Chapter 2 of Little Jack Rabbit's big blue book is here in full — 393 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Little Jack Rabbit's big blue book is here in full — 393 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do. “Go way, go way!” he cried. But closer and closer crept the wicked cat in his long black coat. All of a sudden a little voice from a treetop whispered: “Don’t you remember how your mother taught you to defend yourself?”
Chapter 2 of Little Jack Rabbit's big blue book is here in full — 393 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/78 · 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.
fruit with red or yellow or green skin and sweet to tart crisp whitish flesh
From this reading “And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.”
feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats
From this reading “But closer and closer crept the wicked cat in his long black coat.”
(comparative of “near” or “close”) within a shorter distance
From this reading “But closer and closer crept the wicked cat in his long black coat.”
inflected form of “creep” — move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
From this reading “But closer and closer crept the wicked cat in his long black coat.”
argue or speak in defense of
From this reading ““Don’t you remember how your mother taught you to defend yourself?””
any of various burrowing animals of the family Leporidae having long ears and short tails; some domesticated and raised for pets or food
From this reading “And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.”
the upper branches and leaves of a tree or other plant
From this reading “All of a sudden a little voice from a treetop whispered:”
morally bad in principle or practice
From this reading “But closer and closer crept the wicked cat in his long black coat.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
any tree of the genus Malus especially those bearing firm rounded edible fruits
In this reading “And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.”
In this reading “But closer and closer crept the wicked cat in his long black coat.”
In this reading “And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.”
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 All of a sudden a little voice from a treetop whispered:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
fruit with red or yellow or green skin and sweet to tart crisp whitish flesh
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading But closer and closer crept the wicked cat in his long black coat.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But closer and closer crept the wicked cat in his long black coat.
feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats
From this reading But closer and closer crept the wicked cat in his long black coat.
(comparative of “near” or “close”) within a shorter distance
From this reading But closer and closer crept the wicked cat in his long black coat.
an outer garment that has sleeves and covers the body from shoulder down; worn outdoors
From this reading But closer and closer crept the wicked cat in his long black coat.
inflected form of “creep” — move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
From this reading But closer and closer crept the wicked cat in his long black coat.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading “Go way, go way!” he cried.
argue or speak in defense of
From this reading “Don’t you remember how your mother taught you to defend yourself?”
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Don’t you remember how your mother taught you to defend yourself?”
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading All of a sudden a little voice from a treetop whispered:
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading “Go way, go way!” he cried.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Go way, go way!” he cried.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Don’t you remember how your mother taught you to defend yourself?”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading But closer and closer crept the wicked cat in his long black coat.
evidencing the possession of inside information
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
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 But closer and closer crept the wicked cat in his long black coat.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading “Don’t you remember how your mother taught you to defend yourself?”
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading All of a sudden a little voice from a treetop whispered:
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
any of various burrowing animals of the family Leporidae having long ears and short tails; some domesticated and raised for pets or food
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
To recall to mind.
From this reading “Don’t you remember how your mother taught you to defend yourself?”
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
happening without warning or in a short space of time
From this reading All of a sudden a little voice from a treetop whispered:
inflected form of “teach” — impart skills or knowledge to
From this reading “Don’t you remember how your mother taught you to defend yourself?”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
the upper branches and leaves of a tree or other plant
From this reading All of a sudden a little voice from a treetop whispered:
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading All of a sudden a little voice from a treetop whispered:
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading “Go way, go way!” he cried.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading And the poor little rabbit, his back against the old apple tree, stood all a-tremble, not knowing what to do.
spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
From this reading All of a sudden a little voice from a treetop whispered:
morally bad in principle or practice
From this reading But closer and closer crept the wicked cat in his long black coat.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Don’t you remember how your mother taught you to defend yourself?”
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Don’t you remember how your mother taught you to defend yourself?”
used when the person spoken to is also the object of the action
From this reading “Don’t you remember how your mother taught you to defend yourself?”
Chapter 2 of Little Jack Rabbit's big blue book by David Cory holds 393 sentences, grouped into 79 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 2 holds 393 sentences of Little Jack Rabbit's big blue book, unabridged, divided into 79 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Little Jack Rabbit's big blue book by David Cory exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 393 sentences, grouped into 79 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 79 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 79 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 2 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 Little Jack Rabbit's big blue book by David Cory on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3806 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #70574 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #70574, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 317 minutes of reading across 762 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Little Jack Rabbit's big blue book section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of Little Jack Rabbit's big blue book 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 Little Jack Rabbit's big blue book, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
