4 pictures
- Source
- Mother Goose in Prose, L. Frank Baum
- 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)
Lesson at a glance
- Reading
- about 8 minutes at this band
- Pause questions
- 3
- Words to Know
- 5
- Quick Check
- 6 questions, with the answer key
- Let’s Talk
- 3 questions for afterwards
- Worksheet
- questions, an activity and a drawing prompt
About 35 minutes with one story, all of it.
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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The same story
Other bands of this story
This story is ready now at the Purple band only. Other bands can be made to order for members after launch.