King Canute on the Seashore
A story retold from Fifty Famous Stories by James Baldwin
This story comes from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin, published in 1896. King Canute (also spelled Cnut) really was king of England in the early 1000s, and this famous tale has been retold for centuries to show the difference between earthly power and divine power. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. The story is worth reading because it shows how a wise leader can teach an important lesson with actions instead of just words, and because it reminds us that no person, however great, is all-powerful.
- Band
- Yellow · Emerging readersTypical starting range: ages 6–8
- Length
- medium · about 541 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
- 7
- Quick Check
- 8 questions, with the answer key
- Let’s Talk
- 3 questions for afterwards
- Worksheet
- questions, an activity and a drawing prompt
About 40 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 Yellow band only. Other bands can be made to order for members after launch.