Aesops Fables: The Fox & The Crow

The Fox & the Crow

One bright morning as the Fox was following his sharp nose through the wood in search of a bite to eat, he saw a Crow on the limb of a tree overhead. This was by no means the first Crow the Fox had ever seen. What caught his attention this time and made him stop for a second look, was that the lucky Crow held a bit of cheese in her beak.

"No need to search any farther," thought sly Master Fox. "Here is a dainty bite for my breakfast."

Up he trotted to the foot of the tree in which the Crow was sitting, and looking up admiringly, he cried, "Good-morning, beautiful creature!"

The Crow, her head cocked on one side, watched the Fox suspiciously. But she kept her beak tightly closed on the cheese and did not return his greeting.

"What a charming creature she is!" said the Fox. "How her feathers shine! What a beautiful form and what splendid wings! Such a wonderful Bird should have a very lovely voice, since everything else about her is so perfect. Could she sing just one song, I know I should hail her Queen of Birds."

Listening to these flattering words, the Crow forgot all her suspicion, and also her breakfast. She wanted very much to be called Queen of Birds. So she opened her beak wide to utter her loudest caw, and down fell the cheese straight into the Fox's open mouth.

"Thank you," said Master Fox sweetly, as he walked off. "Though it is cracked, you have a voice sure enough. But where are your wits?"

Do not trust flatterers.

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Story Time Idea: 
We did a puppet show with the little red bird and a fox. We used a cute circle baby bel cheese wrapped in wax for the cheese prop. Then after the story ate the cheese for our snack. And after I narrated the story I had Ethan fill in the blanks as I retold the story (since he wanted it again). Then the next time I had him narrate it as much as he could so I filled in the blanks. It was a good way to practice recall as well as to get him used to telling stories.
In fact, he asked for the story again a week later and he was able to narrate most of it. This second day we did the story I said let's try to do this story a better way. So we had the fox tell the bird he was hungray and he said "excuse me, may I please have some cheese," instead of flattering the bird. And the bird gladly shared. This helped him think of a better ending and more appropriate behavior. I think we'll do this more often. Plus it help him creatively make his own twists. And...he learned some vocab: sly, cunning, sneaky; and  flatter.