Chapter 11 of Boys and Girls Bookshelf is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XI
Chapter 11 of Boys and Girls Bookshelf is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
She got up out of her tiny bed. She wove a little carpet out of hay. Down the long underground passage little Thumbelina walked, carrying the carpet. She reached the bird at last, and spread the carpet gently round him. She fetched warm cotton and laid it over the bird.
Chapter 11 of Boys and Girls Bookshelf is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
floor covering consisting of a piece of thick heavy fabric (usually with nap or pile)
From this reading “She wove a little carpet out of hay.”
-ing form of “carry” — move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading “Down the long underground passage little Thumbelina walked, carrying the carpet.”
soft silky fibers from cotton plants in their raw state
From this reading “She fetched warm cotton and laid it over the bird.”
past form of “fetch” — go or come after and bring or take back
From this reading “She fetched warm cotton and laid it over the bird.”
grass mowed and cured for use as fodder
From this reading “She wove a little carpet out of hay.”
very small
From this reading “She got up out of her tiny bed.”
under the level of the ground
From this reading “Down the long underground passage little Thumbelina walked, carrying the carpet.”
inflected form of “weave” — interlace by or as if by weaving
From this reading “She wove a little carpet out of hay.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading She wove a little carpet out of hay.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She reached the bird at last, and spread the carpet gently round him.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading She reached the bird at last, and spread the carpet gently round him.
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading She got up out of her tiny bed.
warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading She reached the bird at last, and spread the carpet gently round him.
floor covering consisting of a piece of thick heavy fabric (usually with nap or pile)
From this reading She wove a little carpet out of hay.
-ing form of “carry” — move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading Down the long underground passage little Thumbelina walked, carrying the carpet.
soft silky fibers from cotton plants in their raw state
From this reading She fetched warm cotton and laid it over the bird.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Down the long underground passage little Thumbelina walked, carrying the carpet.
past form of “fetch” — go or come after and bring or take back
From this reading She fetched warm cotton and laid it over the bird.
in a gradual manner
From this reading She reached the bird at last, and spread the carpet gently round him.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading She got up out of her tiny bed.
grass mowed and cured for use as fodder
From this reading She wove a little carpet out of hay.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading She got up out of her tiny bed.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading She reached the bird at last, and spread the carpet gently round him.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading She fetched warm cotton and laid it over the bird.
set down according to a plan
From this reading She fetched warm cotton and laid it over the bird.
immediately past
From this reading She reached the bird at last, and spread the carpet gently round him.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading She wove a little carpet out of hay.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading Down the long underground passage little Thumbelina walked, carrying the carpet.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading She got up out of her tiny bed.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading She got up out of her tiny bed.
above and across; more than
From this reading She fetched warm cotton and laid it over the bird.
the act of passing from one state or place to the next
From this reading Down the long underground passage little Thumbelina walked, carrying the carpet.
past form of “reach” — reach a destination, either real or abstract
From this reading She reached the bird at last, and spread the carpet gently round him.
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading She reached the bird at last, and spread the carpet gently round him.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She got up out of her tiny bed.
distribute or disperse widely
From this reading She reached the bird at last, and spread the carpet gently round him.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Down the long underground passage little Thumbelina walked, carrying the carpet.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Down the long underground passage little Thumbelina walked, carrying the carpet.
very small
From this reading She got up out of her tiny bed.
under the level of the ground
From this reading Down the long underground passage little Thumbelina walked, carrying the carpet.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading She got up out of her tiny bed.
past form of “walk” — use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
From this reading Down the long underground passage little Thumbelina walked, carrying the carpet.
having or producing a comfortable and agreeable degree of heat or imparting or maintaining heat
From this reading She fetched warm cotton and laid it over the bird.
inflected form of “weave” — interlace by or as if by weaving
From this reading She wove a little carpet out of hay.
Chapter 11 of Boys and Girls Bookshelf by Various holds 425 sentences, grouped into 85 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 11 holds 425 sentences of Boys and Girls Bookshelf, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 11 of Boys and Girls Bookshelf by Various exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 425 sentences, grouped into 85 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 11 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading Boys and Girls Bookshelf by Various on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5116 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #25359 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #25359, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 426 minutes of reading across 1024 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Boys and Girls Bookshelf section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of Boys and Girls Bookshelf to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Boys and Girls Bookshelf, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
