The greedy king and queen student workbook

1. Play written and directed by Serena Worsdell, teacher and student
resources by Chloe Pettifar, illustrations by Maria Rosa Sauleda
Student workbook
How many blackbirds can you count?
THE GREEDY KING AND QUEEN

2. The sound collector returns and demands the king and queen change their ways. He wants them to stop being greedy,
to start being generous and to be fair to the maid. The king and queen promise to change. They stop the taxes, give
money to the poor and give the maid what she wants.
1. THE STORY OF THE GREEDY KING AND QUEEN
A greedy king and queen live in a castle. The king likes to count his money and the queen likes to
eat bread and honey. The king and queen want more
money and they make new taxes for the people to pay.
The greedy king and queen are not fair to their maid. The maid works at the castle seven
days a week. She washes the clothes, cleans the shoes and polishes the crowns. The maid
wants one day off a week, one month’s holiday and to hear the sound of the sea.
The king and queen are bored – the king wants the famous sound collector to entertain them. When
the sound collector arrives, they listen to some of the animal sounds which he keeps safely locked in
magic bottles. The sound collector wants to sell his sounds but the greedy king and queen don’t want
to pay him. They take his sounds while he is sleeping. Then all the sounds disappear from the castle!
The maid hangs out the washing. The blackbirds aren't making any sound
and the maid doesn't see the bird come down and peck off her nose. She
plans a surprise for the king and queen.
The maid lets the sounds out of the magic bottles and puts them in the king and queen's dinner. The king
and queen eat the sounds; their voices disappear and they start to talk like animals. The only person who
can help is the sound collector. The king and queen beg the maid to find the sound collector.
The maid goes on holiday to the seaside and brings back a present: a seashell. Have you ever held a
seashell up to your ear? Do you know what the sound is? That’s right. It’s the sound of the sea.
The king and queen get their voices back and the sounds return to the castle.

3. The Sound
Collector
The sound collector is
magic. He travels the
world and collects
sounds from the north,
south, east and west.
He uses his magic to
put the sounds into
bottles – from the roar
of the lion to the buzz
of a bee. As he travels
he sells his sounds.
People pay to hear
sounds from far away
places. What sound
would you buy?
The Greedy King
The king loves to count his money – gold coins, gold bars, gold
crowns and gold rings. He never spends his money. He collects
taxes from the people so that he can have even more money.
The king also loves to play his guitar. He wants to be the King
of Rock ‘n’ Roll! Who would you like to be?
The Greedy Queen
The queen loves bread and honey. Her
favourite thing to do is eat bread and honey.
The queen has her own bees to make her
special honey. She doesn’t like to share her
honey with anyone! What’s your favourite thing
to do?
The Maid
The poor maid does all the work at the castle. Every day
she cleans, cooks, polishes and washes the clothes. For
all this work she only gets one gold coin a year. She is
sad. She would be happy if she could have two gold coins
a year, one day off a week and one month’s holiday.
Would you be sad if you were the maid?
2. THE STORY’S CHARACTERS

4. 3. TICK TOCK, WHAT’S THE TIME, OLD CLOCK?
o’clock o’clock o’clock o’clock
one o’clock nine o’clock four o’clock ten o’clock
What is the time shown on the clocks?
Draw the hands to show the time on the clocks.

5. M C L O A K P B
S R H S A W O C
E O B L U E L Z
O W G N U L I G
H N O G Y P S C
S I L V E R H L
R E D K F U H E
S S E R D P X A
Q T J G R E E N
WASH my PURPLE CLOAK.
Clean my GREEN shoes.
Polish my GOLD crown.
4. FIND THE MAID’S WORK!
CLEAN my BLUE SHOES.
Wash my RED DRESS.
POLISH my SILVER CROWN.

6. 5. THE MAID’S SECRET DIARY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Wash the clothes. Hang out the
clothes to dry.
Clean the queen’s shoes.
Polish the king’s crown.
Make the queen’s bread.
Collect the queen’s honey from the
bees.
Wash the floors.
Clean the windows.
Dear Diary,
I feel sad and tired. I do ALL the
work in the castle and I work EVERY
DAY, all for just one gold coin a year.
It’s not fair!
I want to have one day off a week
and one month’s holiday a year. I
would like to go to the seaside for my
holiday. I want to swim in the sea
and walk on the sand. Most of all I
want to hear the sound of the sea.
I also want to be paid two gold coins
a year; instead of one gold coin a
year.
Do you think I want too much? Am I
being greedy like the king and
queen? Or is what I want fair?

7. elephant
lion
bird
gorilla
bee
owl
tweet
roar
grunt
hoot
trumpet
buzz
6. THE SOUND COLLECTOR’S SOUNDS

8. 7. THE LAND OF FAR AWAY

9. 7. THE LAND OF FAR AWAY
Fill in the directions on the compass:
_ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ __ _ _ _
Look at the villages marked on the map, you will see:
1. It takes two days to walk to Northbridge.
2. It takes twice as long to walk to ____________________ .
3. ________________ is the village furthest from the castle.
4. ________________ is south of the castle.
5. Have you ever looked at a map of where you live?
6. What can you find on a map?

10. Sing a song of sixpence, a pocketful of rye;
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing;
Wasn’t that a dainty dish to set before the king?
The King is in his counting house, counting out his money;
The Queen is in the parlour, eating bread and honey.
The maid is in the garden hanging out the clothes;
Along came a blackbird and pecked off her nose!
There was such a commotion that little Jenny wren
Flew down into the garden and put it back again.
8. SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE
A 16th CENTURY SIXPENCE
Sixpence (or six pennies) is an old British coin. Today
it would be worth about 36 cents. Sixpence was what
many poor people earned for a day’s work – people
like the maid in our story.
Like the Greedy King and Queen, kings and queens
were rich, often bored and were always looking for
new things to entertain them. In the 16th century, a
pie served with live birds inside was just the kind of
thing kings and queens loved!

11. 1. gold
2. bread
3. hear
4. clothes
5. honey
6. sea
7. king
8. pie
9. rain
10. roar
nose
said
snore
train
here
money
ring
key
sold
eye
9. JOIN THE WORDS THAT SOUND THE SAME

12. 10. COLOUR IN THE KING AND QUEEN
I’m wearing yellow and purple
striped trousers, a green jacket,
blue shoes and a gold crown.
I’m wearing a pink dress, a
purple cloak, and a silver
crown.