Usborne First Reading:How Bear Lost his Tail

Once upon a time, Bear had a long, thick tail. The other animals loved his tail. Bear didn't like it at all. He tripped over it when he was walking. It tickled his nose when he tried to sleep. Little animals would even ride on it. "Bear's tail is better than mine," thought Fox."It's not fair!" He decided to play a trick on him. He crept over to a fisherman and took a few fish. Fox carried the fish to an ice hole in the lake. Bear smelled them. He came closer. "Those fish look delicious,"said Bear. "I can show you how to catch them,"said Fox."Put your tail in the hole,"Fox told Bear. "The fish will bite it and you can pull them out. It may take some time." Bear waited and waited. Day became night. The night grew cold. It began to snow. Thenext day, Fox came back. Was Bear still there? Fox could only see a huge of snow. "Bear?"he shouted. Bear jumped up. But his tail had frozen in the lake...SNAP! It broke off. "I'm so sorry!"Fox cried."I didn't know that would happen." Bear looked at his new short tail, and smiled. "That's better!" Bear padded away -- and he didn't trip once.