A Dog of Flanders

By Louisa de la Ramee
Characters:
NELLO, a poor, honest Ardennois.
PATRASCHE, his faithful dog.
JEHAN DAAS, Nellos grandfather.
BAAS COGEZ, a rich bourgeois.
ALOIS, 12-years-old daughter of Cogez.
Settings: Village outside Antwerp
The Story:
Patrasche, a big Flemmish dog, who was always beaten by its
original owner, a hardware peddler, suffered a sunstroke on the
street and was left to die. Grandpa Jehan Daas and grandson Nello
found the dog, nurse it back to health in their hut in a village
outside Antwerp. Grateful, Patrasche pulled the old mans milkcart
When grandpa Jehan died, Nello and Patrasche continued
selling milk. Nello loved painting and art galleries and often left
the dog outside for hours while he painted inside the galleries.
Alois, daughter of rich man Baas Cogez, befriended Nello and
encouraged him; but her father forbade them from seeing each
other.
Nello entered a painting contest, but somebody else got the
prize. Returning home, he found a purse with 2,000 francs
belonging to Cogez and he returned it, although he and his dog
were starving. Next morning the people found Nello and his dog
Patrasche both dead from hunger and cold inside the church.
A penitent Baas Cogez came blaming himself for the boys
death; Alois was weeping hard for her friend. Then a famous
painter arrived looking for Nello to take the boy with him to paint
because of his promising painting.
Moral Lesson:
People should lend helping hand. It also preaches love for
art, kindness to animals, the dog especially.

Pollyanna
By Eleanor H. Porter
Characters:
POLLYANNA WHITTIER, an orphan girl.
MISS POLLY HARRINGTON, her aunt.
JOHN PENDLETON, a rich bachelor.
DR. CHILTON, the small-town doctor.
NANCY, big-hearted housemaid.
Settings: Beldingsville, Vermont
The Story:
Sunnyhearted, orphan Pollyanna Whittier, 11, came to
Beldingsville, Vermont, to live with unsmiling spinster aunt Miss
Polly Harrington, her deceased mothers sister. The aunt didnt like
children, but Pollyannas winning ways soon thawed her cold
heart.
Pollyanna always played the glad game with people she
met; it was just being glad for everything that happened or would
happen. She met silent, rich John Pendleton, former suitor of her
mother. He wanted to adopt her, especially after he had suffered
from a broken leg and she always cheered him up. She also made
invalid Mrs. Snow happy; she reconciled Mr. and Mrs. Payson who
had wanted to divorce each other.
Pollyanna, through her innocent, winning ways, brought a
new understanding between her aunt and Dr. Chilton, her admirer
of early years, resulting in their marriage.
When Pollyanna was run over by a speeding automobile, rich
and poor came to her aunts place to see and sympathize with the
little girl. The town sorrowed when Dr. Mead, a New York doctor,
said she wouldnt ever walk again. Dr. Chilton, who believed
otherwise, sent Pollyanna for a treatment t a medical specialist.
Months later, Pollyanna wrote to Aunt Polly and Uncle Tom
Chilton telling them excitedly that she could walk again.
Moral Lesson:
Spread goodness and cheer around us.