Sour Grapes, Says Fox
A fox walked down a dusty road in the heat. He was hungry and thirsty.
Over a garden wall hung a vine. On it was a bunch of fat, purple grapes.
"Just what I need!" said the fox. He licked his lips and looked up.
But the grapes were high above his head. He stretched his neck as far as it would go.
So the fox jumped. His teeth went snap, but they closed on air. He tried again and again.
He ran at the wall and jumped high. He fell on his tail.
A crow on the wall watched him. Then it said, "Caw!" in a laughing sort of way.
The fox found a rock and climbed up on it. He jumped, and he jumped, and he jumped.
At last he sat in the dust, tired and sore. The grapes still hung there.
The fox sniffed. "Those grapes are sour, anyway," he said. "I would not want them."
He walked off with his nose in the air. Nobody could tell that he was sad.
The crow flew down and ate one. It was as sweet as honey.
Questions
- Over a garden wall
- In a tree
- On the ground
- A box
- A chair
- A rock
- He could not reach them
- He had tasted one
- A crow told him
- Reached out far
- Sat down
- Ran fast
- They were gone
- They were sweet
- They were sour
- Do not scorn what you can not get
- Foxes are fast
- Crows are kind
Words to know
- vine: a plant that climbs
- sour: not sweet
- stretched: reached out far
- sniffed: breathed in through the nose
Answer key: Sour Grapes, Says Fox
- A. Over a garden wall
- C. A rock
- A. He could not reach them
- A. Reached out far
- B. They were sweet
- A. Do not scorn what you can not get
For the teacher: how this passage is levelled
“Sour Grapes, Says Fox” is a reading level 6 story. Every Peabody story at this level is written and checked to keep sentences to 10 words or fewer, to aim at an average of 6 words a sentence, and to show 12 to 20 words on a screen. At most 7% of its words may be off the familiar-word list. Readers reach this level by climbing, not by grade.
| This passage | 188 words, 12 screens, 6 multiple-choice questions with an answer key, and 4 vocabulary words with kid-sized meanings |
|---|---|
| Longest sentence at this level | 10 words |
| Words on a screen | 12 to 20 |
| Skills practised at this level | phonics (sounding words out), first sounds, sight words |
Reading level 6: the limits, a real sample and the free games. Peabody is a learning app, not an assessment: use the questions to talk about the story, not to grade a child.