2-1 A Bear's Birthday II

The huge piece of paper was a note that pronounced the birthday party of Big Bear. P

Everyone was excited and surprised that it was Big Bear's birthday. P

After reading the note, everyone went to Big Bear's home to wish him a Happy Birthday. P

One by one everyone said, "Happy Birthday, Big Bear!" P

Everyone then bowed their heads, since Big Bear was their elder. P

Raccoon was the first to go, and said, P

"Big Bear, I wish you a long and healthy life." P

As everyone recited their greetings, P

Big Bear responded with a large smile and said, "Thank you!" P

Even baby squirrel went and said, "Happy Birthday." P

Big Bear happily accepted his greetings, P

and patted baby squirrel on his head saying, "Thank You." P

2-2 The Sun and the Moon I

One day, the sun and the moon met and told stories to each other about the village where they lived. P

"Everything in the village is so lively and beautiful, P

and everyone works so hard, don't you think?" the sun said. P

"Even all the plants burst with colors and look so pretty." P

Confused by what the sun said, the moon responded, "No, they're not. P

All the plants shine silver, and the only thing the people do is sleep." P

The sun then asked, "People are sleeping? No, they're not. P

They are always busy working!" P

Neither of them realized that they see different things. P

So the sun couldn't understand what the moon was saying, P

nor did the moon understand what the sun was saying. P

2-3 The Sun and the Moon II

Not being able to come up with an answer, P

they decided to ask Grandfather Cloud. P

After hearing the stories from both the moon and the sun, P

Grandfather Cloud laughed, "Ha ha ha!" P

"You are both right! P

It's just that there is another world that each of you don't know about." P

Baffled the sun asked, "What do you mean?" P

"The problem here is that the sun tells the moon what it's like during the day, P

and the moon tells the sun what it's like during the night." P

Both the moon and the sun did not realize that more than one person can be right about the same thing. P

Grandfather Cloud then explained to both the sun and the moon that just because one's thoughts are correct, P

does not mean that the other thoughts are wrong. P

Realizing this, both the sun and the moon bowed to each other and accepted the truth of the other's words. P

2-4 The Mushroom's Laugh I

One day, an ant went on a journey, and soon, it began to rain. P

The ant tried to save himself from being washed away by holding onto a blade of grass. P

It looked like a safe place for him to hide from the rain. P

Then he saw a snail, just sitting outside in the rain. P

The ant was envious of the snail. P

At that moment, a mushroom called out to the ant from afar: P

"Hey ant, you should come over here and hide from the rain." P

The ant went and sat under the mushroom. P

The mushroom was like a big umbrella blocking the rain. P

2-5 The Mushroom's Laugh II

"Thank you. My body is so light that it gets washed away with just a little bit of rain. P

I wish I had a home on my back like the snail." P

The mushroom, comforted the ant and said, P

"Ant, don't be so envious of the snail. P

Everyone has something that others may be envious of." P

Though the ant knew that the mushroom was trying to comfort him, P

he didn't feel any better and still felt envious of the snail. P

A few days later, the ant visited the mushroom with its family. P

2-6 The Mushroom's Laugh III

The bright sunlight blinded the ants, so the mushroom shaded them. P

The ant family brought a picnic and ate it with the mushroom. P

Then, the snail, sweating a great deal, came towards them. P

The ant, knowing that the snail was very tired, offered some water to the snail. P

"Ant, thank you. You must be very happy that your body is so light. P

It's difficult for me to carry around this heavy house on my back." P

"Really? I was envious of you, but you envy me, too!" P

And everyone laughed together. P

2-7 King Sejong I

Early one morning, the king was walking around the palace. P

He spied a young scholar who had fallen asleep at his seat while studying until dawn. P

"He must be cold in this early morning air." P

The king took off his cloak and covered the young scholar. P

The king took care of his subjects the same way he took care of himself. P

The king watched very carefully how his people lived. P

He often went out of the palace to see if his people might be suffering, or need his help in any way. P

Because of his care, he accomplished many great things for his people. P

2-8 King Sejong II

During his reign, our country used Chinese characters to write. P

The Chinese characters were difficult for the common people to learn. P

The king felt sympathy for the people who had difficulty learning the Chinese characters. P

As the king pondered a way to change the Chinese characters, he said, P

"We need simpler letters. P

I should make letters that are easy for people to learn and write." P

Day and night, the king worked hard to create letters that would make the Korean language easy to write. P

Many scholars helped the king. P

The king continued to work hard on creating the letters, P

even when he was afflicted with an eye disease. P

The Hangul we use today is the set of letters that the king and his scholars created. P

2-9 Don't Give Up I

As Brian, Michael, and Justin left school through the school gates, Brian said to Michael, P

"Hey, Michael! Let's go biking in the park after lunch!" P

Michael then responded, "Alright." P

Justin, however, felt depressed after hearing that Brian and Michael wanted to go biking. P

Justin didn't know how to ride a bike. P

Knowing this, Michael asked Justin, P

"Hey! Why don't you try learning how to ride a bike today?" P

Michael didn't know that Justin gave up learning how to ride a bike last year. P

2-10 Don't Give Up II

Justin didn't want to learn to ride a bike because he was afraid. P

But Justin was also very determined, so when he got home, P

he took out his dusty bike, and then he tried to get on it. P

He tried to step on the pedals, but he and the bike both fell down together. P

As he got up, Justin scraped his knees and they started to bleed. P

They hurt so very much. P

Determined, Justin told himself not to give up! P

The faces of his friends Brian and Michael kept him going. P

2-11 Don't Give Up III

Justin felt that if he didn't learn how to ride a bike they would think of him as a coward. P

Fall after fall, Justin would just get up again, no matter how many times it happened. P

He began to sense that he might be able to ride better if someone helped hold the bike for him. P

Just then, Brian and Michael came along unexpectedly. P

"Are you learning how to ride a bike?" P

Michael asked with his eyes wide open. P

"Huh? No, no.…." P

Justin stuttered as his face reddened. P

"Well, why don't we hold it for you?" Michael offered. P

Brian ran to Justin and picked up his bike for him. P

Then Michael and Brian held the bike for him. P

2-12 Don't Give Up IV

Justin got on the bike carefully. P

He placed his feet on the bike pedals as his friends told him to do. P

The bike went forward smoothly without falling. P

But when his friends took their hands off the bike, he fell down again. P

He felt ashamed, but it seemed like he would feel more shame if he just gave up. P

On Saturday, the boys all met again. P

"Hey, Justin. You can ride a bike pretty well now, right?" P

Justin was not confident about it, but he got on his bike. P

2-13 Don't Give Up V

Justin kept telling himself to hold on tight and not let go. P

Brian knew that Justin was scared, and said, P

"It's ok. Don't worry. We'll hold on tight." P

When Brian and Michael realized that Justin was able to ride the bike alone, they let go of the bike. P

Thinking that his friends were still holding on to that bike, P

Justin pedaled the bike hard. P

Justin went forward on his bike, steadily, at a good speed. P

"Oh, Justin, you're doing great!" P

Shouted Brian and Michael. P

"Huh? I'm riding it all by myself? Hooray!" P

"Congratulations!" said Brian and Michael, smiling. P

2-14 To Chanho I

Hello! It's me, Carrie. P

At the last Children's Day celebration, P

we had the finals for the dodge ball tournament between our classes. P

While we were playing, P

I saw you get hit and fall down when the third grader Richard threw the ball at you. P

He threw the ball so fast, I thought it was impossible for you to catch it. P

Even the teacher thought so, and saw that you got hurt trying to catch the ball, P

so he told you to take a rest. P

I'm so glad you didn't let the pain take you out of the game, P

and saw that you got up immediately and got back in the game. P

I was happy to see you return to the game after you held up your fingers in the shape of a "V", P

or "peace sign" to show that you were ok. P

I can't believe that we won that game! P

I was scared, but you put up a good fight. P

2-15 To Chanho II

Because our class is divided into girls and boys, and we play and talk in separate groups, P

it's been really hard to talk with you. P

I wish we were all classmates in the same class. P

I don't understand why we have to be separated into girls and boys groups all the time. P

Don't you think school would be more enjoyable if we weren't separated into two groups? P

I think the other girls agree with me, but I think they're just not expressing their thoughts. P

And since you're in the boy's group, I was hoping that you would let them know my thoughts. P

Thanks for listening, and I truly am impressed by your courageous acts. P

I hope you'll be my friend after reading this. P

2-16 Spell Sky and Heaven I

A long time ago, in a small town, there was a boy named Samuel. P

Samuel could not read, even as he got older. P

As Samuel grew up, his father became worried that his son would never be able to learn how to read and write. P

Therefore, he decided to send his son to the village school. P

"My son, you should now go to the village school to learn how to read and write." P

Samuel asked, "But dad, how can I learn to read and write?" P

"Don't worry about how to read and write for now. P

You just need to follow what the teacher says." P

Samuel was astonished, and asked, P

"Can I really learn how to read and write just by listening to the teacher? P

I can't believe it is that easy! I should have gone to the village school earlier!" P

2-17 Spell Sky and Heaven II

The next day Samuel went to the village school to learn. P

At school, his teachers taught him how to write the characters of the 'Sky and Heaven.' P

The teacher told him "Just spell Sky and Heaven." P

When Samuel heard this, he thought of what his father had said. P

"Just follow what the teacher says." P

Then the schoolmaster said again, P

'Just spell Sky and Heaven' P

Remembering what his father said, P

Samuel began to copy the teacher's words exactly, and said, P

"Just spell Sky and Heaven." P

Every time the teacher said something, Samuel would repeat exactly what the teacher said. P

"Take out the second line." P

"Take out the second line." P

2-18 Spell Sky and Heaven III

As Samuel kept repeating the teacher’s words, the teacher began to get angry. P

"Spell Sky and Heaven!" P

"Spell Sky and Heaven!" P

The teacher became so angry that he yelled at Samuel, P

“Are you mocking me? Get out of this room immediately!” P

Then Samuel repeated after the teacher again. P

“Are you mocking me? Get out of this room immediately!” P

Then, Samuel's father came into the schoolhouse. P

He saw what was happening, and quickly dragged his son outside. P

"Why are you mocking the teacher? How could you be such a troublemaker?" P

"Why am I a troublemaker? I just followed what the teacher said! Just like you told me to.” P

2-19 Mother's Diary I

One day, while Jonathan was playing, he found his mother's diary from when he was a baby. P

Curious, Jonathan began reading the diary. P

The first page was a photograph of his footprint that was taken right when Jonathan was born. P

Looking at the feet in the diary, Jonathan realized how much he had grown, P

because he wasn't able to compare his own feet with the ones in the diary. P

Reading his mother's diary made Jonathan imagine what it was like when he was a baby. P

The first page read, P

The baby was born on June 23rd, at 11:22 PM, and it was raining heavily. P

The baby's height was 50 centimeters and its weight was a little over 3 kilograms. P

I named him Jonathan as we had decided beforehand. P

2-20 Mother's Diary II

6 Months, Day 1, Sunny P

It has been six months since Jonathan was born. P

Today, as I fed Jonathan, I looked inside his mouth. P

There were two lower teeth that came through like sprouts. P

12 Months, Day 1, Sunny P

It is Jonathan's first birthday. P

Jonathan walked three steps. P

It was so wonderful seeing Jonathan's first steps, P

but I couldn't take a picture because he stopped walking. P

He was so afraid to walk by himself. P

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