Chapter 12 of The Child's Book of Nature is here in full — 120 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Child's Book of Nature is here in full — 120 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE SLEEP AND THE DEATH OF PLANTS. When the cold weather comes some plants die, and some go to sleep for the winter. [Sidenote: Most plants die in the fall.] Some plants always die in the fall. Corn dies; so does the bean-vine.
Chapter 12 of The Child's Book of Nature is here in full — 120 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/24 · 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.
plural of “come” — the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
From this reading “When the cold weather comes some plants die, and some go to sleep for the winter.”
tall annual cereal grass bearing kernels on large ears: widely cultivated in America in many varieties; the principal cereal in Mexico and Central and South America since pre-Columbian times
From this reading “Corn dies; so does the bean-vine.”
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading “When the cold weather comes some plants die, and some go to sleep for the winter.”
plural of “die” — a small cube with 1 to 6 spots on the six faces; used in gambling to generate random numbers
From this reading “Corn dies; so does the bean-vine.”
descend in free fall under the influence of gravity
From this reading “[Sidenote: Most plants die in the fall.]”
plural of “plant” — buildings for carrying on industrial labor
From this reading “THE SLEEP AND THE DEATH OF PLANTS.”
the atmospheric conditions that comprise the state of the atmosphere in terms of temperature and wind and clouds and precipitation
From this reading “When the cold weather comes some plants die, and some go to sleep for the winter.”
the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading “When the cold weather comes some plants die, and some go to sleep for the winter.”
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.
a period of unusually cold weather
In this reading “When the cold weather comes some plants die, and some go to sleep for the winter.”
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.
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading Some plants always die in the fall.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading THE SLEEP AND THE DEATH OF PLANTS.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Corn dies; so does the bean-vine.
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading When the cold weather comes some plants die, and some go to sleep for the winter.
plural of “come” — the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
From this reading When the cold weather comes some plants die, and some go to sleep for the winter.
tall annual cereal grass bearing kernels on large ears: widely cultivated in America in many varieties; the principal cereal in Mexico and Central and South America since pre-Columbian times
From this reading Corn dies; so does the bean-vine.
the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading THE SLEEP AND THE DEATH OF PLANTS.
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading When the cold weather comes some plants die, and some go to sleep for the winter.
plural of “die” — a small cube with 1 to 6 spots on the six faces; used in gambling to generate random numbers
From this reading Corn dies; so does the bean-vine.
the form of “do” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Corn dies; so does the bean-vine.
descend in free fall under the influence of gravity
From this reading [Sidenote: Most plants die in the fall.]
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading When the cold weather comes some plants die, and some go to sleep for the winter.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading When the cold weather comes some plants die, and some go to sleep for the winter.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading [Sidenote: Most plants die in the fall.]
used to form the superlative
From this reading [Sidenote: Most plants die in the fall.]
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE SLEEP AND THE DEATH OF PLANTS.
plural of “plant” — buildings for carrying on industrial labor
From this reading THE SLEEP AND THE DEATH OF PLANTS.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [Sidenote: Most plants die in the fall.]
a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
From this reading THE SLEEP AND THE DEATH OF PLANTS.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Corn dies; so does the bean-vine.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading When the cold weather comes some plants die, and some go to sleep for the winter.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE SLEEP AND THE DEATH OF PLANTS.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading When the cold weather comes some plants die, and some go to sleep for the winter.
the atmospheric conditions that comprise the state of the atmosphere in terms of temperature and wind and clouds and precipitation
From this reading When the cold weather comes some plants die, and some go to sleep for the winter.
at the time that
From this reading When the cold weather comes some plants die, and some go to sleep for the winter.
the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading When the cold weather comes some plants die, and some go to sleep for the winter.
Chapter 12 of The Child's Book of Nature by Worthington Hooker holds 120 sentences, grouped into 24 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 12 holds 120 sentences of The Child's Book of Nature, unabridged, divided into 24 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Child's Book of Nature by Worthington Hooker exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 120 sentences, grouped into 24 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 24 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 24 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 12 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 The Child's Book of Nature by Worthington Hooker on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8841 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #58421 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #58421, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1769 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Child's Book of Nature section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 38 chapters of The Child's Book of Nature 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 The Child's Book of Nature, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
