This chocolate-crazed story should get you in the mood for an easter-egg hunt. Look out for a surprise-guest appearance from a famous fluffy animal dear to the hearts of chocolate-lovers everywhere.

Jim is one of the very few boys on earth who doesn’t like chocolate. When Aunty Judith takes him to the zoo, she gives him a chocolate bar. Jim throws it to Theo the monkey - but little does he know what chaos and mayhem will follow from his kind gift.

Read by Natasha. Duration 14.05

This is a story about a very unusual boy, and an even more unusual monkey. The boy was out of the ordinary as boys go, because he didn’t like Chocolate. No, not at all. Not even one little bit. And I must stay, I’ve never met a boy like that. Not in my entire life. And the monkey was unusual because he absolutely adored chocolate - this particular monkey went absolutely bananas for it - and as you may guess - very few monkeys are mad about chocolate, if only because, they’ve never even tasted it.

The boy was called Jim.

And the monkey was called Theodore, or Theo for short.

One day, Jim’s Aunty Judith took him to the zoo. Jim’s mother had told her that Jim didn’t like chocolate, but she didn’t believe that.

“Poor little thing,” she said to herself. “His mum won’t buy him chocolate because she’s too mean. But I’ll buy him an nice lovely bar and give it to him while we are out.”

And that’s what she did. Only it was true. Jim really didn’t like chocolate.

“Oh thanks Aunty Judith” he said when she gave it to him. “That’s really kind of you. I’ll just save it for later, if you don’t mind.”

But he did like seeing all the animals in the Zoo.

The prowling bears weren’t at all cuddly - but they were super cool all the same.

The giraffes had lovely soft noses. The snakes in the snake house made Jim’s blood run cold - but he liked being scared really, - just a bit.

And the monkeys - well everyone loves monkeys. They looked silly but intelligent all at the same time. And in particular, one was nicer than all the others. He came up to the bars of the cage and pressed his face through them. That little monkey was Theo. Jim thought he looked hungry, and then he remembered the bar of chocolate in his coat pocket, and decided to give it to him.

Aunty Judith was starting to move on to the next cage full of chimpanzees. Jim unwrapped the chocolate bar, and threw it to Theo. The chocolate bounced against the cage, but Theo reached out with his little hand through the bars and grabbed it. Instead of stuffing it down his mouth, he started to lick it. His big brown eyes started to go all dreamy. He was in monkey heaven.

Just then Aunty Judith called to Jim and he had to run after her. “Thanks for the chocolate aunty Judith”, he said. “It was delicious.”

And Aunty Judith thought:

“Such a mean mummy not to give Jimmy chocolate. He loves it. Obviously.”

But it was Theo who was in love with chocolate. It went straight to his stomach, and then straight to his brain, and soon he was swinging from around the climbing frame of his cage like a mad mad monkey.

“Ooo oooo Ah Ah!” he said at the top of voice for the next hour and a half. And the keepers and all the other monkeys thought he had gone crazy. Which he had. He was crazy for chocolate.

But when the chocolate high wore off, Theo felt really really down. Have you ever felt like when you’ve eaten too much chocolate? First it makes you really happy, and then later, you feel a bit sad. Well that’s what happened to Theo. And all the next day he sat in his cave thinking to himself.

“Poor poor me. Now I’ve tasted chocolate, I’ll never be happy again.”

The keepers noticed that he had gone off his bananas and they worried that he was pining away. One of them thought that he must be in love, and that a girl monkey had turned her nose up at him. Another thought he was sick, and but the vet couldn’t catch Theo because he started to swing away.

“There’s nothing wrong with that monkey” he said.

But nobody guessed that Theo was planning to escape so he could find some chocolate. And the very next day, his chance came. The keeper came in carrying a big bucket full of bananas, and he didn’t close the door properly behind him. Theo was watching for something like to happen, and in a moment he was out.

“Oi You! “Stop!” Shouted another keeper.

But Theo didn’t. Soon he was heading for the turn styles, which were meant to stop people coming in without paying. As Theo was jumping over them, he saw a boy in the queue eating a fruity chocolate bar - he grabbed that and made his way down the street. The boy was too startled to cry. He just said,

“Mum, did you see that monkey stole my chocolate” he said.

But his mum hadn’t seen and she said, “Don’t tell fibs. I’m not buying you another one. You’re the greedy little monkey”.

Theo gobbled down the stolen chocolate, and now he was on a high. He headed straight for the shopping centre - not because he knew that chocolate was there - but he sensed it.

Now the emergency services started to get lots of strange calls. They are the people you call when something terrible happens - like a fire, or an accident, or a theft.

First of all a little girl called and said that a monkey had stolen her chocolate. The woman who took the call told her to stop mucking around and wasting time or she would get a visit from a policeman.

But then the owner of a corner shop called and said that a monkey had rushed into his shop and rushed out again with an arm full of nutty choco-bars.

And then a gift shop rang to say that somebody had stolen several pounds of hand made Belgium chocolates.

And the head of the super market grocery store rang to say that a monkey was swinging over the shelves, knocking tins, jars, and bottle of milk all over the place, and generally creating mayhem.

“I don’t suppose you believe me,” he said sadly. “But you can hear the noise. Those are my customers. Some of them are screaming and others are laughing”.

“Oh yes, I do believe you” said the telephonist at Emergency Services. “And I can tell you now that he’s heading straight for your chocolate shelves.”

Which of course he was.

Now the situation was becoming serious. The Police set up a special Incident Center, which is what they do when something really, really bad happens. And chief Inspector Clews put twenty officers on the case, and told every patrol car and policeman on the beat to look out for a monkey on the loose.

The local television news had pictures of all the chaos caused by Theo, and interviews with children whose chocolate he had stolen.

The television reporter said,

“This disaster could not have happened at a worse time. Easter is on its way, and shop keepers say it is too dangerous to put out Easter Eggs. Our Children may have to go without chocolate this Easter.”

They mayor was so furious that he called up Chief Inspector Clews told him that he was so bad at his job that he couldn’t even catch an escaped monkey. And Chief Inspector Clews didn’t like that. So he decided to set up a special trap.

First he got a special cage with an automatic door, and filled it with chocolate bars. He left it in the middle of the park, because he guessed that Theo was hiding there -which he was. But Theo wasn’t stupid. He saw the policemen bring the cage, and he knew that it was a trap. Instead he climbed into the back of a supermarket lorry just as it was unloading. That time he got away with a whole cardboard box full of chocolate bars.

Then the police were armed with tranquilizer guns which fired special darts to make Theo go to sleep. But it’s hard to hit a fast-swinging chocolate-charged monkey, and they couldn’t shoot Theo.

Now every year, it was the tradition to have an easter egg hunt in the Mayor’s back garden - which was so big, it was almost like a park. All the children from the town were invited to come and look for eggs hidden under flowers and behind trees. But this year, the Mayor said he wasn’t going to have an Easter Egg hunt because he couldn’t trust his police force to stop the monkey coming and spoiling it all. So all the children were very sad.

And so was the Easter Bunny.

The Easter Bunny decided to go and have a word with Theo. He knew where he was hiding in the park, because he had often smelt chocolate around a certain hollow tree. He went here and called out:

“Hey you. What do you think you are doing spoiling everything for the little children?”

They looked out and saw the bunny. He wasn’t afraid of a little fluffy bunny rabbit, and so he came out to talk to him.

He said, “What do you mean spoiling everything for the children? There’s enough chocolate in this world to go round isn’t there?”

But the Easter Bunny was very cross. And when he was cross, he looked surprisingly fierce, even though he was all fluffy and white.

“How can I go around hiding Easter Eggs when I know at any moment you might come along and steal them? Stealing is wrong, and even a monkey should know that.”

And that night Theo couldn’t sleep because his conscience kept on telling him that the bunny was right. Stealing is wrong.

So the next day he went back to the Zoo and surrendered.

Everyone was ever so surprised to see him. But he sat in his cage looking ever so sad, because he thought he would never eat chocolate again. In fact, he though he would die without chocolate.

A week went by and he was still sad. And eventually Sunday came. And it was a very special Sunday because it was Easter Sunday.

And the Easter Bunny bought chocolate to all the children.

And do you know what?

He also bought a special supply of Easter Eggs to Theo. And he bought eggs to Theo every easter after that, so that all year long he had something to look forward too. And even Theo realized that you can’t eat chocolate all the time because you’ll get fat, and then you won’t be able to swing from tree to tree and go “ooo oooo aaah aaah”. So it’s much better to keep it for a special treat.

Unless of course you don’t like chocolate.

And that’s the story of the Monkey Who Loved Chocolate.

Christmas is the happiest time of year, but sometimes something terrible happens - like a kid misses it all together.
That’s what happened one year to a girl called Natalie.

Natalie’s life was almost perfect - apart from her annoying little brother called Joe. There was just one thing she didn’t like doing - and that was getting up in the morning. Her Dad was always warning that one day she would miss something important. And one day she did.

But fortunately this is time of year when no problem can’t be solved…. with just a little magic.

Read by Natasha. Duration 14.48.

The Girl Who Missed Christmas:

Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Natalie.

Natalie was six. She lived on a nice house, in a nice street. She had a little brother called Joe, and dog called Marmalade.

And most of the time Natalie was happy.

She played with her friends.

She played with her dog.

Sometimes she even played with Joe - when he wasn’t being annoying.

But there was one thing Natalie didn’t like.

Getting up.

Every morning her Dad would come into her room and say: “C’mon Natalie, time to get up.”

And Natalie would say: “Just one more minute.”

“Now, now, you’ll be late for school,” said Dad.

“Just one tiny minute,” Natalie would say. “Pleeeeeeease…..”

“Now, Natalie.”

“It’s so warm in bed,” Natalie would moan.

And so it went on every morning.

Dad would shout at Natalie to get up.

Mum would shout at her.

And Marmalade the dog would bark.

And Joe would already be up.

And then Mum would shout at her again.

And the dog would bark even louder.

But Natalie just pulled the cover over her ears.

Because Natalie just really, really, really hated getting out of bed in the morning.

“You know, Natalie, one day you’re going to miss something really important because you stay in bed to long,” said Dad.

As it happened, something very important was about to happen. The nights were getting longer, and the leaves were falling from the trees, and soon Natalie was getting very excited because it was getting close to Christmas.

And she had so many different things she had asked for.

She wanted a new game for her Nintendo DS.

And a doll that cried real tears.

And a new DVD.

And lots and lots and lots of things.

Of course, she had to rehearse for the school play - except she nearly missed it because she was sleeping in.

And she had to go and see Santa in the grotto - but she nearly missed that as well because she didn’t want to get out of bed.

“I just don’t what to do about all this sleeping,” said Mum.

But Natalie didn’t care.

If I want to stay in bed, why shouldn’t I? she decided to herself.

So finally Christmas Eve arrived. And Natalie was so excited she found it really hard to get to sleep. She wanted to stay and see if she could really see Santa. She tried ever so hard to stay awake as long as she could.

But eventually, she went off to sleep.

And she slept.

And slept.

And slept.

At one point she heard Dad coming into the room to wake her - but she just rolled over, put the pillow over her head, and went back to sleep again.

Finally she decided she she had been so long in bed that it was starting to get boring.

She pulled away the pillow and looked towards the window.

It was morning.

“Wow, it’s Christmas day,” said Natalie. “I’m so excited.”

She looked towards the end of her bed.

But where was the stocking? she wondered.

Where had Santa left all his toys?

Natalie jumped out of bed, and ran downstairs.

She was quite out of breath - because she’d never jumped out of bed before.

“Mum, Dad, its Christmas,” she shouted.

She glanced around the room.

Joe was playing with a new toy car.

Mum was folding away some used wrapping paper.

Dad was reading a boring looking book with no pictures — in fact, the sort of book Mum gave him every year.

And Marmalade the dog was eating something that looked suspiciously like turkey leftovers.

“Mum, Dad, it’s Christmas,” shouted Natalie, even louder this time.

There was a silence.

Everyone looked at her - everyone that is except Marmalade who was busy eating turkey.

“It’s Christmas…isn’t it?” said Natalie, more quietly now.

“You mean, it was Christmas,” said Dad.

“You slept right through,” said Mum.

“We tried to wake you,” said Dad.

“But, but, but….” Said Natalie.

“I told you you’d miss something important one day,” said Dad.

“It was really good,” said Joe. “We had loads of food, and loads of presents.”

“And I missed it,” wailed Natalie.

And she started to cry.

And cry.

And cry.

“Sorry,” said Dad. “It also means you didn’t get any presents from Santa. But don’t worry, there will be another Christmas next year.”

“It’s not faaaaair,” wailed Natalie.

“But I always told you you’d miss something important if you didn’t get out of bed in time,” said Dad. “Now, help me clear away all this wrapping paper….”

But Natalie just walked out of the house.

She walked through the garden.

And across the park.

When she got there, she cried and cried.

She was so upset about missing Christmas.

And she didn’t know how she could wait for a whole year.

Now, it so happened that it was still very early in the morning.

And the sun was only just coming up, so it was still quite dark.

And at that very moment, Santa was just trudging his way across the sky in his sleigh on his way back to Lapland.

He was very tired.

And so were the reindeer, because they’d been all around the world delivering presents to all the children.

But, even though he was tired, he couldn’t help noticing one little girl sitting on a park bench all by herself.

And crying and crying.

“Whoa there Rudolf,” said Santa. “I wonder what’s wrong with that girl.”

“Maybe she didn’t like her presents,” said Rudolf, who was hungry and tired, and wanted to get back to his grotto to get some food. “Kids today! No gratitude….”

“We better see,” said Santa.

And so he pulled the sleigh down into the park.

“What’s the matter?” asked Santa.

But Natalie was so upset, she just kept crying, and her eyes were so full of water she couldn’t see anything.

“Huh, she’s probably upset because she only got one Nintendo, ten Polly Pockets, and a dozen Barbie dolls,” said Rudolph. “Kids today! When I started this job they were happy with a small piece of wood and an orange. The stuff you have to carry noawadays. It’s hardly surprising my back hurts.”

“Didn’t you like your presents?” said Santa.

Natalie rubbed her eyes, and then looked up.

And she gasped.

Santa was sitting right next to her.

“Oh-my-gosh,” she said. “Is it….you?”

“Shhhhh,” said Santa. “You see I’m not really supposed to show myself to children.”

“We’ll be in trouble for this,” moaned Rudolph. “I told you we should have gone straight home.”

But Natalie gave Santa a hug.

“You see Santa, I slept right through Christmas….and now I’ve missed it.”

“Oh dear, oh dear,” said Santa.

Then he looked towards the house.

“We’ve still got a few things left in the sack,” he said. “So go inside, and check the fireplace in your bedroom in a few minutes.”

“But, but….”

“Just go,” said Santa.

So Natalie stated to walk home.

And Santa went back to his sleigh.

“We’re not doing another delivery are we,” said Rudolph. “Because, that’s overtime, that what that is…I’ll need an extra carrot for that.”

“Oh, c’mon you lazy animal,” said Santa.

And then Natalie came back into the house.

She couldn’t believe her eyes.

Jingle bells was playing on the hi-fi.

Everyone was wearing hats.

And her mum had re-heated some turkey and made some fresh roast potatoes.

“We thought we’d re-start Christmas,” said Dad. “Just for you.”

And Natalie jumped up and down, then ran upstairs.

Because in the fireplace in her bedroom there was stocking bursting with presents - there was a doll with real tears, a princess on a white pony, game for her nintendo, and, finally, after she had opened all the other presents from Santa there was one special one from Dad - An Alarm Clock !

So for the rest of the day, Natalie had the best Christmas ever.

And do you know what?

A couple of weeks later it was the first day of a new term.

Dad came into the bedroom. “Wake up, Natalie. Time to go back to school,” he said.

The he looked around.

“Natalie,” he said, sounding worried. “Natalie..”

But he couldn’t see her anywhere.

Then he heard a voice from downstairs.

So he rushed down to kitchen.

And Natalie was out of bed, had put on her school uniform and brushed her hair, and had made breakfast for everyone.

“I’m never going to be late for anything again, Dad,” she said.

This is a story about two sisters:

• A Big Sister
• And a Little Sister

The big sister was called Debbie. And the little sister was called Daisy. Debbie was seven. And Daisy was four. And most of the time, they were great friends. Even when Daisy broke some of Debbie’s toys, she didn’t mind too much. And most of the time Daisy didn’t mind being the little sister. But just occasionally, it made her very cross indeed. And this story is about one of those days.

A modern story specially written for Storynory. Read by Natasha. Duration 11.30 minutes.

It started out a pretty ordinary sort of day. It was the holidays, and there was no school, so as soon as the two girls got up, they started playing. They played with their dolls in their room. They went down to breakfast, and played with their eggy soldiers. And then they went out to the garden and played on the swings.

And Daisy decided it was shaping up into quite a nice day. Because the thing she really like best of all was playing with her big sister.

But then it all started to go very wrong.

“Come on Debbie,” said their Mum. “It’s time to go to Girl Guides.”

“Me come too, me come too,” said Daisy, jumping up and down.

“Don’t be silly,” said Mum. “You have to be seven to join the girl guides.”

Daisy felt a bit cross about that.

Still, it would be fun when Debbie got home.

But when Debbie did get home, she didn’t have any time to play.

She had to work on her school project.

“Can I work on my school project?” asked Daisy.

But Mum just laughed. “Don’t be silly,” she said. “You don’t even go to proper school yet.”

And Daisy felt a bit cross about that as well.

After that, it was time for bed.

“I’ll take you up,” said Dad, picking Daisy up off the sofa.

“What about Debbie?” said Daisy.

“She can stay up later,” said Dad. “Because she’s the big sister.”

And that, thought Daisy, is that. Now I’m really cross.

Really, really.

“It’s not fair,” she wailed. “When am I going to be the big sister?”

Dad paused for a second. “Well, never,” he said. “Debbie’s always going to be the big sister, and your always going to be the little sister.”

“But, but, but….”

But Daisy was so cross she couldn’t even finish the sentence.

“That’s just the way it is,” said Dad.

“Night, titch…” said Debbie.

And after that, Daisy sat in bed. And she felt so, so, so angry, she felt she might explode. Never be the big sister, she thought to herself.

“It’s just not fair.”

She was just about to close her eyes when suddenly she saw a fairy at the bottom of her bed.

“Who are you?” she asked.

The fairy skipped across to Daisy’s pillow. “I’m the age fairy,” she said.

“The age fairy?” asked Daisy. “What’s that?”

And then it dawned on her.

“Can you…can you help little sisters who really want to be big sisters?”

The fairy nodded. “But only if they really want to.”

“I really do,” said Daisy. “Really, really.”

And so the fairy skipped into the wardrobe. She waved her wand, and then she pointed to a red dress. “I’ve turned that into Big Sisters Clothes,” she said. “Just put on that dress, and suddenly you’ll be the big sister, and Debbie will be the little sister.”

And then the fairy vanished. And as she closed her eyes and went to sleep, Daisy was wondering what it might be like be the big sister for a change. She was a bit frightened, but also excited…because big sisters seemed to have so much fun.

The next morning Daisy woke up early. She was really excited about being the big sister, so she snuck into the wardrobe and put on the red dress.

And suddenly she was the big sister. “Oh-my-gosh,” she said. “This is so amazing.”

She whirled around a little bit. And then she saw that Debbie was waking up.

And Debbie was the little sister.

“I want to play with you, said Debbie, holding out her favourite Barbie doll.

But just now Daisy wasn’t sure she wanted to play with Debbie. She was enjoying being seven a bit too much.

“In a minute,” she said.

“I want to play with you NOW!” shrieked Debbie.

And then Dad walked into the room, carrying a cup of coffee and a newspaper. And Debbie was crying and crying about how she wanted to play with her big sister, and stamping her foot, and going bright red in the face.

“We, er, just play with her for a bit will you Daisy,” said Dad.

But Daisy didn’t really want to. “But, er, Dad…”

“Great, thanks,” said Dad, walking out of the room.

And so Daisy had to play with her little sister just to cheer her up.

“Daisy, Daisy, where are you?” shouted Mum, running into the room.

“What?” said a startled Daisy.

“You haven’t taken the dog out,” shouted Mum. “She’s barking and barking.”

So Daisy put on her coat, and walked outside with the dog. But the dog was quite strong and was pulling her this way and that, and she was feeling quite cold.

So she was relieved when she got inside, because she was really hungry now and needed some hot breakfast.

“Sorry,” said Debbie, when Daisy arrived at the table. “I thought you’d gone out so I ate your eggy soldiers.”

“Wha, wha, whaaaaaaat!” screamed Daisy.

“Now don’t argue girls,” said Mum.

“But she ate my breakfast,” shouted Daisy.

“Well, she’s only small, she can’t help it,” said Mum. “I’ll get you some museli instead.”

“I don’t like muesli,” grumped Daisy.

“Well, you have to eat it because you’re a big girl, and you have to eat healthy foods.”

“I want a chocolate milk shake,” said Daisy.

“Don’t be silly,” said Mum.

And so Daisy had two spoonfuls of muesli but she really couldn’t eat any more than that because it was yucky.

And when she had finished, she thought she would go out on the swings to play.

“Where are you going, young lady,” said Mum.

“To the swings,” said Daisy.

“Not until you’ve tidied your room,” said Mum.

“Done what?”

Daisy was shocked and horrified. She never tied her room….not ever.

“Go on, quick,” said Mum.

So Daisy trudged upstairs. And on the bedroom floor, Debbie had pulled lots of toys out of their boxes and spread them everywhere.

And now Daisy had to pick them all up.

“It’s so unfair,” she said out loud.

Finally she was finished, and she went back downstairs.

Maybe at last she could go out to the garden and play.

“What about your project?” said Dad.

“My…my….”

But Daisy was speechless.

“It has to be finished by today,” said Dad.

“Just a minute,” said Daisy firmly.

And she went back upstairs to her bedroom.

She went to the wardrobe.

And she took off the red dress.

And put on a little girls dress instead.

So that suddenly she was the little sister again.

“I want to play with you,” she said to Debbie, when she went back downstairs again.

“Oh, I’m busy now,” said Debbie.

“That’s okay,” said Daisy sweetly. “I’ll go and play in the garden by myself.”

She played by herself for the rest of the morning. And decided that being the little sister wasn’t so bad after all.

Natasha reads two very special stories were written by the young winners of Bertie’s Christmas Storynory Writing Competition. As it happens, both stories are about dolls - but the tales are very different. So well done Alisa Pullum and Michelle Dufflocq! And Bertie sends a special commendation to Claire Castle aged 7. He says you are all very talented and hopes that you will keep on writing.

Read by Natasha.

Christmas Miracle by Alisa Pullum

Once upon a time, there was a house on top of a very tall hill. In that house, there lived three little children. There was Matt the oldest, which would always get into trouble with his little sister Erika, and little brother Chris. Matt would go up to Erika and take her most favorite little doll while saying, “Oh Erika! Help me, Help me!” in a squeaky girls voice and prance around her room. Then he would go outside and run around the yard still saying “Please help me Erika! Oh Help, Help!” still using his squeaky girly voice. Chris would always chase Matt and grab Erika’s doll. Then everything would be calm, Erika and Chris would play a little board game, and Matt would sit on the couch and pout all evening long, just because his little siblings had won.

Mother would then come home with groceries and ask them,”how was your day?” Erika and Chris would always say,”It was Ok, I guess.” Just because they didn’t want Matt to get in trouble. When ever Matt gets in trouble he gets yelled at all day, and the next day he won’t even talk, not even one word would come out of his mouth. So every Doll!” day when something bad happens, they would keep their mouth’s shut. But one day Matt did something very bad. He took one of Erika’s dolls, using his squeaky girls voice and pranced around the room, as usual. But when he went out side he gave the doll to his dog, Harold. Harold took the innocent little doll and shook it with his teeth. There was stuffing going everywhere like it was snowing! Oh how Erika screamed and cried,”Down Boy! Give Me Back My Doll!” She begged that for a while until Harold finally let go. The yard was a mess! there was a doll arm there, and a leg here, and the little doll head was right at her feet. Chris could not fix or help with this.

When mother came home that day she saw Erika crying with her doll head in her arms and Chris comforting her. On the couch was Matt laughing and saying, “YES! Victory is mine, all mine!” Then she asked Erika what had happened. “Matt gave my doll to Harold and now I only have her head.” she said moaning with tears. Moms face got red, as red as the burning sun, as red as fire burning clearly in the yard. She went to Matt and grabbed him by the ear. “I’m sure santa won’t give you any presents!” She said. Matt’s ears got scolded with these words and moaned with pain. He was in his room yelling and kicking everywhere!

Three months passed and soon there was three days before christmas. Erika still had her doll head in her arms and had never forgiven her brother after that day. Every night she would prey and say, ” Dear sweet santa, your beard as white as snow, your bells sound as beautiful as a carol, your suit as red as blood, oh please fix my doll.” Then she would go to bed. On Christmas eve, her family came over and exchanged gifts all night long. After the feast, every one went home. So Erika went under the tree and placed her doll head under it and then said, “Dear sweet santa, your beard as white as snow, Your sleigh as sparkly as sun rays, your suit as red as blood, oh please fix my doll.” So she went to sleep and had a very strange dream. It was Christmas and Matt got a large bike and rode it outside all day long. Chris got a cool board game and played it peacefully. But in Erika’s box there was a piece of coal! She woke up terrified and went down stairs to look under the christmas tree. But she did not just see presents, she saw santa holding her doll head! He put christmas dust on it and in seconds the doll had a body with a beautiful dress on it! Even a crown that even she could wear!

Tears of joy ran down her cheeks and before she new it, she was hugging santa clause exclaiming, “Oh, thank you santa! Oh, thank you so much! I knew you would come, I just knew it!” Santa hugged her back and said with a smile, “If you are good I will come with a present just for you. I heard you talking about me so I would like to give you a bell from my sleigh but be careful. If you do not believe me, you will not hear it’s sweet music it would play for you.” More tears of joy ran down her cheeks and she said with joy, “I will always believe you santa. I will, I will!” She hugged him tighter than before and finally let go and when she did, he snapped his fingers and he disappeared while saying, “HO, HO, HO. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!” and he was off! Everyone woke up and Chris got a peaceful board game and played it, Erika got what she wanted, and sadly, Matt got something, but it was a piece of coal! from that day on, everything in that house was peaceful and they all lived happily ever after. Even Matt.

The Ice Doll by Michelle Dufflocq

There once was a little girl named Sunny. She had no brothers or sisters, and at her school everyone teased her. In general she was lonely. But one night on Christmas Eve at exactly mid-night, she wished on a star. Dear star: I would like a friend, the kindest and sweetest friend ever. I would like her for a Christmas present. I do not need anything else. If you grant me this wish, I shall be the happiest girl on earth. And then she went to sleep. The next day was Christmas. There were all sorts of presents to open and lovely things to eat. After that Sunny went outside to play in the snow. She went running all around the yard looking for her friend. Suddenly she tripped on something. Owww! She said, then standing up to go see what she tripped on. It was a small doll; that has about the size of her hand. She was so beautiful yet so dainty and delicate, that she seemed to be made out of ice. You shall be my friend. What’s your name? My name is Sunny, said the girl. My name is Ice, said the doll. Yet her lips didn’t move. Well Ice, said Sunny. We shall do everything that friends do, we shall go ice-skating, we will read books, go to the sea side in when it’s warm again, and play together. Come with me, we shall go inside, said Sunny, picking up the doll.

But as soon as Sunny and Ice were in the house, Sunny notist that Ice was slightly smaller than before. I must be seeing things, thot Sunny.

Sunny and Ice did everything friend do, they read books together, baked cookies together, went ice skating, and played games together. Soon it was time to go to sleep.

By that time the ice doll was about the size of a pea. I shall make you a little bed on my dresser, so you can sleep peacefully, said Sunny. They both got in to bed, and dreamt sweet dreams.

The sun rose and Sunny opened her eyes. She got up, put on her dressing gown, put on her slippers, and ran to go say good morning to Ice. But alas, instead of Ice all there was was a small puddle of water. For Ice was indeed made out of ice. And she had melted during the nights sleep. Sunny looked into the puddle, planning to see her reflection. But instead she saw Ice, with a tear in her eye.

But alas, Sunny’s life continued. She went to school, did her homework, and before she knew it, it was Christmas again. There she was trudging threw the snow, but suddenly she tripped on something. Owww! Said Sunny, and then going to see what it was.

And it was Ice!

Deciding between all the holiday gift baskets
yhat are available can be difficult, especially since fruit baskets
will work for one family but another may find that such a gift is useless; take time for these decisions, because the perfect Christmas gift baskets only helps to improve holidays.

The world seems to be full of stories about young girls who help frogs who then turn out to be princes. The Brothers Grimm wrote the famous “Frog Prince” but this version is by by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps (1820-1829).

As a special bonus, you will hear Natasha sing. And while we are mentioning Natasha, you might like to read some news about her.

Read by Natasha. Duration 11 minutes.

You can find more variations on the the Frog Prince story at D.L. Ashliman’s site.

Many years ago there lived on the brow of a mountain, in the north of England, an old woman and her daughter. They were very poor, and had to work very hard for their living, and the old woman’s temper was not very good, so that the young girl, who was very beautiful, led but an ill life with her.

The girl did all the hardest work, for her mother scratched a living by going around the neighbourhood selling small things, and when she came home in the afternoon, she was tiered and not able to do much more. Nearly all the housework fell to the daughter. Her most tiresome duty was to fetch the water from a well on the other side of the hill, there being no river or spring near their own cottage.

It happened one morning that the daughter had the misfortune, when going to the well, to fall and break the only large pot they owned, and having nothing else that she could use to carry water, she had to go home without any. When her mother came home, she was very thirsty, and the girl, though trembling because of her ill luck, had to tell the old woman that there was no water for her to drink.

The old woman was furiously angry, and pointed to a sieve which happened to be on the table, and told her to go at once to the well and bring her some water in that, or never again to show her face in the cottage.

The young girl, frightened almost out of her wits by her mother’s fury, speedily took the sieve, and though she thought that it was a hopeless task to try and fetch water using a sieve full of holes, she hurried off to the well as if in a dream. When she arrived there, she began to think over the terrible situation, and how impossible it would be for her to survive on her own, and in deepest despair, she fell down by the side of the well and sobbed.

After a while, a frog hopped out of the well and asked her why she was crying so bitterly. She was somewhat surprised at this, but not being the least frightened, told him the whole story, and that she was crying because she could not carry away water in the sieve.

“Is that all?” said the frog; “cheer up, my hinny! for if you will only let me sleep with you for two nights, and then chop off my head, I will tell you how to do it.”

The maiden thought that the silly frog was talking nonsense, but she was too unhappy to waste time arguing with him, and promised to do what he asked. The frog then instructed her in the following words:

Stop with moss
And daub with clay;
And that will carry
The water away.

Having said this, he dived immediately under the water, and the girl, realised that what he had said made perfect sense. She went around and picked up some moss and clay, and used them to fill up the holes in the sieve. She then filled the sieve with water and hurried home, not thinking much of her promise to the frog. By the time she reached home, the old woman’s temper had calmed down, but as they were eating their poor supper very quietly, what should they hear but the splashing and croaking of a frog near the door, and shortly afterwards the daughter recognized the voice of the frog of the well singing:

Open the door, my hinny, my heart,
Open the door, my own darling, my belle;
Remember the promise you made to me
In the meadow beside the wishing well.

She was now dreadfully frightened, and hurriedly explained what had happened to her mother, who was also so much alarmed at the situation. They both thought it best to let this remarkable frog come in side, for they feared that he might cast some nasty spell on them otherwise. When the door was opened, the frog leaped into the room, singing:

Go wi’ me to bed, my hinny, my heart,
Go wi’ me to bed, my darling, my belle;
Remember the promise you made to me,
In the meadow beside the wishing well.

The young girl did as he asked , although as may be readily supposed, she did not much relish such a bedfellow. The next day, the frog was very quiet, and evidently enjoyed the food they placed before him for breakfast, the purest milk and the finest bread they could find. In fact, neither the old woman nor her daughter spared any pains to make the frog comfortable. That night, immediately supper was finished, the frog again sang:

Go wi’ me to bed, my hinny, my heart,
Go wi’ me to bed, my darling, my belle;
Remember the promise you made to me,
In the meadow beside the wishing well.

She again allowed the frog to share her couch, and in the morning, as soon as she was dressed, he jumped towards her, singing:

Chop off my head, my hinny, my heart,
Chop off my head, my darling, my belle;
Remember the promise you made to me,
In the meadow beside the wishing well.

So the young girl did as he asked, and no sooner had she chopped off his head than in the place of the frog, there stood by her side the handsomest prince in the world, who had long been transformed by a magician, and who could never have recovered his natural shape until a beautiful maiden had agreed, of her own accord, to make him her bedfellow for two nights. The joy of both was complete; the girl and the prince were shortly afterwards married, and lived for many years in the enjoyment of every happiness.