Read The Velveteen Rabbit & Other Stories for Free Online

he said before running off into the woods.
    Little Red Riding Hood ran to the closet and untied her grandma as the woodsman looked on.
    Later, the three sat down to enjoy the goodies Little Red had brought…and she never, ever, ever spoke to a stranger again!

The Country Mouse and the City Mouse
    T here was once a happy little mouse that lived in the country. In the summer, the country mouse scampered around the wheat field, eating grain whenever he felt like it. As the weather grew cold, the little mouse moved into the farmhouse. Inside he gathered nuts and barley that were dropped on the kitchen floor. When winter came, he had a good supply of food in three neat piles: one fornuts, one for barley, and one for crumbs.
    One snowy winter day, there was a knock at the door. It was his cousin, all the way from the city! When the little city mouse sat down to dinner, he couldn’t believe the country mouse had nothing to eat except barley, nuts, and crumbs.
    The city mouse shook his head and said, “My poor country cousin. You do not live well at all. Why, you should see how I live! I have fine things to eat every day.”
    The country mouse immediately felt ashamed of his simple home.
    The city mouse went on, “Tomorrow, we’ll go to the city. I’ll show you my home and you will see how much nicer it is where I live.”
    In the morning, they went to the city where the houses were big and there were people everywhere.
    The very first place that the city mouse took his cousin was the kitchen cupboard. Inside there was a sack of brown sugar. They began to eat at once. The country mouse had never tasted anything so delicious in his life!
    â€œWow, cousin,” the country mouse said. “You are so lucky!”
    Just then, the door swung open with a bang. The city mouse ran for the hole in the corner of the cupboard but the country mouse froze with fear. A cook reached into the cupboard and to her surprise came nose to nose with the country mouse.
    She let out a scream and dropped the flour on the floor.
    â€œDon’t just stand there, cousin!” shouted the city mouse. “Come on!”
    The country mouse scurried through the little hole. When they were safe, the country mouse said, “Whew! That was close.”
    The city mouse dusted the flour off his whiskers. “Don’t worry. She’ll be gone soon and then we can go back.”
    After the cook had gone away, they crept back to the kitchen. This time, the city mouse had something new to share. They went through the hole in the cupboard, where a big jar of dried cherries was left open. These were even better than the brown sugar! Everything was wonderfuluntil they heard scratch, scratch, scratch on the cupboard door.
    â€œWhat is that?” asked the country mouse.
    Suddenly there was a loud meow!
    The city mouse ran as fast as he could to the hole, and this time the country mouse followed.
    As soon as they were out of danger, the city mouse said with a glint in his eye, “That old cat will never catch me! Let’s go down to the pantry. There is even more food down there!”
    Down in the pantry, there were rounds of cheese, bunches of sausages, and barrels full of pickles. It smelled so good that the little country mouse went wild. He scurried around the room, nibbling a little cheesehere and a bit of a pickle there, until he saw a morsel of cheese on a strange little stand in a corner. He was just about to take a big, healthy bite when the city mouse saw him.
    â€œStop!” cried the city mouse. “That’s a trap!”
    The little country mouse stopped in his tracks. “What’s a trap?”
    â€œThat thing ,” said the little city mouse, “is a trap. The minute you touch the cheese, something comes down on your head hard, and—” The city mouse made a loud clap with his little hands.
    The little country mouse looked at the trap. Then he looked at his cousin. “I think I