Text Leveling System

The Stories Julian Tells

RDQ:	673	Max Word/Sent	36	Total Words	3076		Diff Words	684
Lex	670	Ave Word/.Sent	8	Hi Freq occurs	2379	77.3%	Hi freq	319	46.6%
AR	3.1	Long Sentences	3.9	Low Freq occurs	57	1.9%	Low freq	43	6.3%

The Pudding Like a Night on the Sea
I'm going to make something special for your mother," my father said.
My mother was out shopping. My father was in the kitchen, looking at the pots and pans and the jars of this and that.
"What are you going to make?" I said.]]
"A pudding," he said.
My father is a big man with thick black hair.
When he laughs, the sun laughs in the windowpanes.
When he thinks, you can almost see his
thoughts sitting on all the tables and chairs.
"What kind of pudding will you make?" my
brother, Huey, asked.
"A wonderful pudding," my father said. "It
will taste like a whole raft of lemons. It will
taste like a night on the sea."
Then he took down a knife and sliced five
lemons in half. He squeezed the first one. Juice
squirted in my eye.
"You okay?" he asked.
I nodded.]]
"Stand back!" he said, smiling, and squeezed
again. The seeds flew out onto the floor. "Can
you pick up those seeds, Huey?"
Huey took the broom and swept them up.
My father cracked some eggs and put the
yolks in a pan and the whites in a bowl. He
rolled up his sleeves and pushed back his hair
and beat the yolks.
"Sugar, please, Julian!" he said, and I poured
the sugar.
He went on beating the eggs. Then he put
in lemon juice and cream and set the pan on the
stove. The pudding bubbled, and he stirred it
fast. Cream splashed on the stove.
"Would you wipe that up, Huey?" he asked.]]
Huey did.
It was hot by the stove. My father loosened
his collar and pushed at his sleeves. The stuff
in the pan was getting thicker and thicker. He
held the eggbeater up high in the air.
"Just right!" he said, and sniffed in the smell
of the pudding.
He whipped the egg whites with the eggbeater
and mixed them into the pudding. The
pudding looked softer and lighter than air.]]
"Done!" he said. He washed all the pots,
splashing water on the floor, and wiped the
counter so fast his hair made circles around his
head.
"Perfect!" he said. "Now I'm going to
take a nap. If something important happens,
bother me. If nothing important happens, do
not bother me. And the pudding is for your
mother. Leave the pudding alone!"
He went to the living room and was asleep in
a minute, sitting straight up in his chair.
Huey and I guarded the pudding.
"Oh, it's a wonderful pudding," Huey said.
"With waves on the top like the ocean," I said.
"I wonder how it tastes," Huey said.]]
"Leave the pudding alone," I said.
"If l just put my finger in--there-I'll know
how it tastes," Huey said.
And he did it.
"You did it!" I said. "How does it taste?"
"It tastes like a whole raft of lemons," he said.
"It tastes like a night on the sea."
"You've made a hole in the pudding!" I said.
"But since you did it, I'll have a taste." And it
tasted like a whole night of lemons. It tasted
like floating at sea.
"It's such a big pudding, Huey said. "It can't
hurt to have a little more."
"Since you took more, I'll have more," I said.
"That was a bigger lick than I rook!" Huey]]
said. 'I'm going to have more again."
Whoops!" I said.
"You put in your whole hand!" Huey said.
"Look at the pudding you spilled on the floor!"
"I'm going to clean it up," I said. And I took
a rag from the sink.
"That's not really clean," Huey said.
"It's the best I can do," I said.
"Look at the pudding!" Huey said.
It looked like craters on the moon.
"We have to smooth this over," I said. "So ,it
looks the way it did before! Let's get spoons."
We evened the pudding with spoons, and
while we evened it, we ate some more.
"There isn't much left," I said.]]
"We were supposed to leave the pudding
alone," Huey said.
'Let's go away from here!" I said. We hid the
pudding in the cabinet, then ran into our bedroom
and quietly shut the door.
Huey looked up at me. "What do we do
now., "
My father had taught me that when I got
worried or upset, I should count. So that's what
I did. "One, two, three, four . . . " By the time
I got to ten, I had an idea. In a little while, we
heard our father's voice. Where are you boys?"
he said. He sounded very stem.
We're right here," I said, opening our door.
"Upstairs. We're just picking up our room. And]]
making our beds. The way Mom told us to do.
And when we finish, we will take out the trash.
And do anything else to help you."
"I don't want help! Come on downstairs!"
our dad said.
Uh-oh, I thought. My plan was not working.
We went down to the kitchen.
"What do you have to tell me?" he asked.
"When we looked at the pudding," Huey
said, "we felt sorry for it."
"We thought it might be lonely," I said. 'Just
one pudding, all by itself in the kitchen."
"We thought it would be less lonely if we
tasted it," Huey said.
"So we tasted it," I said.]]
'Just tasted it," Huey said. "At first."
. 'We're sorry," we both said at the same time.
My dad shook his head.
Where is the pudding?" be said.
"We put it in the cabinet next to the dishes,"
I said.
My father pulled open the cabinet door.
Sure enough, the pudding was right there, in
the cabinet.
Only there wasn't much of it.
Our father groaned. He grabbed his hair in
his hands. He took a deep breath.
Now it was his turn to count.
"One. Two. Three," be said. He continued
counting, slowly. "Twelve. Thirteen."]]
That's when our mother came in, with two
big bags of groceries.
. "Hello!" she said. She set her bags down and
stared into the cabinet.
"Your pudding?" she said with one hand on
her hip.
"It used to be," our dad said.
"It looks like it was nice," our mom said.
My dad didn't answer her. He started counting
again.
My mom picked up the little bit of pudding
and set it on the kitchen counter. She shook her
head, and then she scraped it into the trash.
"Julian and Huey," she said, "did you mess
with this pudding?"]]
"Dad told us to leave the pudding alone," I
said .
"We meant to," Huey said, "but we tasted it.
And then--we kept on."
"I can see you made a wrong decision," my
room said. "I hope the next time you have a
hard decision, you'll make the right one."
She said to my dad, "Please help me unload
the groceries, Ralph." He stopped counting and
helped her.
In the stuff he unloaded there were five lemons,
and cream, and a dozen eggs.
"Everything we need or a new pudding!"
my dad said.
Mom just smiled. "Maybe if the boys make]]
it, they won't be so tempted to mess with it.
Would you make it, boys?"
We said we would.
So my mom and dad showed us how to do
new things, hard ones like separating egg yolks
from egg whites and beating them and adding
sugar and lemon juice into them and beating
everything more. And then letting it rest for a
good long time.
When the pudding was finished, my dad
passed it to my mother to taste.
"Would you like some, boys?" my mom said.
"No thank you," we said.
My mother picked up a spoon. "Why, this]]
tastes like a whole raft of lemons," she said.
"This tastes like a night on the sea."]]
Catalog Cats
"Would you boys like to plant gardens?" my
father said.
"Yes," we said.
"Good!" said my father. "I'll order a catalog."]]
So it was settled. But afterward, Huey said to
me, "What's a catalog?"
"A catalog," I said, "is where cats come from.
It's a big book full of pictures of hundreds and
hundreds of cats. And when you open it up, all
the cats jump out and start running around."
"I don't believe you," Huey said.
"It's true," I said.
"But why would Dad be sending for that
catalog cat book?"
"The cats help with the garden," I said.
"I don't believe you," Huey said.
"It's true," I said. "You open the catalog, and
the cats jump out. Then they run outside and
work in the garden. White cats dig up the]]
ground with their claws. Black cats brush the
ground smooth with their rails. Yellow and
brown cats roll on the seeds to push them
underground so they can grow."
"I don't believe you,'' Huey said. "Cats don't
act like that."
"Of course," I said, "ordinary cats don't act
like that. That's why you have to get them
specially--catalog cats."
"Really?" Huey said.
"Really," I said.
'I'm going to ask Dad about it," Huey said.
"You ask Dad about everything," I said.
"Don't you think it's time you learned
something on your own for a change?"]]
Huey looked hurt. "I do learn things by
myself," he said. "I wonder when the catalog
will come."
"Soon," I said.
The next morning Huey woke me up. "I
dreamed about the catalog cats!" he said. "Only
in my dream the yellow and brown ones were
washing the windows and painting the house!
You don't suppose they could do that, do you?"
"No, they can't do that, Huey," I said. 'They
don't have a way to hold rags and paintbrushes."
"I suppose not," Huey said.
Every day Huey asked my father if the catalog
had come.
"Not yet," my father kept saying. He was very]]
pleased that Huey was so interested in the garden.
Huey dreamed about the catalog cats again. A
whole team of them was carrying a giant squash
to the house. One had his teeth around the stem.
The others were pushing it with their shoulders
and their heads.
"Do you think that's what they really do,
Julian?" Huey said.
"Yes, they do that," I said.
Two weeks went by.
"Well, Huey and Julian," my father said,
"today is the big day. The catalog is here."
"The catalog is here! The catalog is here! The
catalog is here!" Huey said. He was dancing and
twirling around.]]
I was thinking about  going someplace else.
"What's the matter, Julian?" my father said.
"Don't you want to see the catalog?"
"Oh, yes, I want to see it," I said.
My father had the catalog under his arm. The
three of us sat down on the couch.
"Open it! " Huey said .
My father opened the catalog.
Inside were bright pictures of flowers and vegetables.
The catalog company would send you
the seeds, and you could grow the flowers and
vegetables.
Huey started turning the pages faster and
faster. "Where are the cats? Where are the cats?"
he kept saying.]]
"What cats? my father said.
Huey started to cry.
My father looked at me. "Julian," he said,
"please tell me what is going on,"
Huey thought catalogs were books with cats
in them. Catalog cats," I said.]]
Huey sobbed. Julian told me! Special cats cats
that work in gardens! White ones--they dig
up the dirt. Black ones--they brush the ground
with their tails. Yellow and brown ones--they
roll on the seeds." Huey was crying harder than
ever.
'Julian!" said my father.
"Yes," I said. When my father's voice gets
loud, mine gets so small I can only whisper.
'Julian," my father said, "didn't you tell
Huey that catalog cats are invisible?"
"No , "I said .
'Julian told me they jumped out of catalogs!
He said they jump out and work in gardens. As
soon as you get the catalog, they go to work."]]
"Well," said my father, "that's very silly.
Julian has never had a garden before in his life.
I wouldn't trust a person who has never had a
garden in his life to tell me about catalog cats.
Would you?"
"No," Huey said slowly. He was still crying a
little.
My father pulled out his handkerchief and
gave it to Huey. "Now, blow your nose and
listen to me," my father said.
Huey blew his nose and sat up straight on the
couch. I sat back and tried to be as small as I
could.
"First of all," said my father, "a lot of people
have wasted a lot of time trying to see catalog]]
cats. It's a waste of time because catalog cats are
the fastest animals alive. No one is as quick as a
catalog cat. It may be that they really are visible
and that they just move so quickly you can't see
them. But you can feel them. When you look
for a catalog cat over your right shoulder, you can
feel that he is climbing the tree above your left
ear. When you tum fast and look at the tree, you
can feel that he has jumped out and landed behind
your back. And then sometimes you feel all
the little hairs on your backbone quiver-that's
when you know a catalog cat is laughing at you
and telling you that you are wasting your time.
"Catalog cats love gardens, and they love to
work in gardens. However, they will only do]]
half the work. If they are in a garden where
people don't do any work, the catalog cats will
not do any work either. But if they are in a
garden where people work hard, all the work
will go twice as fast because of the catalog cats."
"When you were a boy and had a garden,"
Huey said, "did your garden have catalog cats?"
"Yes," my father said, "my garden had
catalog cats."
- "And were they your friends?" Huey said.
"Well," my father said, "they like people, but
they move too fast to make friends.
"There's one more thing," my father said.
"Catalog cats aren't in garden catalogs, and only]]
around the companies the catalogs come from.
You don't order them, you request them."
"I can write up a request," I said.
"Huey can do that very well, I'm sure," my
father said, "if he would like to. Would you like
to, Huey.
Huey said he would.
My father got a piece of paper and pencil.
And Huey wrote it all down:
Requested
1 dozen catalog cats
all varieties whoever wants to come is welcome.]]
Our Garden
We planted tomatoes, squash, onions, garlic,
peas, pumpkins, and potatoes. Besides that we
planted two special things we saw in the catalog,
which were]]
Genuine corn of the Ancients! It
grows 20 feet high. Harvest your
corn with a ladder. Surprise your
friends and neighbors.
and
Make a house of flowers. Our
beans grow ten feet tall Grow
them around string! Make a
beautiful roof and walls out of
their scarlet blossoms.
Huey was the one who wanted the house of
flowers the most. I wanted the giant corn. My
rather said he wasn't sure he wanted either giant
corn or a flower house, and if we wanted them,
we would have to take care of them all summer
by pulling weeds. We said we would.]]
We planted everything one Saturday. We
worked all day long, getting the ground
smooth and even, and laying the little seeds
down in rows. The whole time I felt the catalog
cats were there, swirling their tails in
the air.
We finished just before the sun went down.
My mother gave Huey and me baths. She
said we were dirty enough that she could
grow plants on our hands and knees.
When we were clean, we had supper, with
chocolate pie for dessert, and went to bed.
Huey went to sleep right away. But I didn't.
I put my jacket on over my pajamas and went
out the back door to the garden. In the dark it]]
looked as if the garden was sleeping. I lay down
on the grass. It was cold and a little wet.
I looked up. I thought all the catalog cats
were sitting on the roof of the garage, staring at
me. Over the top of the garage was the moon, a
little moon with sharp horns. There were birds
rustling in the dark branches of the trees.
The seeds were dreaming, I thought. I put
my mouth next to the ground, and I spoke to the
seeds very softly: "Grow! And you corn seeds,
grow high as the house!"
In just one week the seeds did start to grow,
and we watered them and weeded them. By the
end of the summer we had vegetables from the]]
garden every night. And the corn did grow as
high as the house, although there wasn't very
much of it, and it was almost too tough to eat.
The best thing of all was Huey's house made of
flowers. After a while the flowers dropped their
petals and turned into beans, and we ate the
beans for supper. So what Huey made was probably
the first house anyone ever played in and
then ate. Catalog cats are strange-but a house
you eat for dinner is stranger yet.]]
Because of Figs
In the summer I like to lie in the grass and look
at clouds and eat figs. Figs are soft and purple
and delicious. Their juice runs all over my face,
and I eat them till I'm so full I can't eat any
more.
Because of figs I got a strange birthday present,
and because of that birthday present I had
some trouble. This is what happened.]]
It all started a long time ago when I had my
fourth birthday. My father came home from
work and said, "I have something for you,
Julian! Go look in the car."
I ran to look, and Huey ran after me, tripping
on his shoelaces.
When we looked in the back seat of the car,
there was a tree! A small tree with just a few
leaves.
We ran back to my father. "A tree for a birthday
present!" I said.
"A tree for a birthday present!" Huey said. He
was two years old, and he always repeated
. everything I said.
"It's a fig tree," my father told me. "It will]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: No support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Vocabulary: Few decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Chapters

Headings

Features

Character traits

First Person

Topic

Teeth

Growth/Growing

Cooking

Cats

Gardens/Gardening

Low Frequency Words

ancients	cabinet	companies	decision	delicious
eggbeater	evened	garlic	groceries	guarded
handkerchief	harvest	invisible	lighter	loosened
neighbors	ordinary	quiver	request	requested
rook	rustling	scarlet	separating	shoelaces
specially	squash	stirred	swept	swirling
tempted	twirling	unloaded	varieties	visible
watered	whipped	whisper	whites	whoops
windowpanes	yolks