Last week when
I was in Florida a teacher requested that I tell the story of “The Crooked
Mouth Family.” I had not told that
story in so long I had forgotten all about it. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, so I wanted to share it with
you. It’s best if you light a real
candle to tell the story, but in the classroom I would just pretend my index
finger was the candle. You’ll need
to practice this story several times in front of a mirror before attempting it
in front of a group.
This is a story
about a silly family called the Crooked Mouths.
Father
Crooked Mouth could only talk out of the left side of his mouth like this. (Say this out of the left corner of
your mouth. Every time father
talks in the story say it from the left side of your mouth.)
Mother
Crooked Mouth could only talk out of the right side of her mouth like
this. (When mother speaks say it
from the right side of your mouth.)
Brother
Crooked Mouth could only talk out of the bottom of his mouth like this. (Stick out chin and bottom teeth to
talk like brother.)
And
Sister Crooked Mouth could only talk out of the top of her mouth like
this. (Stick out top teeth and
talk for sister.)
One
night when the Crooked Mouths had gone to bed they heard a strange noise
downstairs.
“Oh,
dear,” said mother. “What could
that be?”
“Well,
I better go see,” said father. So
he lit a candle and walked downstairs.
(Take a candle and light it or hold up your index finger and pretend it
is a candle.)
He
looked all around, but he didn’t see a thing. Father decided to go back upstairs and go to bed. He tried to blow out the candle. “Whh! Whh!” (Blow from
the left side of mouth.) But he
couldn’t blow it out.
“Oh,
dear,” said mother. “Let me
try. Whh! Whh!” (Blow from right side of mouth.) But she couldn’t blow it out either.
“Oh,
dear,” said father.
“Oh,
dear,” said mother. “What shall we
do?”
“Let’s
go wake up brother,” said father.
So father and mother went to brother’s room.
“Wake
up, brother,” said mother. “Father
lit a candle and we can’t blow it out.”
So
brother took the candle and he tried to blow it out. “Whh!
Whh!” (Blow from bottom of
mouth.) But he couldn’t blow it
out either.
“Oh,
dear,” said father.
“Oh,
dear,” said mother. “What shall we
do?”
“Let’s
go wake up sister,” said brother.
So mother and father and brother went to sister’s room.
“Wake
up, sister,” said brother. “Father
lit a candle and we can’t blow it out.”
So
sister took the candle and she tried to blow it out. “Whh!
Whh!” (Blow from the top of
mouth.) But she couldn’t blow it
out either.
“Oh,
dear,” said father.
“Oh,
dear,” said mother.
“Oh,
dear,” said brother.
“Oh,
dear,” said sister. “What shall we
do?”
Just
then they heard someone knock on the front door. (Knock!
Knock!) They went
downstairs and it was Officer O’Brien.
“What’s
going on?” he asked. “You’ve
awakened the whole neighborhood with all your commotion.”
“Well,
I lit a candle and I can’t blow it out,” said father.
“I
can’t blow it out either,” said mother.
“I
can’t blow it out either,” said brother.
“Boo
hoo hoo,” cried sister.
Officer
O’Brien laughed, took the candle, and blew it out. Then he told the Crooked Mouths good night and left.
Mother,
father, brother, and sister started back upstairs to get in bed.
“Oh,
dear,” said mother. “I can’t see a
thing.”
“Neither
can I,” said sister.
“Well,
I better light a candle,” said father.
(Pretend to light the candle again.
