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King Alfred and the Cakes

From Fifty Famous Stories Retold, by James Baldwin

This story comes from Fifty Famous Stories Retold (1896) by American author and educator James Baldwin. It tells a famous legend about King Alfred the Great, who ruled England over a thousand years ago and defended his country from Viking invaders. The story of the burned cakes has been told for centuries to show that even a great king can make a mistake—and that he had the humility to accept a scolding from someone who did not know who he was. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised.

Band
Yellow · Emerging readersTypical starting range: ages 6–8
Length
medium · about 545 words in 5 sections · 4 pictures
Source
Fifty Famous Stories Retold, James Baldwin
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 (8 questions) with answer key
  • · Read-aloud script
  • · Colouring page
  • · Teacher’s Edition (members)

Lesson at a glance

Reading
about 10 minutes at this band
Pause questions
2
Words to Know
6
Quick Check
8 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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