A Dragon’s Lullaby
by George Capaccio
illustrated by Jacqueline Decker
Fiction
www.heinemann.com
ISBN-13: 978-0-325-01706-8
ISBN-10: 0-325-01706-9
Book 109
Level M
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A Dragon’s Lullaby
Author: George Capaccio
Heinemann
361 Hanover Street
Portsmouth, NH 03801–3912
www.heinemann.com
Offices and agents throughout the world
Fountas and Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention Books
Copyright © 2009 by Irene C. Fountas, Gay Su Pinnell, and Heinemann
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Department at Heinemann, 361 Hanover Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801.
ISBN-13: 978-0-325-01706-8 ISBN-10: 0-325-01706-9
Editorial Development, Design, and Production by Brown Publishing Network
Credits
Illustrations: Jacqueline Decker
Printed in China
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A Dragon’s Lullaby
by George Capaccio
illustrated by Jacqueline Decker
LLI_lullaby_0076.indd 1 1/14/08 1:10:48 PM
In a castle high on a mountain lived a
kindly dragon called Dario. The dragon looked
after the people who lived in the village below.
Each evening, Dario stretched his golden wings
and f lew over the village. When the sky grew
dark, Dario began to sing his lullabies.
“Now that day has turned to night,
and all the stars look so bright,
climb into bed and close your eyes,
and I will sing some lullabies.”
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When Dario began to sing, the children After singing his lullabies, Dario said,
ran to their windows. They stood on tiptoes “Good night, everyone. Sleep tight.” But no
and looked for Dario in the sky. Dario was one ever answered. All the villagers were
easy to see. His long, golden wings sparkled in fast asleep.
the moonlight.
Dario’s lullabies made the children so sleepy
that they crawled into bed and closed their
eyes. The dragon’s lullabies soon put everyone
in the village to sleep. The village was so still
you could hear a star shoot across the sky.
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One night, Dario did not appear in the A week passed. Dario still did not sing
night sky. The dragon’s soothing lullabies were his lullabies. The villagers were miserable.
not heard in the village. They couldn’t sleep. They couldn’t work.
Without the lullabies, the villagers couldn’t They were even too tired to eat! Something
fall asleep. The next day, the children were had to be done.
cranky. The villagers got very little work done.
Everyone was tired.
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At last, the mayor spoke up. “I’ll go see
Dario,” she said. “I’ll ask him why he has
stopped singing to us.”
The mayor climbed and climbed until she
reached Dario’s castle on top of the mountain.
It was daytime, but the mayor found Dario
in bed. Dario looked sadly at the mayor. “I will
“What’s wrong, Dario?” the mayor asked. tell you why I stopped singing,” he said.
“Are you sick? Is that why you don’t sing to “Every night I sing lullabies to the villagers.
us anymore?” Then I wish them good night. But no one
ever wishes me good night. The villagers don’t
care about me.” Then Dario cried and hid
under the covers.
“Oh, no, Dario!” the mayor answered.
“That’s not true!”
But Dario wasn’t listening.
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The mayor went back down the mountain. The people turned around to see who had
She called a meeting and told all the villagers spoken. It was a little girl named Olivia.
what Dario had said. “When Dario sings us a lullaby, we know
“Dario thinks we don’t care about him!” that he loves us,” Olivia said. “If we sing to
she said. “How can we show him that we him, he’ll know that we love him, too!”
do care?”
“I know!” said a small voice at the back
of the room. “We can sing Dario a lullaby!”
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Everyone agreed. They decided to write a
special lullaby for the dragon. All the villagers
helped write the lullaby. Then they sent a card
to Dario. The next day, Dario got this card in
the mail:
Dario didn’t know what to think. But on
Wednesday night, he f lew down the mountain
and into the village. The mayor’s house was
dark when Dario arrived. A sign on the front
door said “Please Come In.”
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Dario slowly opened the door. Suddenly, Dario’s heart filled with joy. He wanted to
the lights came on. The villagers shouted, thank the villagers for their kindness, but he
“We love you, Dario!” fell asleep!
Then they sang their lullaby:
“When the night has turned to day,
we can run and laugh and play.
But when it’s time to close our eyes,
we need your soothing lullabies.”
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The next night, Dario returned to the sky
with his songs. When he said, “Good night,”
no one answered. But this time Dario knew
why. His lullabies had put all the villagers
to sleep!
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