Peacocks Tail

Peacock’s Tail by Patrick Doherty illustrated by Stephan Daigle HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

Peacock’s Tail by Patrick Doherty illustrated by Stephan Daigle Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers, Attn: Permissions, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-6777. Printed in China ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02710-4 ISBN-10: 0-547-02710-9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0940 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 If you have received these materials as examination copies free of charge, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers retains title to the materials and they may not be resold. Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited. Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication, or any portion of it, into electronic format.

Long ago, Crow and Peacock were very good friends. They looked alike, too. Both birds had plain white feathers. One day, the friends went for a walk to look at the flowers. They liked all the pretty colors. 2

“Wouldn’t it be nice to have colored feathers?” asked Crow. “I know a way to change our feathers!” Peacock said. “We can paint them.” “Okay,” said Crow. “I’ll paint yours. Then you can paint mine.” 3

Peacock agreed. So Crow poured some paint out of a can and dipped his brush in it. Crow painted Peacock’s feathers blue, green, and black. “Paint eyes on my tail feathers so I can see myself,” Peacock said. 4

So Crow painted eyes on Peacock’s tail feathers. Peacock had never seen such a fine display of feathers! He started to strut around, showing off his tail. “I am the most beautiful bird in the world!” Peacock said. 5

“Now it’s my turn,” said Crow. But Peacock didn’t want to paint Crow. He wanted to look at his own beautiful tail. So Peacock asked Crow, “Do you like brown or black?” “I like black,” Crow said. 6

So Peacock picked up a can of black paint and poured it on Crow’s head! Crow could not get the black paint off his feathers. Peacock left Crow standing alone, dripping with paint. Then Peacock took a trip around the world to show off his feathers. 7

Crow stayed at home in the forest. His shiny black feathers were beautiful, but he still felt sad. Crow had lost his best friend. Peacock showed off his feathers all over the world, but he was lonely, too. One day he went back to the forest. 8

Peacock found Crow in the forest. “I traveled around the world to show off my beautiful tail,” Peacock said. “I have been too proud. I’m sorry.” “I missed you!” said Crow. 9

“I missed you, too!” cried Peacock. “When I was away, I learned an important lesson. Now I know that pride does not make you happy!” Since that day, Crow and Peacock have been best friends. 10

Responding TARGET SKILL Sequence of Events What happened first in the story? What happened next? What happened last? Make a chart. Write About It Text to Text Think of a different story that tells why an animal looks the way it looks. Write two sentences about the animal and why it looks that way. 11

WORDS TO KNOW been never own brown know off very out LEARN MORE WORDS display strut TARGET SKILL Sequence of Events Tell the order in which things happen. TARGET STRATEGY Question Ask questions about what you are reading. GENRE A folktale is a story that is often told by people of a country. 12

Level: L DRA: 24 Genre: Folktale Strategy: Question Skill: Sequence of Events Word Count: 344 1.3.12 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN Online Leveled Books ISBN-13:978-0-547-02710-4 ISBN-10:0-547-02710-9 1032738