PICCOLA.

Piccola lived in France.

She was very poor.
Her papa worked hard.

Her mamma worked hard, too.
They had very little money.
Piccola did not have any toys.

But she was a happy little girl.
"Christmas is coming," said she,

“Then I shall have something to play

with.

St. Nicholas will not forget me."

Christmas Eve came.

What do you do on Christmas Eve?
Piccola did not hang up her stocking.
She put her shoe near the chimney.

The shoe was made of wood.

All the poor people have wooden shoes.

Soon it was morning.

Piccola ran to her shoe.

Guess what was in it.

A dear little bird.

It had flown in at the window.

It was cold.

Piccola's shoe was warm.

It crept into the warm shoe.
Piccola was very happy.

She fed the little bird.

It was not afraid of her.

She loved her birdie very much.

"I knew St. Nicholas would come.

I knew he would bring me a gift," said

PICCOLA.

But Piccola never doubted at all
That something beautiful must befall
Every child upon Christmas-day,
And so she slept till the dawn was gray.
And full of faith, when at last she woke,
She stole to her shoe as the morning broke ;
"See what the good saint brought!" she cried,
And mother and father must peep inside.
Now such a story who ever heard?
There was a little shivering bird!

A sparrow, that in at the window flew,
Had crept into Piccola's tiny shoe!

"How good poor Piccola must have been!"
She cried, as happy as any queen,

While the starving sparrow she fed and warmed, And danced with rapture, she was so charmed.

-Celia Thaxter.

North Wind lived on a mountain. It was a cold mountain.

There was snow on it all winter. There was snow on it all summer. There was snow on it all the time.