Mittu and the Yellow Mango: NCERT Class 1 Story (Marigold Unit 4)

etmantra29 Jun 20209 min read

Mittu is a small green parrot who solves a big problem with a smart idea. Children enjoy the loud crow, the balloon that goes pop and the happy ending. The story shows that thinking can work better than fighting.

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From the NCERT English book Marigold for Class 1, unit 4. NCERT’s newer Class 1 book is Mridang, but many schools still teach Marigold.

Watch: Mittu and the Yellow Mango

Play the video three or four times. The first time, just listen. Then point at the pictures, and from the third time, say the lines along with the video. Short, repeated listening is how CALP builds a child’s English.

What your child learns

Colour words: green, red, yellow, black
Bird words: parrot, crow, beak
Sound words: caw, pop, yummy
Telling a short story in order: problem, idea, happy ending

What the story is about

Mittu is a green parrot with a red beak who loves to fly. One day he sees a big yellow mango on a tree and wants to eat it. But when he flies down, a big black crow shouts at him to go away, saying the tree is his. The crow has a very loud voice, and Mittu is afraid, so he flies away.

Then Mittu finds a red balloon under a tree and has an idea. He carries it carefully to the mango tree, hides behind the tree and pecks the balloon with his beak. It bursts with a loud pop. The crow is so scared that he falls off the tree, thinks a gun is after him, and flies away for good. Mittu happily eats the yellow mango.

New words, with Hindi meanings

parrot: a green bird that can copy sounds (हिंदी: तोता)
beak: the hard, pointed mouth of a bird (हिंदी: चोंच)
crow: a black bird with a loud voice (हिंदी: कौआ)
afraid: scared (हिंदी: डरा हुआ)
balloon: a thin rubber bag filled with air (हिंदी: गुब्बारा)
careful: taking care so nothing goes wrong (हिंदी: सावधान)
burst: broke open with a bang (हिंदी: फट गया)
clever: quick to think of good ideas (हिंदी: चतुर)

Explained in Hindi

If your child finds the English hard, watch this explanation of the story and its word meanings in Hindi, then go back to the English video.

Talk about it

Ask these aloud after reading or watching. Let your child answer in English if they can, or mix in their home language. Both help.

What colour was Mittu, and what colour was his beak?
Why did Mittu fly away the first time?
How did Mittu make the crow go away?
Tell me about a time you had a clever idea to solve a problem.

Answers for parents

Mittu was green, and his beak was red.
A big black crow shouted at him to go away. The crow had a very loud voice, and Mittu was afraid.
He hid behind the tree and pecked a red balloon with his beak. It burst with a loud pop, and the scared crow flew away.
For example: My ball rolled under the bed, so I used a long stick to pull it out.

Grammar corner: Colour words that describe things

A colour word tells us what something looks like. In English it usually comes just before the thing it describes: a green parrot, a red balloon. Saying the colour helps the listener see the picture.

I saw a green parrot sitting on our window.
Riya is holding a big red balloon.
Mother cut a yellow mango for lunch.

Practice at home

Fill in the blank: Mittu had a ___ beak.
Match the bird to its colour: parrot, crow → black, green.
Say aloud: what sound did the balloon make, and what sound did the crow make?

Answers: 1. red · 2. parrot – green; crow – black · 3. The balloon went “pop”. The crow said “caw, caw”.

Try this

Act out the story with three parts: Mittu, the crow and the narrator. Let the crow shout “Caw, caw” from a chair “tree”, and let Mittu clap loudly for the balloon pop. Afterwards, ask your child to draw Mittu with a yellow mango and colour him green with a red beak.

Tip for parents

Tell the story first in Hindi, in your own words: “मिट्ठू एक हरा तोता था…”. Then read it in English and point to colours around the house: “यह लाल है, red.” If your child answers half in Hindi and half in English, that is fine; praise every try.

Questions parents ask

What is the moral of Mittu and the Yellow Mango?

A clever idea can solve a problem better than fighting. Mittu was smaller than the crow, but he used his brain instead of his strength.

Who are the characters in Mittu and the Yellow Mango?

There are two characters: Mittu, a green parrot with a red beak, and a big black crow with a very loud voice.

Which book is Mittu and the Yellow Mango from?

It is Unit 4 of NCERT’s older Marigold book for Class 1. The newer NCERT books are Mridang for Class 1–2 and Santoor for Class 3–5.

Learn every Class 1 lesson with CALP

Every lesson of Mridang, NCERT’s new book, with read-along videos, new words with Hindi meanings, and listen-and-say practice with a score, made for young children with a parent nearby. ₹999 for the whole year.

See the free lessons and enrol →