The house wasn’t nearly large enough for so many people, and life was extremely uncomfortable for them all. There were only two rooms in the place altogether, and there was only one bed.
The bed was given to the four old grandparents because they were so old and tired. They were so tired, they never got out of it.

Mr Bucket was the only person in the family with a job. He worked in a toothpaste factory, where he sat all day long at a bench and screwed the little caps onto the tops of the tubes of toothpaste after the tubes had been filled. But a toothpaste cap screwer is never paid very much money, and poor Mr Bucket, however hard he worked, and however fast he screwed on the caps, was never able to make enough money to buy one half of the things that so large a family needed.

Answer these questions:

1. How many rooms were in the house?
    
2. Who was the bed given to?
    
3. Why did they have the bed?
    
4. Why do you think life was uncomfortable for the family?
    
5. Would you like to live in a house with this family? Why?
    

6. Who earned the money for the family? Describe this person’s job in your own words.
    

7. Think about your family, compare your family members to all of the characters you have read about so far.
   For example:
   My Dad is like Mr Bucket because he works extremely hard and always protects his family.