Chapter 1

A Very Special Time

It is autumn now. It is evening. We are sitting at home in the living room. It is raining and the wind is blowing outside. But it is nice and warm inside. We are sitting all together near the fireplace. The fire is beautiful as it burns in the fireplace. Mommy Matilda and Daddy Arnold are sitting on a big red pillow on the floor. My younger sister Betsy and I are sitting on the blue carpet and our little brother Timmy is running around us. I love family home evenings!

“Dear puppies, Christmas is coming soon,” our Mommy says, “It is a very special time of the year.”

“Why is it so special?” I ask.

“I know! I know why!” Timmy cries. “It is so special because I will get a lot of presents. Last year I got a black remote control toy car from Father Frost!”

“You are right Timmy,” Mother says. “It is very nice to get presents on Christmas and New Year. But Christmas is not only about getting. It is also about giving.”

“What do you mean Mommy?” Betsy asks.

“Christmas is a very special time of the year, because you can do something good for other dogs; for your family and friends and even for dogs you don’t know yet. We call it ‘service’”.

“Mommy, but we are just little puppies, what can we do for other dogs?” I ask.

“Well, Rex, you can do a lot!” Daddy says. “You just need to use your imagination.”

“You and Betsy go to school; you have a lot of friends and teachers. Please think what you can do for them. How can you serve them?” Mommy says.

“And even Timmy, the smallest member of our family, can do good things at Christmas time.” Daddy says.

“In the United States of America, Christmas time starts at the end of autumn. It starts on Black Friday and ends on the 25th of December.” Mommy says.

“In other countries, like Russia or Ukraine, dogs start to celebrate Christmas in the evening on the 6th of January. And Christmas time goes on till the 19th of January.”

“I know what we can do!” Timmy is very excited. “We can start celebrating Christmas on Black Friday and finish celebrating on the 19th of January!”

“I love this idea!” Mommy says. “Let’s have two months of Christmas!”

“And let’s think what good things we can do for others during this time!” Father says.

New words

autumn [ˈɔːtəm] – осень

living room [ˈlɪvɪŋ rum] – гостиная

warm [wɔːm] – тепло

fireplace [ˈfaɪəpleɪs] – камин

fire – [ˈfaɪə] огонь

to burn [bɜːn] – гореть

special [ˈspeʃəl] – особенный

service [ˈsɜːvɪs] – служение

to serve [sɜːv] – служить

to go on – продолжаться, длиться

Exercises

Answer the questions

1. Where is the puppy’s family?

2. Why is Christmas time so special?

3. When do you celebrate Christmas in your country?

4. How can you serve others during Christmas time?

5. What present to you wish to get for Christmas?

True or false

1. The sun is shining outside.

2. It is very cold inside near the fireplace.

3. Timmy is running around his family.

4. Betsy and Rex are sitting on a big red pillow.

5. Mommy and Daddy are laying on the bed.

Guess the riddles

1. What do you call good things that you do for others; for your family and friends and even for those people you don’t know yet.

2. It is a very special time of the year. Everyone is happy. Everyone gives presents to each other.

Chapter 2

The Christmas Team

Betsy and I are pupils. I am in the fourth grade and my sister is in the second grade. We are at school now. It is a big break between lessons. My sister, our friends and I are in the school cafeteria. We are sitting at a big table all together.

“Christmas is coming soon,” Betsy says. “This is a very special time to do something good for others.”

“Yes, we want to do something good, but we just don’t know what? Can you help us? Do you have any ideas?” I ask our friends.

“Well, I have one idea!” Archie says. Archie is my sister’s classmate. He is a Dalmatian. “We can make gingerbread.”

“Yes, gingerbread is not very hard to make.” Mikky says. Mikky is my classmate. He is a Husky. “I know how to make it.”

“And then we can put the gingerbread into beautiful paper bags, put red ribbon on it and give it away.” Mary says. Mary is my schoolmate. She is a Spaniel.

“I like this idea!” Betsy says. “We will make gingerbread during Christmas time.”

“I want to help you. Can I do it with you?” Mary asks.

“Of course you can!” Betsy answers.

“And I want to help you too!” Archie and Mikky say together.

“Yes, let’s make it all together!” Betsy says. “We will have a lot of fun.”

“Also we can go to our friends’ houses and sing Christmas carols together.” Archie says.

“I love to sing carols!” Mary says.

“And we can draw Christmas cards and put them secretly at other dog’s doors.” Mikky says.

“They will be so excited to find Christmas cards at their doors!” Betsy smiles.

“Now I see how many things we can do together during Christmas time.” I say. “Let’s make a Christmas Team!”

“Yes, let’s make a special team for Christmas! We will think what we can do for others. We will share our ideas and do it together!” Betsy says.

“This is wonderful!” Mary is excited.

“I want to be a member of the Christmas Team!” Archie says.

“We will have a lot of fun together!” Mikky smiles.

The big break between our lessons is over. We need to go back to our classes. But we are very happy that we have a Christmas team now. We can’t wait to do something good together!

New words

big break [bɪg breɪk] – большая перемена

school cafeteria [skuːl kæflˈtɪ(ə)rɪə] – школьная столовая

Dalmatian [dælˈmeɪʃ(j)ən] – Далматинец

gingerbread [ˈʤɪnʤəbred] – имбирный пряник

Husky [ˈhʌskɪ] – Хаски

paper bag [ˈpeɪpə bæg] – бумажный пакет

ribbon [ˈrɪbən] – лента

to give out [gɪv aʊt] – раздать

Spaniel [ˈspænɪəl] – Спаниель

Christmas carol [ˈkrɪsməs ˈkærəl] – колядка, рождественский гимн

Christmas card [ˈkrɪsməs kɑːd] – рождественская открытка

Exercises

Answer the questions

1. Are Rex and Betsy pupils?

2. What grade is Betsy in?

3. What grade is Rex in?

4. Do you know how to make gingerbread?

5. Do you love to sing Christmas carols?

6. Do you like to draw Christmas cards?

7. What else do you like to do during Christmas time?

True or false

1. Rex, Betsy and their friends are sitting in the school playground.

2. Mikky is a Spaniel.

3. Mary is a Dalmatian.

4. Mikky knows how to make gingerbread.

5. Rex, Betsy, Archie, Mikky and Mary are a Christmas Team now.

Chapter 3

In a Mall

Today is the first day of an American Christmas season. Today is Black Friday. Our family has a tradition to go to a big mall to shop. This time, members of our Christmas Team – Mikky, Mary and Archie go with us.

We arrive at the Mall on a big red bus.

“Mommy, can we go shopping ourselves with Betsy, Mikky, Archie and Mary, please? And you will go shopping with Daddy and Timmy.” I ask.

“Well…” our mother thinks.

“I want to go with you, Rex! I want to go with you!” Timmy starts to jump.

“Well,” our mother continues, “I think that you puppies are old enough. Yes, you can go on your own. Let’s meet here at the same place in three hours.”

“Thank you, Mommy!” I kiss my mom.

“You are the best Mommy in the world!” Betsy kisses our mom.

“And what about me?” Timmy starts to cry. “Can I go with them, Mommy?”

“Well, Timmy, if you go with me and Daddy we will buy you the tastiest ice cream in the world. But if you still want to go with puppies you can.” Mommy smiles.

Timmy stops to cry and starts to smile.

“You know, Mommy, I love you and Daddy very much. I will go with you!”

………………………………………………

“We are in a big mall on our own. This is so fun!” Betsy says.

“Yes! This is wonderful!” I say. “Our mommy and daddy think that we are old enough. They trust us!”

“Your parents are so kind!” Mary says. “You are so lucky!”

“We have three hours. Let’s decide what we need to buy.” Archie says.

“Well,” Mikky says, “We need to buy everything for the gingerbread and for the Christmas cards.”

“And also we need to buy some little presents for our family and friends.” Betsy says.

“Where can we buy everything for the gingerbread?” Mary asks.

“We can buy everything for the gingerbread in the supermarket in the grocery section.” I say.

“And where is the supermarket?” Mary asks.

“Well, it is usually on the first floor of the mall.”

“Let’s go and find out!” Archie says.

We walk straight and soon we see the entrance to the supermarket. We go inside.

“Wow this supermarket is so big!” Betsy says. “It is much bigger than the shop near our house!”

“I think this is the biggest supermarket in the world!” Mikky is excited.

“How can we find the grocery department here?” Mary asks.

“I think we need to go to the right.” I say.

We turn to the right and soon we see a lot of food on the shelves.

“This is the grocery department!” Mikky smiles.

“We are in the right place!” Archie smiles.

I am very glad too.

“Mikky, but what products do we need for gingerbread?”

“Well, here is the list of products.” Mikky pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket. “Let’s see. We need some flour, eggs, butter, brown sugar, ground ginger and ground cinnamon.”

“Ok, let’s buy all of these!” Archie says.

“I see flour on the shelf over there!” Betsy points to the left.

“And eggs are over there!” I point to the right.

“Butter and sugar are right here!” Archie points straight.

“And where is the ground ginger and ground cinnamon?” Mary asks.

We look to the left, but we don’t see it. We look to the right but we don’t see it. We look forward but we don’t see it, then we look backwards and finally we see ground ginger and ground cinnamon!

“Here it is!” We yell all together. We are very glad that we have all we need for gingerbread!