These five Christmas stories are short enough for a sleepy December night. Each takes about two minutes to read aloud and ends quietly, so it settles kids down instead of winding them up. After each story there's one question to talk about while the lights go down.
They were written for StoryBee, so you won't find them in other books. Read them in any order.
Ages 3–6 · about 2 minutes · a story about being brave
In Santa's workshop, every elf had a job. Bram painted the rocking horses. Lulu tied the bows. And Tilly, the smallest elf of all, had the most important job of the year. She would place the golden star on top of the workshop tree.
There was just one problem. Tilly was afraid of heights.
She climbed the first rung of the ladder. Her knees wobbled. She climbed the second rung. Her ears went pink. On the third rung, she looked down and squeezed her eyes shut.
"I can't do it," she whispered.
Bram put down his paintbrush. Lulu put down her ribbon. They walked over and held the bottom of the ladder, one on each side.
"We've got you," said Bram.
"Just look at the star," said Lulu. "Not at the floor."
So Tilly looked at the star. It was warm and shining in her hands. She climbed one rung, and then another, and another, all the way to the top. She reached up and set the star on the tallest branch.
The whole workshop glowed gold.
When Tilly climbed down, her knees were still a little wobbly. But she was smiling.
"Were you still scared?" asked Lulu.
"A little," said Tilly. "But brave is being scared and climbing anyway."
That night, the star kept shining over every sleeping elf, all the way until morning.
Talk about it: What is something you were a little scared to do, but did anyway?
Ages 3–8 · about 2 minutes · a calm story for winding down
The snow started after dinner.
Maya pressed her nose to the window. "Can we go outside?" she asked.
Grandpa smiled and found their boots.
Outside, the street was soft and white. The streetlights made little pools of gold. Every sound had gone quiet, as if the whole town were holding its breath.
"Listen," said Grandpa.
Maya listened. She heard her boots go crunch, crunch. She heard a dog bark far away, once. She heard her own breathing, slow and warm inside her scarf.
"Snow makes the world quieter," said Grandpa. "It catches the sounds, like a blanket."
They walked to the end of the street, where the big pine tree stood. Snow sat on every branch like icing. Maya caught a snowflake on her mitten and looked at it closely. It had six tiny points, each one different.
"No two are the same," said Grandpa. "Just like people."
They walked home slowly, leaving two sets of footprints, one big and one small, side by side.
Inside, Grandpa made warm milk. Maya wrapped herself in a blanket and watched the snow keep falling, falling, falling, until her eyes grew heavy.
The street outside stayed soft and white and quiet. And so did Maya, fast asleep.
Talk about it: What sounds can you hear right now, if we stay very quiet?
Ages 4–8 · about 2 minutes · a story about giving
Leo wanted to give his mom a present. A real one, with paper and a bow.
He looked in his piggy bank. He found two coins and a button.
"That's not enough for anything," he sighed.
He thought about what his mom liked. She liked coffee in her blue mug. She liked it when the kitchen was tidy. She liked it when Leo hugged her without being asked. And she always said she wished she had more time to read her book.
Leo had an idea.
He took a piece of paper and drew a picture of the blue mug. Underneath he wrote, in his best letters: ONE BREAKFAST, MADE BY LEO.
On another piece he drew a broom: ONE TIDY KITCHEN.
On another he drew a heart: TEN HUGS. NO ASKING NEEDED.
And on the last one he drew a book and a clock: ONE HOUR OF QUIET READING. I WILL PLAY BY MYSELF.
He folded them up, tied them with a piece of red yarn, and put them under the tree.
On Christmas morning, his mom opened it slowly. She read every page. Then she read them again.
"Leo," she said, and her voice went wobbly, "this is the best present I've ever had."
"But it's just paper," said Leo.
His mom shook her head and pulled him close. "It's you," she said. "That's the best part."
She used the first hug right away.
Talk about it: What is a present you could give someone that doesn't come from a shop?
Ages 4–8 · about 2 minutes · a story about kindness
On Christmas Eve, a thick fog rolled over the hills. It was so thick that Santa could not see the rooftops. He could not even see the reindeer in front of him.
"Whoa," he called, and the sleigh slowed to a stop in the sky. "Which way is the town?"
The reindeer didn't know. The fog was everywhere, gray and cold.
Down below, in a little house at the edge of town, a girl named Priya couldn't sleep. She tiptoed to her window and saw the fog.
"Santa won't be able to see," she thought. "He'll need a light."
She found the small lamp from her bedside table and set it on the windowsill. Then she found her flashlight and turned it on too. She drew a big star on a piece of paper and stuck it to the glass, so the light shone through it.
Up in the fog, one of the reindeer twitched her ears. "Look," she said. "Down there."
A small golden star was glowing through the gray.
"Follow the star!" said Santa.
The sleigh glided down, down, down, and there was the town, every roof waiting. Santa delivered every present, house by house, and he saved Priya's house for last.
In the morning, Priya found a note by her lamp. It said, in curly handwriting:
Thank you for lighting the way. — S.
Talk about it: How did Priya help someone she couldn't even see?
Ages 3–5 · about 2 minutes · a counting story
Ruby put ten cookies on a plate for Santa. She counted them carefully. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, TEN."
Then she went to brush her teeth.
Her big brother walked past the plate. He looked left. He looked right. He took one cookie. Now there were nine.
The cat jumped onto the table and sniffed. She knocked one cookie onto the floor and the dog gobbled it up. Now there were eight.
Dad came in for a glass of water. "Santa won't miss just one," he said. Now there were seven.
Grandma came in to say goodnight. She smiled and took one for her tea. Now there were six.
The dog came back, looking very hopeful. He got another one. Now there were five.
Mom walked by, took a cookie, broke it in half, and ate both halves. Now there were four.
Ruby came back in her pajamas. She looked at the plate. She counted. "One, two, three, four."
"Where did the other six go?" she asked.
Nobody said anything. The cat looked at the ceiling. The dog looked at the floor.
Ruby thought about it. Then she smiled, went to the kitchen, and came back with six more cookies.
"Ten again," she said. "Santa will need them. It's a long night."
And this time, everybody left them alone. Well, almost everybody.
Talk about it: Can you count back down from ten with me?
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