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Christmas story: the polar bear who wanted to help
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On the edge of the North Pole, where the ice meets the sea, there lived a young polar bear called Bruno.
Every evening, Bruno looked across the snow at the lights of Santa's workshop. He could hear the elves singing. He could hear the tap-tap of little hammers. He could smell gingerbread.
"I wish I could help there," said Bruno. "It looks like the happiest place in the world."
So one morning, he padded across the snow and knocked on the workshop door. Very gently, because his paws were very big.
Too big for the workshop
Pip the elf opened the door and looked up. And up. And up.
"Oh, hello," said Pip. "You're... quite big."
"I'm Bruno," said the bear. "I'd like to help, please."
Pip let him in. Bruno ducked under the door frame. His ears brushed the ceiling.
The elves gave him a paintbrush to paint a little wooden duck. But the paintbrush was so small that it disappeared between his claws. And the duck ended up with a big white paw print on its back.
They gave him a needle to sew a teddy bear's ear. But Bruno could not even see the needle.
They asked him to wrap a present. But when he tried to fold the paper, it tore. And when he tried to tie the ribbon, his paw got tangled in it.
Bruno sat down on the floor. The whole workshop shook a little.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm just too big for everything."
Santa has an idea
Santa had been watching. He came over and sat down next to Bruno, which was a bit like sitting next to a warm, white hill.
"You know, Bruno," he said, "I don't think you're too big. I think we haven't found your job yet."
He stood up and opened the big back door of the workshop. Outside, the snow had fallen so thickly in the night that the path to the stable had disappeared. The elves had been trying to dig it out with their little shovels all morning.
"Oh," said Bruno. And he started to smile.
Just the right size
Bruno went outside. He put his big front paws in the snow and pushed. Whoosh! A whole snowdrift moved out of the way.
Push. Whoosh. Push. Whoosh.
In five minutes, there was a wide, clear path all the way to the stable. The reindeer peeped out and stamped their hooves happily.
Then Bruno carried the heavy sacks of reindeer food from the shed to the stable. Four sacks at once, easy as anything.
Then he lifted the elves up, one by one, so they could hang lights along the top of the workshop roof.
"Higher, Bruno!" called Pip, laughing, sitting on his shoulder. "A little to the left!"
A warm place
That evening, the elves made a special mug of hot chocolate for Bruno. It was so big that it was really a bucket.
Bruno sat by the workshop door, warm and full and happy.
"Thank you for letting me help," he said.
"Thank you for helping," said Santa. "Every place needs someone who is good at big things."
And from then on, every winter, when the snow came, so did Bruno.
Things to talk about
- Why did Bruno find it hard to help in the workshop?
- What job was Bruno perfect for?
- Do you know someone who is good at big things? And small things?
- What is a job you are just the right size for?
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