The Little Pink Rose

Once there was a little pink Rosebud, and she lived down in a little dark house under the ground. One day she was sitting there, all by herself, and it was very still. Suddenly, she heard a little TAP, TAP, TAP, at the door.

“Who is that?” she said.

“It’s the Rain, and I want to come in;” said a soft, sad, little voice.

“No, you can’t come in,” the little Rosebud said.

By and by she heard another little TAP, TAP, TAP on the window pane.

“Who is there?” she said.

The same soft little voice answered, “It’s the Rain, and I want to come in!”

“No, you can’t come in,” said the little Rosebud.

Then it was very still for a long time. At last, there came a little rustling, whispering sound, all round the window: RUSTLE, WHISPER, WHISPER.

“Who is there?” said the little Rosebud.

“It’s the Sunshine,” said a little, soft, cheery voice, “and I want to come in!”

“N–no,” said the little pink rose, “you can’t come in.” And she sat still again.

Pretty soon she heard the sweet little rustling noise at the key-hole.

“Who is there?” she said.

“It’s the Sunshine,” said the cheery little voice, “and I want to come in, I want to come in!”

“No, no,” said the little pink rose, “you cannot come in.”

By and by, as she sat so still, she heard TAP, TAP, TAP, and RUSTLE, WHISPER, RUSTLE, all up and down the window pane, and on the door, and at the key-hole.

“WHO IS THERE?” she said.

“It’s the Rain and the Sun, the Rain and the Sun,” said two little voices, together, “and we want to come in! We want to come in! We want to come in!”

“Dear, dear!” said the little Rosebud, “if there are two of you, I s’pose I shall have to let you in.”

So she opened the door a little wee crack, and in they came. And one took one of her little hands, and the other took her other little hand, and they ran, ran, ran with her, right up to the top of the ground. Then they said,–

“Poke your head through!”

So she poked her head through; and she was in the midst of a beautiful garden. It was springtime, and all the other flowers had their heads poked through; and she was the prettiest little pink rose in the whole garden!

The Wind and The Sun

Once the Wind and the Sun came to have a quarrel. Either of them claimed to be a stronger. At last they agreed to have a trial of strength.

“Here comes a traveller. Let us see who can strip him of his clock,” said the Sun.

The Wind agreed and chose to have the first turn. He blew in the hardest possible way. As a result , the traveller wrapped his cloak even more tightly around him.

Then it was the turn of the Sun. At first he shone very gently. So, the traveller loosened his cloak from his neck.

The sun went on shining brighter and brighter. The traveller felt hot. Before long he took off his cloak and put it in his bag. The Wind had to accept his defeat.

MORAL : Fury or force cuts no ice where gentleness does the job.

Our Colourful World

Why is it cold in winter?

It’s because the earth isn’t only spinning to give us day and night, it is also travelling around the sun in a big circle. It takes a whole year to go all the way round. For about half the year the bottom part of the earth is leaning away from sun, so it’s colder there. The top half is closer to the sun and warmer.

Changing Seasons
The closer you live to the middle of the earth, the less the weather changes. But further away, the weather is more changeable and there are different seasons. Do you know the names of the seasons and what the weather is like in each?

Tilt!
Did you know that the earth is slightly tilted? And it spins around an imaginary line drawn through the north and south poles. The line is called on axis.