Johnny Appleseed ( An American Folktale)

                                                  
This is the  story of  an American folk hero John Chapman. People gave him the nick name Johnny Appleseed  because he introduced and planted apple trees throughout the American Midwest.
John Chapman was born on 26 September 1774 in a small town of America. He was the second child of his parents.
 John took his training as a nurseryman under Mr.Crawford who inspired him to plant apple trees.
''How wonderful it would be if there are apple trees everywhere for everyone.'' John thought.
 He decided to fulfill his wish.

                                                
John left his home with a cooking pot on his head and an old coffee sack filled with apple seeds.
He wandered across the country barefoot. Whenever he found a suitable place he planted apple seeds there.
''There will be enough apples for everybody, no one will die of hunger.'' The noble hearted John wanted everyone to eat apples.

He walked from place to place, town to town and planted apple seeds.
"Look! He is the man who plants apple trees.", people used to exclaim happily when they  saw john.They became so fond of him and  called him Johnny Appleseed. 

                                                                                     
During his journey , Johnny Appleseed met many red Indians who  became very good friends of him. Red Indians cared for Johnny and he helped them too.

                                              
Johnny spent all his life planting apple trees. He died in 1845 at the age of 70. But he is still alive due to his kind and generous deed of planting trees for others.
                   -American folktale Retold by Aunt Mary

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Clouds And Rain (Rhyme)

                                   
Look! Those clouds! They're black and grey,
how wonderful, it's a cloudy day!

I would love if the clouds bring rain,
rain on the roofs and rain in the lane.

Oh no.... look, they are moving away,
black-grey clouds are going other way,

Let's just hope they will come back soon...
with some rain in the afternoon.
                                                              -Aunt Mary

                                                            

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Easy Ways To Help Your Mother At Home

                                                                   
 Dear children, your mother have to do a lot of work everyday. Taking care of a family and a house is not easy at all, it is a very tiring and stressful job. She makes a lot of efforts to make your life easier and comfortable. So what about giving a helping hand to your mom in her household work? 

 It is right that you are so busy with your school, homework, studies and other activities. But you can still manage to take out some time from your daily routine and help your mom in her work at home. Your small help will be a huge support for her.
Here are some easy ways to help your dear mother in the household work -

                                                                            
                                          

                                        

Keep your place clean and tidy- Don't make your room a mess, keep it clean and tidy by keeping your books, toys, clothes ,shoes  and other stuff at it's place. Do not throw the bits of paper, food wrappers etc on the floor. Your mom will feel very relaxed to see your room neat and clean.

                                                                  

                                                                                   

Water the plants- Watering the plants is not very difficult. It is a very nice and enjoyable activity. The best part of it is that by doing this you can take a closer look of nature too.

                                                 
Fill the water bottles-In summers a lot of water is needed for drinking.It becomes very difficult for your mom to provide cool water for the whole family but anyhow she does it. You can help her by filling the water bottles. Every time when you see an empty water bottle fill it and keep it in the fridge.

                   

     Set the table for dinner- Setting the table for dinner is fun and not so difficult at all. When your mother is ready to serve the dinner you can lay the table, you will surely enjoy it. Don't forget to keep your plates in the sink when you have finished eating.

                                                             

Help her in dusting the furniture- Dusting the furniture is a very time taking work. It will not be possible for you to dust everyday but you can help her in dusting on Sundays or on other holidays. 

                                                    
 Hang out the washed clothes- Older kids can help their mom in the laundry work by hanging the clothes outside. It will take just a few minutes.

So these are a few easy ways to help your mother at home to make her  household duties easy for her. You will feel so good to see a much relaxed and happy mom.
                                    

                                                                  
''The most beautiful thing in this world to see your parents smiling and knowing that you are the reason behind that smile.''
                                                                                                          (quote found on Google)
Note For Parents- Taking part in the household activities depends on a child's age and abilities. Some tasks are easy and can be done by both the older and younger kids.But if it is something difficult it can be done  only by the older children. The supervision of parents  is important when kids are doing these tasks.
                                                                                       -Aunt Mary
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God Helps Those Who Help Themselves( Moral Story)

                                                                   
Once three farmer brothers and their old mother lived in a village. They were simple and hard working  people.They had a nice vegetable farm and were living a happy life.

Unfortunately a flood came and destroyed their village.

Thankfully the farmer family managed to gather their savings and some belongings.
 Now they decided to migrate somewhere else. 
''Let's go to my parents' village'' ,said the old woman, I have some share in my late parents' land. I will ask my brother to give me my share. We can start farming there. "
The woman  reached her parents' home with her sons.

She asked her brother for her share. Her brother was selfish and mean. He kept all the good parts of land with him and gave her sister a small piece of land where there were no sources of water available around.
''You can stay here for few days but make your own arrangements as soon as possible.", he told his sister and nephews rudely.
The woman got so disappointed with her brother.

 "Don't worry mother, we must be satisfied with what we have got and shouldn't waste our time in fighting and complaining. Let's think about getting out of this place.'' ,said the eldest son. 
First they made a small shelter in a corner of their land and started  living there. Somehow they managed to collect water for drinking and other uses.But farming needs a lot of water, how could they get water to farm?
They kept their worries for water aside and started tilling the land. 

The three brothers worked  very hard every day.                                                                                                                        
''We are almost done with tilling , only a small portion of land is left. Now we need water for planting seeds.''  Second brother got so tensed.
"Have faith in God , hopefully we will solve this problem." the elder brother told his younger brother. 

Next day when the youngest of the three brothers was digging the soil he saw the fresh reed grass in a corner. The presence of reed grass indicated that there was water under the ground.

                                          
The thrilled young man called his mother and his brothers '' Look there, that is reed grass!''
"Oh! That means there is water here! Reed grows near water.", the mother exclaimed happily.
  ''God showed them the way.''

 ''We don't need to worry about water anymore , I am sure we will  get water on our own land.'' ,eldest brother was hopeful as always.

                                         
The brave and laborious brothers started to dig the soil to find  water. After the continuous labor and hard work of several days they reached the water table.


The  efforts of the three young men finally paid off. The difficult time was over and the good days were about to come soon.

Moral of the story- God Helps Those Who Help Themselves
                                                      

                                                                                - Aunt Mary               
                                                                                               

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