The Winter Hut

You just can't beat the size and shape of these old Weekly Reader books!

Winter Hut

Cynthia Jameson

pictures by Ray Cruz 1973

This one is a retelling of a Russian folk tale about a group of animals who run away from their farm when they find out they are going to be eaten.

They escape to the forrest where they find plenty to eat, but only Ox has the foresight to plan for Winter and build a hut for shelter.  None of the other animals help him (which so often happens in folk tales!).  But when Winter comes and they are cold and hungry, they go begging for shelter at Ox's door.  He begrudgingly lets them in, where they proceed to selfishly eat his stored food and sleep in his bed.  Meanwhile, out in the woods, a hungry wolf and bear discover their hut and decide to eat them.  They are in for a surprise though, when all the animals attack- Ox and Ram using their horns, Pig biting and Rooster clawing.  Wolf and Bear runs for their lives, convinced that a monster lives in the hut.  And so the animals all live together cozy and safe.

(The monster Wolf and Bear imagined.)