Once upon a time there was a dear little girl who was loved by everyone who looked at her, but most of all by her grandmother, and there was nothing that she would not have given to the child. Once she gave her a little cap of red velvet, which suited her so well that she would never wear anything else. So she was always called Little Red Riding Hood.
One day her mother said to her, “Come, Little Red Riding Hood, here is a piece of cake and a bottle of wine. Take them to your grandmother, she is ill and weak, and they will do her good. Set out before it gets hot, and when you are going, walk nicely and quietly and do not run off the path, or you may fall and break the bottle, and then your grandmother will get nothing. And when you go into her room, don’t forget to say, good-morning, and don’t peep into every corner before you do it.”
I will take great care, said Little Red Riding Hood to her mother, and gave her hand on it.
The grandmother lived out in the wood, half a league from the village, and just as Little Red Riding Hood entered the wood, a wolf met her. Little Red Riding Hood did not know what a wicked creature he was, and was not at all afraid of him.
“Good-day, Little Red Riding Hood,” said he.
“Thank you kindly, wolf.”
“Whither away so early, Little Red Riding Hood?”
“To my grandmother’s.”
“What have you got in your apron?”
“Cake and wine. Yesterday was baking-day, so poor sick grandmother is to have something good, to make her stronger.”
“Where does your grandmother live, Little Red Riding Hood?”
“A good quarter of a league farther on in the wood. Her house stands under the three large oak-trees, the nut-trees are just below. You surely must know it,” replied Little Red Riding Hood.
The wolf thought to himself, “What a tender young creature. What a nice plump mouthful, she will be better to eat than the old woman. I must act craftily, so as to catch both.” So he walked for a short time by the side of Little Red Riding Hood, and then he said, “see Little Red Riding Hood, how pretty the flowers are about here. Why do you not look round? I believe, too, that you do not hear how sweetly the little birds are singing. You walk gravely along as if you were going to school, while everything else out here in the wood is merry.”
To be continued…
KIDS N HEALTH
What’s earwax?
Earwax is made in the outer ear canal. This is the area between the fleshy part of the ear on the outside of your head (the part you can see) and the middle ear. The skin in the outer ear canal has special glands that produce earwax. The fancy name for this waxy stuff is cerumen (say: suh-ROO-mun).
After the wax is made, it slowly makes its way through the outer ear canal to the opening of the ear. Then it either falls out or is removed when you wash. In most people, the outer ear canal makes earwax all the time, so the canal always has enough wax in it.
So why do we need wax? Earwax has several important jobs. First, it protects and moisturizes the skin of ear canal, preventing dry, itchy ears. Second, it contains special chemicals that fight off infections that could hurt the skin inside the ear canal. Finally, it acts as a shield between the outside world and the eardrum. When dust, dirt, and other things enter your ear, the earwax traps them so they can’t travel any further.
If you want to get rid of earwax, here’s what you need to do: nothing! Most kids don’t need to do anything special to remove earwax. If you wash your hair regularly, this is enough to keep your ears clean.
You can wipe the outside of your ear with a washcloth but don’t use a cotton swab, your finger, or anything else to poke around inside your ear to remove earwax. Your ear canal and eardrum are very delicate, and you may hurt them or cause bleeding by trying to get rid of wax this way. Poking around in your ear can also push and pack the wax in further.
In some kids, one or both ear canals make extra earwax. If this sounds like you, tell an adult. Doctors often can prescribe special medicines that are placed in the ear to get rid of extra wax.
Did you know?
1.There are about 8.7 million unique species living on the earth! Of these, 2.2 million are in the oceans and the rest on land.
2. It is impossible to lick your own elbow
3. A hippopotamus can run faster than a man
4. Squirrels plant more trees than an average human in their lifetime! How? They just hide their acorns and nuts underground and forget about them
5. An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its whole brain.
Quiz
1. What is the distance around a circle called?
2. Which planet in our solar system is known to have a ring?
3. In which street does the British Prime Minister live?
4. The Nigerian flag was designed in 1959 by?
5. The smallest continent in the world is?
ANSWERS
1. Circumference 2. Saturn 3. Downing Street (Number 10) 4. Taiwo Akinkunmi 5. Australia
Riddles
1. What do you call it when your parachute doesn’t open?
2. You can you serve it, but never eat it? What is it?
3. How do oceans say hello to each other?
4. What can you catch but not throw?
5. Which letter of the alphabet has the most water?
6. What goes up and down but never moves?
ANSWERS
1. Jumping to a conclusion. 2. A tennis ball. 3. They wave! 4. Cold. 5. The C. 6. The temperature.
