XMAS Story

Penny the Christmas Elf
There is only one week until Christmas and the workers of the North Pole are busy, busy,busy. Santa checks his list, once and then twice, to see which boys and girls have been naughty* and nice. Santa lives in a big beautiful* log cabin with a big wooden window in the living room. The North Pole is bustling with elves* and fairies* and animals who all want this Christmas season to be the best one yet. The North Pole village is at the tiptop of the world.

The elves live in little log cabins that they built themselves, using wood from the big pine trees that are all around. The biggest pine trees are strung with twinkling lights and shiny ornaments of red, green, blue, and gold. On the top of each tree is a big golden star. At night, these stars burn bright, lighting the way for the little animals who only come out in the dark. The air is crisp and clean, like the sky is always about to snow and the scent of freshly baked warm chocolate chip cookies lingers* in the air. On this winter day in December, just one week before Christmas, snow is falling softly. The snowflakes are big and fluffy and look like pieces of cotton candy. It is the first real snowfall of the Christmas season. Naughty: 淘氣, 頑皮 Beautiful:精美 Elves:精靈 Faires:小仙女 Lingers: 徘徊

On this winter day in December, just one week before Christmas, snow is falling softly. The snowflakes are big and fluffy* and look like pieces of cotton candy. It is the first real snowfall of the Christmas season. All around the North Pole village, the elves and fairies are taking a break from their very important jobs to play in the snow.

Penny the Elf runs into the North Pole field followed by her little brother Grant Penny is a kid elf. She is only seven years old. Some Christmas elves have been around for years and years. Her younger brother Grant is five years old. They come from a family of Christmas elves. Penny has short dark curly hair and big blue eyes, just like her brother Grant.

Sometimes, people even think they are twins! Since Mrs. Claus made Penny in charge of coming up with a new Christmas cookie recipe*, Penny has been given the honor of wearing a special uniform* of a red and white striped shirt, a pair of red sparkly tights, and a red and green tutu with golden stars all around the bottom. Like all the other elves, Penny wears a tall red hat and matching red shoes with gold ornaments on top of the toes. The elves are used to the snowy weather of the North Pole and never get cold, no matter how much they play in the snow! Penny runs around catching snowflakes on her tongue. “This snowflake tastes like birthday cake frosting!” she yells. fluffy*:蓬鬆 uniform*: 制服 ornaments*: 首飾擺設 recipe: 食譜 yell:大叫

Her little brother Grant runs up next to her and catches a snowflake on his tongue. “And this snowflake tastes like hot cocoa!” he says. A snowball whizzes by Penny’s head. “SNOWBALL FIGHT!” Grant yells*! Penny and Grant run and hide behind big pine trees and start to roll snowballs. “Faster, faster!” Grants says as he throws a snowball in his sister’s direction. Suddenly*, the church bell in the middle of town begins to ring. “Oh no!” Penny cries. “We have to get back to work so everything will be ready for Christmas!”

“Five more minutes?” Grant begs. Penny looks at her little brother and laughs. “Ok, five more minutes Grant but then we have to get to work!” Grant squeals with delight and throws herself into a pile of fresh snow to make a snow angel. Penny lays down next to him and together they swing their arms back forth, making a matching pair of snow angels. “Alright Grant, it’s time to go,” Penny says, jumping to her feet. “We have very important work to do!” Penny is in charge of coming up with a new Christmas cookie recipe. Every year, Mrs. Claus picks the best behaved elf for this job. “This year the elf who has been sugar and spice and everything nice is Miss Penny,” Mrs. Claus declares. It is a very big deal. Suddenly: 突然 delight: 愉快 important:重要

Back in the village bakery, Penny gets to work mixing different Ingredients. “This one’s too sour,” she says, tasting one mix. “But this one is too sweet!” Penny says, tasting another mix.

Then, Penny walks outside, plops down on the bakery steps, and begins to cry. “How will I ever make this the best Christmas ever if I can’t get the recipe right?” Down the street, Grant is busy working on Santa’s sleigh when he hears Penny crying. “Why are you crying, Penny?” Grants asks, sitting down and putting his arm around his sister. “I can’t get my cookie recipe right and I don’t want to ruin Christmas!” Penny cries. “It’s okay, Penny,” Grant says, sitting down next to her and giving her a big hug. “I can ask my friends to come help!” “You would do that for me?” Penny asks.

“Of course! You’re my big sister and together we’ll make the best Christmas cookies the North Pole has ever tasted! “You’re the best little brother ever!” Penny says. “I’ll go get my friends to come help,” Grant tells Penny. “Wait right here!” Grant hops off the bakery steps and goes running towards the North Pole barn. Leave one sentence of worth of space for Chinese Definition

In the North Pole Barn, Whoosie Winksy the Snowy Owl is hard at work making birdhouses. She is a very old snowy owl and has worked in the North Pole barn since she was a baby. Whoosie Winksy is not white like most snowy owls. She has long purple feathers and big brown eyes that glow in the dark. She is the wisest of all the North Pole animals and everyone asks her for help when they need it. As the oldest snowy owl in the North Pole, Whoosie Winksy’s job is to make the best and most beautiful birdhouses for Santa Claus to deliver on Christmas Eve around the world. She uses her beak to break the wood into pieces and then nails them together using a small hammer to make the birdhouses. She paints them by dipping her longest feather into little bottles of paints. Each birdhouse has a different design of a beautiful winter wonderland. Whoosie Winksy is right in the middle of painting a tiny wreath on the side of a birdhouse when Grant bursts through the door.

“Whoosie Winksy, we need your help!” Grant cries. Whoosie Winksy jumps and lets out a surprised “Whooo.” “Oh goodness, you scared me, Grant!” she says, flying over to him. “What’s the matter?” “Penny needs our help with the Christmas cookies!” Grant says. “She can’t get the recipe right.” Leave one sentence of worth of space for Chinese Definition

“Oh dear, that is a big deal,” Whoosie Winksy says. “Of course I will help. I can decorate the cookies like I decorate my birdhouses!” “Those are great ideas!” Grant says. “But who can help with the cookie recipe?” “I know!” Whoosie Winksy says. “I flew by Mr and Mrs Santa’s house’s chimney, It smelled delicious!, I bet she will help!” .

Penny, Grant and Whoosie Winksy come into the log cabin. Meanwhile Mr Santa Claus is drinking hot coco. “Mrs Santa Claus, Penny really needs your help!” Grant cries. “It’s Penny’s Christmas cookies,” Grant says. “She can’t get the recipe right!” “Oh no! That is a big deal” Mrs Santa Claus says. “There is only one week until Christmas!” “I can help taste the cookies and Whoosie Winksy can decorate them,” Grant says toward Mrs Santa Claus. “But we really need you to help Penny get the recipe right!” “I know exactly what we can put in the cookies to make them the yummiest cookies the North Pole has ever tasted!” Mrs Santa Claus says. “Let’s do it!”

Back in the North Pole Bakery, On a long table in the middle of the bakery, Whoosie Winksy and Grant lay out the sugar, flour, eggs, milk, and mixing bowls and spoons of every size. “Alright Penny, show us what you got!” Mrs Santa Claus says. “First, I mix together three cups of flour, one cup of sugar, one egg, a half a cup of salt, and some fresh buttermilk in the biggest bowl I can find,” Penny explains.

“Then I use an ice cream scoop to scoop out perfect little balls of cookie dough. Once they're all lined up on a pan, I use these cookie cutters to make the cookies the shape of stars, ornaments, wreaths, snowmen, and even Mr. Santa Claus! I bake them in the oven for seven minutes (just like my age!) and then let them cool down. I haven’t even been able to decorate them because they taste so bad!” “Blah!” Grant says, spitting out a piece of cookie. “These cookies do not taste sweet at all!” “What recipe are you using Penny?” Whoosie Winksy asks. “It’s an old family recipe passed down from from elf to elf,” she says. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong!

“Can I see the recipe?” Mrs. Santa Claus asks. Penny hands it over to her. “Hmmm, I think I figured it out!” Mrs. Santa Claus says. “You’re putting in a half a cup of salt when you should only be putting in a half a TEASPOON of salt!”

“Oh my goodness!” Penny says, throwing her hands over her head. “Silly me!” “Now that we know what’s wrong, we should waste no time getting started!” Whoosie Winksy says, clapping her wings. “How many cookies do we need by Christmas Eve?” Grant asks.

“Well, we need to have enough for everyone in the North Pole Village, extra for Santa and his reindeer, and some for us too!” Penny says. “That means we probably need to bake about...500?” “Let’s get to work!” Mrs. Santa Claus says. “With all four of us working together we’ll get these cookies baked, decorated, and ready for Christmas Eve in no time!”

For the next week, Penny, Grant, Mrs. Santa Claus and Whoosie Winksy spend everyday, from morning until suppertime, in the the North Pole Bakery. Penny and Grant work together,measuring the ingredients and mixing them all together. “Yummy, these are the best cookies in the whole wide world!” Grant says, taking a big bite of a cookie fresh out of the oven. Right next to Penny and Grant, Whoosie Winksy is busy making the frosting and candy that will go on top of the cookies.

“Taste this,” Whoosie Winksy says, holding a spoon of frosting out for Penny to lick. “I added a special ingredient to your frosting recipe.” “Yum! This frosting tastes like a Christmas tree!” Penny says, licking her lips. “How did you do that, Whoosie Winksy?” “I sprinkled some of my magic fairy dust into the frosting mix,” Whoosie Winksy says. “I borrowed it from Merry the Fairy, Since she dresses like a Christmas tree and smells like a Christmas tree, I knew her magic fairy dust would taste like a Christmas tree!” “Good idea, Whoosie Winksy!” Penny says. Whoosie Winksy is singing to herself while she stir paint with the tip of her feather. As soon as the frosting dries, Whoosie Winksy swoops the cookies over to her part of the table and paints a winter wonderland on each one. She has made a special kind of paint that is safe for the people of the North Pole to eat! Once the cookies are all painted, Penny, Grant, and Whoosie Winksy get to work putting them into bags and tying them up with ribbons of red, green, and gold. On Christmas Eve, all of the elves, fairies, and animals of The North Pole gather around in the field outside of Santa Claus’s workshop.

Once the cookies are all painted, Penny, Grant, and Whoosie Winksy get to work putting them into bags and tying them up with ribbons of red, green, and gold. On Christmas Eve, all of the elves, fairies, and animals of The North Pole gather around in the field outside of Santa Claus’s workshop. Last page:

“Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas!” Santa Claus yells happily as he opens the big barn door of his workshop. The reindeer are lined up in front of Santa’s sleigh. The sleigh is red and gold and as big as a car. A Christmas wreath is hung on the back of it. Everyone cheers when they see Santa’s sleigh. As Santa Claus starts to put all of the presents into the sleigh, Mrs. Claus holds up her hand to quiet everyone. “This year, Penny the Elf was chosen to make the Christmas cookies, “

Mrs. Claus says. “Santa, would you like to try one before you leave to deliver presents around the world?” “Of course!” Santa says. “I can never say no to a cookie!”

Santa opens up a bag and bites into one of Penny’s cookies and begins to chew. “I must say, Mrs. Claus. These are the best Christmas cookies I have ever tasted!” he says. The creatures of The North Pole all cheer even louder this time. “Yay Penny! I knew you could do it!” Grant says, giving her a big hug. “WE did it!” Penny say, giving Grant an even bigger hug back. Penny, Grant, Ana, and Whoosie Winksy stand together and watch as Santa and his reindeers fly into the night.

Santa Claus circles his sleigh back over The North Pole and waves, one of Penny’s cookies in his other hand, “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!”