15 HANSEL’S COAT

shEEp: Where is your coat, little Hansel?

It is cold this spring morning.

hansEL: I have no coat. Mother can not get me a coat till

winter comes.

I wish I could have one now.

shEEp: I will help you, Hansel.

Take some of my wool. There!

Now you can make a warm coat.

hansEL: Oh, thank you! But how can I make a coat from

this curly wool?

thorn-Bush: Come here, Hansel.

Pull the curly wool over my long thorns. They will comb it and make it straight.

hansEL: Oh, thank you! How straight and soft you have made it!

But this is not a coat yet.

What shall I do now?

spidEr: Give me the wool, Hansel.

I will spin the threads, and make them into cloth for you. There it is.

CraB: What have you there, Hansel?

hansEL: This is cloth for a coat.

CraB: My claws are like scissors.

I will cut it out for you. There it is!

hansEL: Thank you, kind Crab.

I wish I could sew. Then I could make my coat.

Bird: I will sew your coat for you.

I sew my nest together every spring.

See, I take a thread in my beak.

Then I pull it through and through the cloth.

There is your coat, Hansel.

hansEL: Oh, thank you all! How happy mother will be to see my nice warm coat.

( Folk Tale )

Word list

curly : not straight

thorns : the sharp parts of a plant

scissors : tools for cutting

You Practice

A) Answer the following questions.

1) Why is Hansel cold?

2) How does the sheep help Hansel?

3) How was the curly wool made straight and soft?

4) How did Spider help Hansel?

5) What does Crab mean when he says his claws are like scissors?

B) Words that describe—Adjectives are words that describe nouns—for example “cold morning”. Cold is an adjective that describes morning. For each noun, give an adjective that describes it.

1) ______________ coat

2) ______________ winter

3) ______________ sheep

4) ______________ wool

5) ______________ thorns

C) True or false? Read these sentences carefully. Write true or false for each one.

1) _____ The crab gave Hansel some wool.

2) _____ Hansel was very happy with his new coat.

3) _____ The bird sewed Hansel’s coat.

4) _____ In the story, it is winter.

5) _____ The spider made the coat straight.