Chapter 1 of Poems Every Child Should Know is here in full — 399 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Poems Every Child Should Know is here in full — 399 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The great bare Tree looked down and smiled. “Good-night, dear little leaves,” he said. And from below each sleepy child Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured, “It is _so_ nice to go to bed!” SUSAN COOLIDGE. WILLIE WINKIE.
Chapter 1 of Poems Every Child Should Know is here in full — 399 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 37/79 · 5 reading units · Lines 181–185
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.
completely unclothed
From this reading “The great bare Tree looked down and smiled.”
elected vice president and succeeded as 30th President of the United States when Harding died in 1923 (1872-1933)
From this reading “SUSAN COOLIDGE.”
plural of “leaf” — the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading ““Good-night, dear little leaves,” he said.”
past form of “murmur” — speak softly or indistinctly
From this reading “And from below each sleepy child Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured, “It is _so_ nice to go to bed!””
pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance
From this reading “And from below each sleepy child Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured, “It is _so_ nice to go to bed!””
ready to fall asleep
From this reading “And from below each sleepy child Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured, “It is _so_ nice to go to bed!””
past form of “smile” — change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading “The great bare Tree looked down and smiled.”
a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading “The great bare Tree looked down and smiled.”
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 The great bare Tree looked down and smiled.
completely unclothed
From this reading The great bare Tree looked down and smiled.
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading And from below each sleepy child Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured, “It is _so_ nice to go to bed!”
at or to a lower level than something
From this reading And from below each sleepy child Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured, “It is _so_ nice to go to bed!”
a young person of either sex
From this reading And from below each sleepy child Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured, “It is _so_ nice to go to bed!”
elected vice president and succeeded as 30th President of the United States when Harding died in 1923 (1872-1933)
From this reading SUSAN COOLIDGE.
dearly loved
From this reading “Good-night, dear little leaves,” he said.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading The great bare Tree looked down and smiled.
every one of two or more people or things, taken separately
From this reading And from below each sleepy child Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured, “It is _so_ nice to go to bed!”
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading And from below each sleepy child Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured, “It is _so_ nice to go to bed!”
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading And from below each sleepy child Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured, “It is _so_ nice to go to bed!”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Good-night, dear little leaves,” he said.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading The great bare Tree looked down and smiled.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Good-night, dear little leaves,” he said.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading And from below each sleepy child Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured, “It is _so_ nice to go to bed!”
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading And from below each sleepy child Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured, “It is _so_ nice to go to bed!”
plural of “leaf” — the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading “Good-night, dear little leaves,” he said.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading “Good-night, dear little leaves,” he said.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading The great bare Tree looked down and smiled.
past form of “murmur” — speak softly or indistinctly
From this reading And from below each sleepy child Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured, “It is _so_ nice to go to bed!”
pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance
From this reading And from below each sleepy child Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured, “It is _so_ nice to go to bed!”
inflected form of “reply” — react verbally
From this reading And from below each sleepy child Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured, “It is _so_ nice to go to bed!”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Good-night, dear little leaves,” he said.
ready to fall asleep
From this reading And from below each sleepy child Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured, “It is _so_ nice to go to bed!”
past form of “smile” — change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading The great bare Tree looked down and smiled.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading And from below each sleepy child Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured, “It is _so_ nice to go to bed!”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SUSAN COOLIDGE.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The great bare Tree looked down and smiled.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading And from below each sleepy child Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured, “It is _so_ nice to go to bed!”
a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading The great bare Tree looked down and smiled.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading WILLIE WINKIE.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading WILLIE WINKIE.
Chapter 1 of Poems Every Child Should Know by Mary E. (Mary Elizabeth) [Editor] Burt holds 399 sentences, grouped into 80 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 399 sentences of Poems Every Child Should Know, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Poems Every Child Should Know by Mary E. (Mary Elizabeth) [Editor] Burt exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 399 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 Poems Every Child Should Know by Mary E. (Mary Elizabeth) [Editor] Burt on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Poems Every Child Should Know section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Poems Every Child Should Know 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 Poems Every Child Should Know, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
