Text Leveling System

The Three Little Javelinas

RDQ:	600	Max Word/Sent	26	Total Words	991		Diff Words	378
Lex	660	Ave Word/.Sent	9	Hi Freq occurs	626	63.2%	Hi freq	148	39.2%
AR	2.9	Long Sentences	2.9	Low Freq occurs	55	5.5%	Low freq	34	9%

Once upon a time  
way out in the desert, there were three 
little javelinas. javelinas are wild, hairy, 
southwestern cousins of pigs.
Their heads were hairy, their backs were hairy, and their 
bony legs-all the way down to their hard little hooves-
were very hairy. But their snouts were soft and pink.
One day, the three little javelinas trotted away to seek 
their fortunes. In this hot, dry land, the sky was almost 
always blue. Steep purple mountains looked down on the 
desert, where the cactus forests grew.
Soon the little javelinas came to a spot where the path 
divided, and each one went a different way.]]
The first little javelina wandered lazily 
along. He didn't see a dust storm 
whirling across the desert-until it 
caught him.
The whirlwind blew away and left the 
first little javelina sitting in a heap of 
tumbleweeds. Brushing himself off, he 
said, ""I'll build a house with them!"" And 
in no time at all, he did.]]
Then along came a coyote. He ran through the desert so quickly 
and so quietly that he was almost invisible. In fact, this was 
only one of Coyote's many magical tricks. He laughed when he 
saw the tumbleweed house and smelled the javelina inside. 
""Mmm! A tender juicy piggy!"" he thought. Coyote was tired of 
eating mice and rabbits.]]
He called out sweetly, ""Little pig, little pig, let me 
come in.""
""Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!"" shouted 
the first javelina (who had a lot of hair on his chinny-
chin-chin!)
""Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house 
in!"" said Coyote.]]
And he huffed, and he puffed, and he blew the little 
tumbleweed house away.
But in all the hullabaloo, the first little javelina escaped-
and went looking for his brother and sister.
Coyote, who was very sneaky, tiptoed along behind.]]
The second little javelina walked for miles among 
giant cactus plants called saguaros. They 
held their ripe red fruit high in the sky. But they made 
almost no shade, and the little javelina grew hot.
Then he came upon a Native American woman 
who was gathering sticks from inside a dried-up 
cactus. She planned to use these long sticks,
called saguaro ribs, to knock down the sweet 
cactus fruit.
The second little javelina said, 
""Please, may I have some sticks to 
build a house?""
""Ha u,"" she said, which means 
""yes"" in the language of the Desert People.]]
When he was finished building
his house, he lay down in the
shade. Then his brother arrived,
panting from the heat, and the 
second little javelina moved over 
and made a place for him.]]
Pretty soon, Coyote found the saguaro rib house. He used his magic to make his voice sound just like another javelina's.
""Little pig, little pig, let me come in!"" he called.
But the little javelinas were suspicious. The second one cried, ""No! Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!"" ""Bah!"" thought Coyote. ""I am not going to eat your hair. "" Then Coyote smiled, showing all his sharp teeth: ""I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in!""
So he huffed, and he puffed, and all the saguaro ribs came tumbling down.]]
But the two little javelinas escaped into the desert. Still not discouraged, Coyote followed. Sometimes his magic did fail, but then he usually came up with another trick.]]
The third little javelina trotted through beautiful palo verde trees, with green trunks and yellow flowers. She saw a snake sliding by, smooth as oil. A hawk floated round and round above her. Then she came to a place where a man was making adobe bricks from mud and straw. The bricks lay on the ground, baking in the hot sun.
The third little javelina thought for a moment, and said, ""May I please have a few adobes to build a house?""
""Si, "" answered the man, which means ""yes"" in Spanish, the brick-maker's language.]]
So the third javelina built herself a solid little adobe house, cool in summer and warm in winter. When her brothers found her, she welcomed them in and locked the
door behind them.
Coyote followed their trail.]]
""Little pig, little pig, let me come in!"" he called.
The three little javelinas looked out the window. This time Coyote pretended to be very old and weak, with no teeth and a sore paw. But they were not fooled.
""No! Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin,"" called back the third little javelina.
""Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in!"" said Coyote. He grinned, thinking of the wild pig dinner to come.
""just try it!"" shouted the third little javelina. So Coyote huffed and puffed, but the adobe bricks did not budge.
Again, Coyote tried. ""I'LL HUFF ... AND I'LL PUFF ... AND I'LL BLOW YOUR HOUSE IN!""
The three little javelinas covered their hairy ears. But nothing happened. The javelinas peeked out the window.]]
The tip of Coyote's raggedy tail whisked right past their noses. He was climbing upon the tin roof. Next, Coyote used his magic to make himself very skinny.
""The stove pipe!"" gasped the third little javelina. Quickly she lighted a fire inside her wood stove.
""What a feast it will be!"" Coyote said to himself. He squeezed into the stove pipe. ""I think I'll eat them with red hot chile sauce!""
Whoosh. S-s-sizzle!]]
Then the three little javelinas heard an amazing noise. It was not a bark. It was not a cackle. It was not a howl. It was not a scream. It was all of those sounds together. Yip
yap yeep YEE-OWW-OOOO!"" Away ran a puff of smoke shaped like a coyote.]]
The three little javelinas lived happily ever after in the
adobe house.
And if you ever hear Coyote's voice, way out in the
desert at night...well, you know what he's remembering!]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Dialog: Two speakers

Vocabulary: Some difficult words

Language: Many descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Story/Poem

Inferences: Some implications

Complexity: Several ideas - closely related

Concept: Fanciful

Features

Parody

Topic

Deserts

Danger

*Animals

Animals: Desert

Low Frequency Words

adobe	adobes	chinny	cousins	coyote's
discouraged	escaped	fortunes	gathering	hooves
hullabaloo	invisible	javelina	javelina's	javelinas
language	lazily	magical	palo	raggedy
saguaro	saguaros	sauce	sizzle	sliding
southwestern	suspicious	tumbleweed	tumbleweeds	verde
wandered	whirling	whirlwind	whisked