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The Ungrateful Guest

From Fifty Famous Stories Retold, by James Baldwin

This story comes from James Baldwin's 1896 collection Fifty Famous Stories Retold. King Philip II of Macedon, who lived over two thousand years ago, was known for rewarding loyalty and punishing betrayal. This tale, like many in Baldwin's book, teaches a moral lesson: gratitude matters, and those who repay kindness with cruelty will face shame. A few period terms have been modernised. The story shows young readers that honesty and keeping promises are worth more than land or riches.

Band
Yellow · Emerging readersTypical starting range: ages 6–8
Length
medium · about 537 words in 6 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 9 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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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.