14
To advertise, please call www.kidscoop.com © Vicki Whiting May 2021
Paul Bunyan isn't the only giant in American legends. Old-timers along the Mississippi River tell of a giant of a woman –
Annie Christmas. The stories say she worked on the river docks near the French Quarter in New Orleans and she was
fearless – especially when it came to dealing with bullies who hung out on the docks.
Occasionally, Annie liked to get all dressed
up. Once, she put on a ___ satin dress and red
feather plumes in her hair and took a trip on a
___________ called the Natchez Belle.
The captain of that boat was as stubborn
as he was mean. When the _________ turned
bad, he decided to take a
shortcut through a channel
that cut across a bend in the
________________ River.
Annie knew the river like
the back of her hand and she
knew that the cutoff was
full of snags and sandbars
that could _____ the big
paddle wheeler.
But the stubborn
captain wouldn't
listen. When the boat
hit a sandbar, Annie loaded
passengers on her keelboat and fought the
current back to the main river. Behind her the
Natchez Belle was broken up and _________
by the muddy, swirling river water.
The _______________ hugged Annie,
thanking her for saving their lives. They say
Annie's face turned as red as her dress.
Longshoreman n. A dock worker who loads and unloads ships.
Keelboat n. A large flat-bottomed river boat used to carry freight.
When you see a blank line in the story
below, a word is missing. Select one of
the words in Annie's barrel for each
blank until the story makes sense.
Standards Link: Literary Response: Students comprehend basic plots of
folk tales.
www.kidscoop.com © Vicki Whiting May 2021
Official Kids Mag
