READER’S THEATER

MANY MOONSAUTHOR: JAMES THURBER

INSTRUCTOR: EMILY CHEN

READERS:

FANNY, K

SELENA, WENDY, GARY

PrincessLenore

I’ll get you

anything you want

as long as you get

well soon.

The King

PrincessLenore

I want the MOON!

If I can have the

moon, I’ll be well

again.

The King

OK, I will get the

moon for you,

my dear Lenore.

It’s 35,000 miles

away, and bigger

than the Princess

Lenore’s room.

It’s 150,000 miles

away, and twice as

big as this palace.

It’s 300,000 miles

away, and half

the size of this

kingdom

I want you to

get the moon

for the

Princess.

The Royal Wizard

The Royal Mathematician

The Lord High Chamberlain

The King

Um, no

problem. I

have many

wise men…

The Court Jester

The King

Nobody can get the

moon for the Princess

Lenore. Every time I

ask anybody for the

moon, it gets larger

and farther away.

The Court Jester

Ask the Princess

Lenore how big

she thinks the

moon is and how

far away.

PrincessLenore

It’s on the top of

the big tree outside

my window. And

it’s just a little

smaller than my

thumbnail.

How big and how far away is the moon?

The Court Jester

The Court Jester

I’ll climb the tree tonight and bring the

moon to you, but what is the moon made of?

PrincessLenore

Oh, it’s made of

gold, of course.

The Court Jester

Royal Goldsmith

You’ve made the moon. This is the

moon.What is this thing I have

made?

PrincessLenore

What will we do

when the Princess

see the moon

shining in the sky

tonight?

The King

The Lord High ChamberlainThe Royal WizardThe Royal Mathematician

The Court Jester

Ask the Princes

s!

Who can explain

how the moon can

be shining in the

sky when hanging

around her neck?

The Court Jester

How can the moon

be shining in the

sky when it is

hanging on a

golden chain

around your neck?

PrincessLenore

That’s easy! When I lose a tooth, a new one grows in its place, doesn’t it?

The Court Jester

Of course. And when

the unicorn loses

his horn in the

forest, a new one

grows in the middle

of his forehead.

PrincessLenore

That’s right. And when

the Royal Gardener

cuts the flowers in

the garden, other

flowers come to take

their place.

The Court Jester

I should have thought

of that, for it is the

same way with the

daylight.

PrincessLenore

And it is the same

way with the

moon.

I guess it is the

same way with

everything.

He winked at the moon, for it seemed to the Court Jester that the moon had winked at him.

The end.

Before the Court Jester left the room, he went over to the window.