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!