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Johnny-cake

A folk tale from English Fairy Tales, collected by Joseph Jacobs

This folk tale comes from English Fairy Tales, collected by Joseph Jacobs in the nineteenth century. Johnny-cake is a simple cornmeal pancake, and this story of a runaway cake is a cumulative tale—each chase adds to the list Johnny-cake boasts about. The story shows a child that being too proud and not watching out can lead to trouble. Folk tales like this one have been told for generations to entertain and teach at the same time. 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 290 words in 5 sections · 4 pictures
Source
English Fairy Tales, Joseph Jacobs
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 7 minutes at this band
Pause questions
4
Words to Know
4
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

Johnny-cake at other bands

Yellow band

Johnny-Cake

Joseph Jacobs

medium · 536 words · also in Purple

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