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Whittington and His Cat

From English Fairy Tales, by Joseph Jacobs

This is a retelling of the English legend of Dick Whittington, collected by Joseph Jacobs in the late nineteenth century. The real Richard Whittington was a wealthy merchant and Lord Mayor of London in the early 1400s, but the story of the cat and his rags-to-riches rise is a fairy tale that grew up around his name. It has been told and retold for hundreds of years. The story rewards kindness, hard work and courage, and shows that even a small gift can bring great fortune. This text reflects its era.

Band
Yellow · Emerging readersTypical starting range: ages 6–8
Length
medium · about 558 words in 6 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 (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
3
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 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.