Colors
Level 9
MacMillan Reading Series
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Stories in this book:
▸ Rico and the Red Pony Page 10 (Written by Dina Anastasio)
▸ A Present for the Queen Page 30
▸ Fox and His Tail Page 50 (Written by Rebecca Rise)
▸ A Baby for Nicky Page 60 (Written by Barbara Brenner)
▸ Little Blue and Little Yellow Page 78 ( Written by Leo Lionni)
▸ Fall Leaves Page 90 (Written by Dina Anastasio)
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Rico and the Red Pony Page 10 (Story #1, Colors, Level 9 )
Written by Dina Anastasio
Link to larger, printable pdf copy: Rico and the Red Pony
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Rico lived in a big city. And he ran a flower shop. Rico loved his flowers, for the flowers were very quiet. And Rico loved quiet.
But the city where Rico lived was not quiet. If he saw a car or bus, Rico yelled, “Quiet! Why can’t you be quiet?”
Then he said to himself, “Rico, you don’t like the city. Why don’t you move away?” But Rico didn’t move out of the city.
At the flower shop, there was a little red pony. Rico did not like this pony.
But the boys and girls loved it. Every day they came to the shop. They jumped on the pony, and they put in money. The little red pony went up and down. As the pony went up and down, the children liked to pretend. They liked to pretend that they were in the country. They yelled, “Look at me, look at me!” Or “Go, pony, go!”
And they were happy.
But they were not quiet. And that was why Rico did not like the pony. Every day he came out of his shop and yelled at the children. “Quiet!” he said to them. “Why can’t you be quiet?”
Rico yelled at them and the children ran away.
But they came back. They came back every day. And every day, Rico yelled at them.
Just One Ride ( Part 2 of this story, Rico and the Red Pony)
One day Rico came out of his shop. He looked at the boys and girls. He thought and thought. Then he said, “That’s it! That’s it!” And he put a sign on the red pony.
The sign said
“This pony does not work!”
Then he went back into his shop.
A boy came up to the pony and put in a dime. But the pony did not go up and down. It didn’t move.
“I don’t know what Rico did,” the boy said. “But we can’t ride it.”
So the children went home. They were all very sad.
It was very, very quiet in the flower shop. And Rico was happy.
But then a little girl came to the shop. She went up the little pony and looked at the sign. Then she went in to see Rico.“Can’t I ride the pony?” she asked.
“The pony does not work,” he told her.
The little girl looked at Rico and said, “But this is my birthday. I have just one dime. All I want for my birthday is a ride on the pony.”
“The pony does not work,” Rico said again.
“But it is my birthday,” said the little girl.
Rico looked at the little girl. She looked very sad.
“One ride,” he told her. “Just one ride and then go home.”
The little girl ran out to the pony. Rico went with her. He went to work on the little pony. Then he said, “You can put your dime in.”
The little girl put her dime in. But the red pony didn’t move.
“Wait,” Rico told her. “I will sit on it and see what I can do.”
The little girl looked up at Rico and laughed. “Look at you,” she said. “You look funny up there.”
Rico Pretends (Part 3 of this story, Rico and the Red Pony)
Just then the little red pony went up and down. It went up and down, and up and down.
“Stop it! Stop it!” called Rico.
But the pony didn’t stop. Up and down went the little pony, and up and down went Rico.
The little girl watched and laughed. “Pretend,” she called. “Pretend you can go very fast.”
But Rico didn’t want to go very fast. He just wanted to be quiet. He wanted to be in the country.
“I’ll pretend,” he thought. “I’ll pretend that I’m in the country.”
And that’s what Rico did. The trees were blooming. The flowers were blooming. He was all alone. And it was very quiet. Now Rico was very, very happy.
But then the little pony came to a stop. It didn’t move. Then Rico saw the cars. He saw a big bus. And he saw his shop. The trees and flowers in the country were gone. He was back in the city.
Rico looked down at the little girl. “You were right,” he said. “You were very right. Now I know that it is good to pretend.”
Then Rico gave the little girl a dime and went in to look at his flowers. The little girl put in the dime. Then she went up and down on the pony.
“Look at me, look at me!” she called to Rico. “Look how fast I can go!”
Rico watched her. “Yes,” he thought. “The children are right. It is good to pretend.”
The little girl went to tell her friends. The boys and girls came back to the flower shop. And there was a sign on the pony. The sign said
This Pony works now.
But you don’t have to put in a dime.
The End
Words, below, from Rico and the Red Pony.
- Please read and reread these words and sentences
- Please, practice saying these words and sentences out loud
- Please, practice again and again
- Please, try to remember these words
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A Present for the Queen Page 30 (Story #2 in Colors, Level 9 )
Words, below, from “A Present for the Queen”
- Please read and reread these words and sentences
- Please, practice saying these words and sentences out loud
- Please, practice again and again
- Please, try to remember these words
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The Fox and His Tail Page 50 (Story #3 in Colors, Level 9)
Words, below, from “The Fox and His Tail”
- Please read and reread these words and sentences
- Please, practice saying these words and sentences out loud
- Please, practice again and again
- Please, try to remember these words
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A Baby for Nicky Page 60 (Story #4 in Colors, Level 9 )
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Little Blue and Little Yellow Page 78 (Story # 5 in Colors, Level 9 )
Words, below, from “Little Blue and Little Yellow”
- Please read and reread these words and sentences
- Please, practice saying these words and sentences out loud
- Please, practice again and again
- Please, try to remember these words
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The Fall Leaves Page 90 (Story # 6 in Colors, Level 9 )
Words, below, from “The Fall Leaves”
- Please read and reread these words and sentences
- Please, practice saying these words and sentences out loud
- Please, practice again and again
- Please, try to remember these words
Contractions:
New words (below) that are in the stories in this book, Colors, Level 9.
- Please read and reread these words many times.
- Practice, practice, practice.
- Many of these words will be in the next books.
- It is important to understand, read, say and remember as many of these words as you can.
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English 4 Me 2 