Grandfather Bear said, “Yes, yes, yes! We can have many good times, you and I. But we never, never get tired! You are not tired, are you, Little Bear? Little Bear – are you tired?”

Little Bear was not tired! No!

Little Bear was asleep.

Owl at Home

by Arnold Lobel

The Guest

Owl was at home.

“How good it feels to sit here by this fire,” said Owl. “It is so cold and snowy outside.”

Owl was eating a toast and hot pea soup for supper.

Owl heard a loud sound at the front door.

“Who is there, knocking at my door on a night like this?” he asked.

Owl opened the door. No one was there. Only the snow and the wind.

Owl sat by the fire again. There was another loud sound at the door.

“Who can it be,” said Owl, “knocking at my door on a night like this?”

Owl opened the door. No one was there. Only the snow and the cold.

“The poor old winter is knocking at my door,” said Owl. “Maybe it wants to sit by the fire. Well, I will be kind and let the winter come in.”

Owl opened the door very wide.

“Come in, Winter,” said Owl. “Come in and warm yourself.”

Winter came into the house. It came in very fast. A cold wind pushed Owl to the wall.

Winter ran around the room. It blew out the fire in the fireplace.

The snow covered the stairs and the hallway.

“Winter!” cried Owl. “You are my guest. This is not the way to behave!”

But Winter did not listen. It frosted the windows. It turned the pea soup into green ice.

Winter went to all the rooms of Owl’s house. Soon everything was covered with snow.

“You must go, Winter!” shouted Owl. “Go away, now!”

The wind blew around and around. Then Winter went out and slammed the front door. “Good-bye,” cried Owl, “and do not come back!”

Owl made a new fire in the fireplace. The room became warm again.

The snow melted. The green ice turned into the pea soup again.

Owl sat down in his chair and finished his supper.

Strange Bumps

Owl was in bed. “It is time to go to sleep,” he said. Then Owl saw two bumps under his blanket at the end of his bed.

“What are those strange bumps?” asked Owl.

Owl lifted the blanket. He looked into the bed. He saw only darkness.

Owl went to sleep, but he could not.

“What if those two strange bumps become bigger and bigger when I am asleep?” said Owl. “That will not be pleasant.”

Owl moved his right foot up and down. The bump on the right moved up and down.

“One of those bumps is moving!” cried Owl.

Owl moved his left foot up and down. The bump on the left moved up and down.

“The other bump is moving!” cried Owl.

Owl pulled the blanket off his bed. The bumps were not there.

All Owl saw at the end of the bed were his two feet.

“But now I am cold,” said Owl. “I will cover myself with the blankets again.”

When he did, he saw the two bumps again.

“The bumps are back!” shouted Owl. “Bumps, bumps, bumps! I will never sleep tonight!”

Owl jumped up and down on his bed.

“Where are you? What are you?” he cried.

With a crash the bed broke.

Owl ran down the stairs. He sat in his chair by the fire.

“Let those two strange bumps sit on my bed,” said Owl. “Let them grow as big as they wish. I will sleep here where I am safe.”

And that is what he did.

Tear-water Tea

Owl took the kettle out of the cupboard.

“Tonight I will make tear-water tea,” he said.

He put the kettle on his lap. “Now,” said Owl, “I will begin.”

Owl sat very still. He began to think of things that were sad.

“Chairs with broken legs,” said Owl. His eyes began to water.

“Songs that cannot be sung,” said Owl, “because the words are forgotten.”

Owl began to cry. A big tear rolled down his face and dropped into the kettle.

“Spoons and forks that are lost,” said Owl.

More tears dropped into the kettle.

“Books that cannot be read,” said Owl, “because some pages are lost.”

“Clocks that are broken,” said Owl, “because no one could fix them.”

Owl was crying. Many big tears dropped into the kettle.

“Mornings nobody saw because everybody was sleeping,” cried Owl.

“Vegetables left on a plate,” he cried, “because no one wanted to eat them. And pencils that are too short to use.”

Owl thought about many other sad things. He cried and cried.

Soon the kettle was filled with tears.

“There,” said Owl. “That is enough!”

Owl stopped crying. He put the kettle on the stove to boil for tea.

Owl felt happy when he filled his cup with tea.

“It is a little salty,” he said, “but tear-water tea is always very good.”

Upstairs and Downstairs

Owl’s house had an upstairs and a downstairs.

There were twenty stairs between them.

Sometimes Owl was upstairs in his bedroom.

Other times Owl was downstairs in his living room.

When Owl was downstairs, he said, “I wonder how my upstairs is?”

When Owl was upstairs, he said, “I wonder how my downstairs is? I always miss one place or the other. I want to be upstairs and downstairs at the same time.”

“Maybe if I run very very fast, I can be in both places at the same time,” said Owl.

Owl ran up the stairs. “I am up,” he said.

Owl ran down the stairs. “I am down,” he said.

Owl ran up and down the stairs faster and faster.

“Owl!” he cried. “Are you downstairs?”

There was no answer.

“No,” said Owl. “I am not downstairs because I am upstairs. I am not running fast enough.”

“Owl!” he shouted again. “Are you upstairs?”

There was no answer.

“No,” said Owl. “I am not upstairs because I am downstairs. I must run faster.”

“Faster, faster, faster!” cried Owl.

Owl ran upstairs and downstairs all evening.

But he could not be in both places at the same time.

“When I am up,” said Owl, “I am not down. When I am down, I am not up. All I am is very tired!”

Owl sat down to rest. He sat on the tenth step because it was a place that was right in the middle.

Owl and the Moon

One night Owl went to the seashore.

He sat on a big rock and looked at the waves. Everything was dark.

Then the moon went up over the sea.

Owl watched the moon. It went higher and higher into the sky.

Soon the whole, round moon was shining.

Owl sat on the rock and looked at the moon for a long time.

“If I am looking at you, moon, then you must be looking at me. We must be very good friends.”