Publisher’s Story Summary: Anne Miranda’s inventive twist on a classic rhyme tells what happens after a shopper goes “to market, to market, to buy a fat pig.” Back home the pig promptly escapes, and soon the pig’s in the kitchen, the lamb’s on the bed, the cow’s on the couch--and the rest of the animals are wreaking havoc throughout the house.

LESSON: TO MARKET, TO MARKET

Lesson Summary

In this take-off of on an old nursery rhyme, To Market To Market, a woman goes to the market to buy all kinds of pet animals and vegetables. She ends up making a delicious soup for all her animal friends.

Concept: Goods

Definition: A good is an object people want that they can touch or hold.

Comprehension Questions

What is a market?
A market exists whenever people buy and sell goods and services.

What two kinds of goods did the woman buy at the market?
Pet animals and vegetables.

What pet animals and vegetables did she buy?
A pig, a red hen, a plump goose, a live trout, a spring lamb, one milking cow, a white duck, one stubborn goat, potatoes, celery, beets, ripe red tomatoes, pea pods, peppers, garlic, spice, a round head of cabbage, a sack of brown rice, okra, onions, and carrots.

Did the woman pay a price for the goods she bought?
Yes. We don't know the price, but she had to "buy" them. Goods are not free. They are scarce and we must pay to get them.

Why did she buy so many things?
The animals were her pets and gave her much satisfaction and pleasure. The vegetables were for a hot soup to eat with her animal friends.

Bonus question! When is an animal considered a natural resource instead of a good?
When it is found in the wild.

Other Concepts: Market, Economic Wants, Consumers

  Good and Services