Halloween Comprehension (Not So Scary Story)

​The Hairy Toe

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Excerpted from Spooky Maryland

Retold by S.E. Schlosser

​ For audio recording: Hairy Toe - Excerpted from Spooky Maryland, Retold by S.E. Schlosser (loom.com)

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Once there was an old woman who went out in the woods to dig up some roots to cook for dinner. She spotted something funny sticking out of the leaves and dug around it until she uncovered a great big hairy toe. There was some good meat on that toe which would make a real tasty dinner, so the old woman put it in her basket and took it home.

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When she got back to her cottage, the old woman boiled up a kettle-full of hairy toe soup, which she ate for dinner that night. It was the best meal she'd had in weeks! The old woman went to bed that night with a full stomach and a big smile.

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Along about midnight, a cold wind started blowing in the tops of the trees around the old woman's house. A large black cloud crept over the moon and from the woods a hollow voice rumbled: "Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!" Inside the house, the old woman stirred uneasily in her bed and nervously pulled the covers up over her ears.

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From the woods there came a stomp-stomp-stomping noise as the wind whistled and jerked at the treetops. In the clearing at the edge of the forest, a hollow voice said: "Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!" Inside the house, the old woman shuddered and turned over in her sleep.

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A stomp, stomp, stomping sound came from the garden path outside the cottage. The night creatures shivered in their burrows as a hollow voice howled: "Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!" Inside the house, the old woman snapped awake. Her whole body shook with fright as she listened to the angry howling in her garden. Jumping out of her bed, she ran to the door and barred it. Once the cottage was secure, she lay back down to sleep.

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Suddenly, the front door of the cottage burst open with a bang, snapping the bar in two and sending it flying into the corners of the room. There came the stomp, stomp, stomping noise of giant feet walking up the stairs. Peeping out from under the covers, the old woman saw a massive figure filling her doorway. It said: "Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!"

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The old woman sat bolt upright in terror and shouted: "I ATE your hairy toe!"

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"Yes, you did," the giant figure said gently as it advanced into the room.

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No one living in the region ever saw the old woman again. The only clue to her disappearance was a giant footprint a neighbor found pressed deep into the loose soil of the meadow beside the house. The footprint was missing the left big toe.

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THE END​

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Multiple Choice

What would be another good title for this story?

• Toe Soup

• The Giant

• The Woman Who Diappeared

• The Dangers of Eating Hairy Toes

Multiple Choice

Who is the story mostly about?

• A giant

• An old woman

• An old woman and a giant

• A hairy toe

Multiple Choice

What happened at the beginning of the story?

• A giant was angry at the woman for taking his hairy toe.

• The old woman went to bed.

• The old woman cooked the toe.

• An old woman found a hairy toe when digging for roots for dinner.

Multiple Choice

Where does the story take place?

• In a cottage in the woods

• In a neighborhood

• In a city

• In a house far, far away

Multiple Choice

Why was the woman never seen again?

• There were no clues left to follow, so no one knows.

• The woman disappeared and was never seen again.

• The woman decided to move away from the giant.

• The giant wouldn't let her out of her house.

Multiple Choice

How did the woman try to solve the problem with the giant?

• She pulled up the covers and stayed in bed

• She fell back to sleep

• She ignored the giant

• She secured herhome and stayed nervously in bed

Multiple Choice

A stomp, stomp, stomping sound came from the garden path outside the cottage. The night creatures shivered in their burrows as a hollow voice howled, "Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!"

The reader can assume that...

• The giant wanted the night creatures to help him get his hairy toe.

• The giant was badly hurt and needed his toe back.

• The night creatures also wanted the giant to get his toe.

• The giant was angry and went after the woman to get his toe.

Multiple Choice

"Inside the house, the old woman stirred uneasily in her bed and nervously pulled the covers up over her ears."

As used in this sentence, the word stirred means:

• mix

• trembled

• whisk

• muddle

Multiple Choice

Inside the house, the old woman snapped awake. Her whole body shook with fright as she listened to the angry howling in her garden.

As used in this sentence, snapped means:

• sudden change

• nose made by fingers

• break

• bite

Multiple Choice

"The old woman sat bolt upright in terror and shouted: "I ATE your hairy toe!"

"Yes, you did," the figure said very gently as it advanced into the room."

As used in this sentence, the word advanced means:

• up to date

• modern

• moved forward

• higher level

Multiple Choice

How did the woman change during the story?

• In the beginning the woman was happy she found a toe, in the end she regretted finding it

• In the beginning the woman ate soup, in the end she was in bed

• In the beginning the woman was hungry, in the end it made her sick

• In the beginning the woman was looking for food, in the end she was being looked for by a giant

Multiple Choice

Why did the author write this story?

• To entertain the reader with a story where a woman ate a hairy toe and what happened.

• To teach the reader that they should not eat hairy toes

• To inform the reader of a story where a woman ate a hairy toe and what happened.

• To persuade the reader that giants are real

Have a Happy Halloween!

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THE END