Read the story below. If there is a word you are not sure of, click on it to read the definition!
By: Susan Stevens Crummel
Illustrated by: Janet Stevens
Jack Rabbit opened his eyes. He stretched and looked up at the pretty blue sky.
Jack’s tummy growled. He thought, The sun is up. The sky is blue! What a great day for tumbleweed stew! He hopped along, jumping over brush and cactus.
Before long, he came to a big gate. Over the gate it said TWO CIRCLE RANCH. Jack slipped under the fence and into a herd of cattle.
“Moo!” said Longhorn. “Move on!”
“Well howdy,” Jack said. “How do you do? How would you like
some tumbleweed stew?” “There’s no such thing as tumbleweed stew,” said
Longhorn, munching the dry grass.
Not a nice
place, thought Jack. He ran down the path to
the ranch house. “Anyone home?” he called.
“No!”
he heard from inside.
“Go away!”
“How about some lunch?” asked
Jack.
Armadillo came out onto the porch. “This is my ranch,” she
said. This is my food and you can’t have any!”
Jack
took a chance. He said, “But I would like to cook for you. Have you heard of
tumbleweed stew?”
“There’s no such thing as tumbleweed stew,” Armadillo said.
Before Armadillo could blink, Jack started a fire. He spied
an old pot and filled it with
water. He set the pot of water on the fire. After a while, he stuffed a big tumbleweed into
the pot.
Armadillo looked
into the pot. Jack took a taste and said, “It smells so good. It tastes good,
too. But it needs more, this tumbleweed stew.”
“Well,” said Armadillo. “There might be some carrots in my
house.”
Soon the tumbleweed and carrots were cooking in the big
pot.
Buzzard floated
down to take a look. “I can smell this food way up in the sky! It needs
onions,” he said. “I’ll fly home and get some.”
Soon the tumbleweed, carrots and onions were cooking in the big
pot.
Then
Deer trotted over and looked into the pot. “This stew needs
corn,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”
Soon the tumbleweed, carrots, onions and corn were cooking
in the big pot.
Skunk scampered up to the pot. “Smells good,” she said. “But where are the potatoes? I’ll go
dig some up.”
Soon the tumbleweed, carrots, onions, corn and potatoes were
cooking in the big pot.
Rattlesnake slithered
over with some celery. “You can’t make stew without celery,” he said.
Soon the tumbleweed, carrots, onions, corn, potatoes and
celery were cooking in the big pot.
Armadillo, Buzzard, Deer, Skunk and Rattlesnake gathered around the pot of stew. They watched it bubble and steam.
At last Jack cried,
“It took a while, but thanks to you, it’s time to eat this tumbleweed stew!”
The animals ate and ate until every bite of stew was gone.
Armadillo couldn’t move. Buzzard couldn’t fly. Deer couldn’t
trot. Skunk couldn’t scamper. Rattlesnake couldn’t slither. They put their
heads down and fell asleep. Jack slept, too, but not for long.
Jack Rabbit opened
his eyes. He stretched and looked up at the pretty blue
sky. His tummy growled. He thought, another day for being sly-What a great day
for cactus pie!
