Richard Scarry's The Animal's Merry Christmas - part 3

 Stories by Kathryn Jackson

Illustrated by Richard Scarry

Copyright 1950

“Once upon a time there was a big, white, fluffy polar bear who wanted very much to be one of Santa Claus’s helpers.”

So begins the story of a The Bare Polar Bear, who only wanted to do good for others.  Sadly, his offers were continually rebuffed.  It appears that none of Santa’s elves could see a use for such a big, furry helper.  Just when the polar bear was at the point of giving up, Santa realized that he was overworked.  How could he possibly get to all the stores to say hello to the children or be at all the corners to ring bells? Besides, he still had toys to finish.

Mrs. Claus came up with the brilliant idea to send out helpers in Santa’s old suits.  She found plenty of red suits and lots of pillows to fill out the round, jolly tummies. But what would they do for beards?  

Fortunately, the big, white, fluffy polar bear heard the cries for help. Finally – something he could contribute!  Joyfully, the bear stood while Mrs. Claus snipped of all of his fluffy white fur to craft into beards.  That big selfless bear gave enough fur to give each of Santa’s helpers a nice fluffy beard.

The bear was now happy, yet also very cold. Mrs. Claus noticed his discomfort and found a very large piece of red flannel to make a wonderful warm suit, just right for the helpful bear.

Like that polar bear, we may sometimes be frustrated by a lack of ability to help in a bleak situation.  That doesn’t mean we should give up trying. You just never know when your particular gift or talent will be needed.  And then, like the big, white, fluffy bear, you can joyfully give it your all. 

Merry Christmas!

Richard Scarry’s The Animal’s Merry Christmas – part 2

Stories by Kathryn Jackson

Illustrated by Richard Scarry

Copyright 1950

 

Here is another selection from the treasury of Christmas poems and stories that I wrote about last week.  

Green Christmas is a poem from two different points of view – the woodland creatures and the townsfolk.  It begins with a joyful proclamation by the animals that because there is no snow, they can easily find roots and seeds for their Christmas feast.  

When the ground is bare of ice and snow,

And stars are bright, and the winds don’t blow

Hurrah for Christmas and still no snow!

Next, we hear the townsfolk sigh because they long for a white Christmas Day.  

And our Christmas trees would look extra jolly

Blazing with lights – if the snow came down

Deep and white all over the town!

Yet in the end,

But, “Hurrah for Christmas and still no snow!” 

Cry the woodland creatures, and out they go!

For the child who is praying for a Christmas snow but is unlikely to get it, Green Christmas can help develop empathy for others during a season when children can be prone to self-centeredness. After hearing the benefits of a green Christmas to the cute furry animals, a child just may empathize and accept the lack of snow without complaining. It’s never too early to attempt to teach the lesson of seeing things from another’s point of view.  There is always another side to the story!

 

Richard Scarry’s The Animals’ Merry Christmas

Stories by Kathryn Jackson

Illustrated by Richard Scarry

Copyright 1950

I was lucky to find this book full of heartwarming Christmas stories, all charmingly illustrated by one of my favorites, Richard Scarry.  Since each story and poem is special and touches on the true meaning of Christmas, I had a difficult time choosing which to focus on in this post. I decided instead to write about a different story or poem each week until Christmas. 

 

One poem near the end of the book brought back a sudden rush of childhood memories.  Sugar cookies!  Specifically, my sisters and I baking and decorating sugar cookies.  Since I was the youngest and not the best at rolling out the dough, Marty or Amy had that job.  I don’t even have memories of cutting out the shapes, and I’m sure Marty handled the hot oven part.  But my task was the best of all – sprinkling the colored sugar!  I was teased (of course, because that’s what siblings do) about getting more sugar on the cookie sheet than on the cookies.  Of course, there was some extra raw dough to roll in sugar and pop in your mouth.  And then, after baking, a few broke and we would have to eat those up right away.

I suppose we ended up with a big plate of decorated sugar cookies, but that’s not what I remember.  I remember the best part – the laughter, the teasing, the mess, and the fun.