Chapter 1 of Pictures and Stories is here in full — 93 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Pictures and Stories is here in full — 93 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
PICTURES AND STORIES. The Bird let loose. One morning Susan had promised to give her little bird his liberty. When she had opened the door of the cage, she ran to her Mamma, and they both watched him. He flew down and warbled the sweetest song Susan ever heard.
Chapter 1 of Pictures and Stories is here in full — 93 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/18 · 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.
an enclosure made or wire or metal bars in which birds or animals can be kept
From this reading “When she had opened the door of the cage, she ran to her Mamma, and they both watched him.”
inflected form of “fly” — travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading “He flew down and warbled the sweetest song Susan ever heard.”
The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions on one's way of life.
From this reading “One morning Susan had promised to give her little bird his liberty.”
not compact or dense in structure or arrangement
From this reading “The Bird let loose.”
informal terms for a mother
From this reading “When she had opened the door of the cage, she ran to her Mamma, and they both watched him.”
plural of “picture” — a visual representation (of an object or scene or person or abstraction) produced on a surface
From this reading “PICTURES AND STORIES.”
superlative of “sweet” — having or denoting the characteristic taste of sugar
From this reading “He flew down and warbled the sweetest song Susan ever heard.”
past form of “warble” — sing or play with trills, alternating with the half note above or below
From this reading “He flew down and warbled the sweetest song Susan ever heard.”
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.
In this reading “He flew down and warbled the sweetest song Susan ever heard.”
In this reading “He flew down and warbled the sweetest song Susan ever heard.”
In this reading “One morning Susan had promised to give her little bird his liberty.”
In this reading “He flew down and warbled the sweetest song Susan ever heard.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading PICTURES AND STORIES.
warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading The Bird let loose.
the two together, not just one
From this reading When she had opened the door of the cage, she ran to her Mamma, and they both watched him.
an enclosure made or wire or metal bars in which birds or animals can be kept
From this reading When she had opened the door of the cage, she ran to her Mamma, and they both watched him.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading When she had opened the door of the cage, she ran to her Mamma, and they both watched him.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He flew down and warbled the sweetest song Susan ever heard.
at any time
From this reading He flew down and warbled the sweetest song Susan ever heard.
inflected form of “fly” — travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading He flew down and warbled the sweetest song Susan ever heard.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading One morning Susan had promised to give her little bird his liberty.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading One morning Susan had promised to give her little bird his liberty.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He flew down and warbled the sweetest song Susan ever heard.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading He flew down and warbled the sweetest song Susan ever heard.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading One morning Susan had promised to give her little bird his liberty.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading When she had opened the door of the cage, she ran to her Mamma, and they both watched him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading One morning Susan had promised to give her little bird his liberty.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading The Bird let loose.
The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions on one's way of life.
From this reading One morning Susan had promised to give her little bird his liberty.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading One morning Susan had promised to give her little bird his liberty.
not compact or dense in structure or arrangement
From this reading The Bird let loose.
informal terms for a mother
From this reading When she had opened the door of the cage, she ran to her Mamma, and they both watched him.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading One morning Susan had promised to give her little bird his liberty.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading When she had opened the door of the cage, she ran to her Mamma, and they both watched him.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading One morning Susan had promised to give her little bird his liberty.
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading When she had opened the door of the cage, she ran to her Mamma, and they both watched him.
plural of “picture” — a visual representation (of an object or scene or person or abstraction) produced on a surface
From this reading PICTURES AND STORIES.
past form of “promise” — make a promise or commitment
From this reading One morning Susan had promised to give her little bird his liberty.
inflected form of “run” — move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading When she had opened the door of the cage, she ran to her Mamma, and they both watched him.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading When she had opened the door of the cage, she ran to her Mamma, and they both watched him.
a short musical composition with words
From this reading He flew down and warbled the sweetest song Susan ever heard.
plural of “story” — a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading PICTURES AND STORIES.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading One morning Susan had promised to give her little bird his liberty.
superlative of “sweet” — having or denoting the characteristic taste of sugar
From this reading He flew down and warbled the sweetest song Susan ever heard.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Bird let loose.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading When she had opened the door of the cage, she ran to her Mamma, and they both watched him.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading One morning Susan had promised to give her little bird his liberty.
past form of “warble” — sing or play with trills, alternating with the half note above or below
From this reading He flew down and warbled the sweetest song Susan ever heard.
past form of “watch” — look attentively
From this reading When she had opened the door of the cage, she ran to her Mamma, and they both watched him.
at the time that
From this reading When she had opened the door of the cage, she ran to her Mamma, and they both watched him.
Chapter 1 of Pictures and Stories by George Pond [Publisher] Daniels holds 93 sentences, grouped into 19 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 1 holds 93 sentences of Pictures and Stories, unabridged, divided into 19 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Pictures and Stories by George Pond [Publisher] Daniels exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 93 sentences, grouped into 19 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 19 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 19 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 1 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 Pictures and Stories by George Pond [Publisher] Daniels on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 93 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #39169 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #39169, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 7 minutes of reading across 19 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Pictures and Stories section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of Pictures and Stories 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 Pictures and Stories, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
