The Wonderful World of Rudolpha: The nutcracker class

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The Wonderful World of Rudolpha is a collection of tales that captures the spirit of the season and are sure to entertain kids of all ages. Hope you enjoy them over the next 22 days.

The students at the North Pole Animal Day Care are bouncing off the walls this morning. Bianca the rabbit jumps on Snowflake the polar bear. Frost the snowy owl draws on the wall. And Mistral the penguin and Storm the fox are fighting over a new elf doll, each one holding an arm and pulling it until it looks like it’s going to rip in half.

Their teacher, Rudolpha the reindeer, sees the kids fighting and frowns. She tries to think of a way to calm everyone down and restore peace to the day care. She has an idea.

“When I was a calf,” she says, raising her voice so it can be heard above the din, “I got into a fight with my brother Rudolph over a toy. Do you want to hear the story?”

Like magic, the room becomes quiet, and the teacher starts her story.

“One day when Rudolph and I were young and hadn’t yet grown our antlers, Mrs. Claus came over to our house carrying a big bag of hazelnuts.

“‘I’m making hazelnut-chocolate spread for the elves,’ she told us, ‘and I’m looking for volunteers to crack these nuts. Would you two like to help?’

“‘Yes! You can count on us, Mrs. Claus.’ We were thrilled that Mrs. Claus had asked us instead of the other calves. She thanked us and went outside, leaving behind the hazelnuts and something else. Something special.

“You see, we reindeer traditionally open nuts with our hooves, but that day, Mrs. Claus had brought us a surprise. It was a nutcracker shaped like a soldier. I thought it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

“‘Rudolph, you can use your hooves. I’ll use the nutcracker to make Mrs. Claus happy,’ I said, trying to look innocent.

“‘No way!’ he replied. ‘I’m going to use the nutcracker. It’s a tool, and tools are for boys.’

“‘That’s not true! Besides, I should get to use it because I’m the oldest.’

“‘No you’re not! Besides, I’m bigger than you.’

“Just as things were about to come to blows, there was a knock on our door. It was Mrs. Claus. She’d heard us arguing through the window. Smiling, she pulled a coin and an hourglass from her apron pocket.

“‘I have an idea, children. You can take turns using the nutcracker. This hourglass will keep track of who should use it and for how long. We can toss this coin to decide who goes first. Does that sound fair?’

“‘Yes, Mrs. Claus!’

“Mrs. Claus’ idea worked, and we cracked all the hazelnuts without fighting. And to reward us for our hard work, we got our own jar of hazelnut-chocolate spread.”

As her story concludes, Rudolpha gathers a coin, an hourglass and the elf doll Storm and Mistral had been fighting over. Thanks to her childhood memory, the children stopped fighting and both get a turn with the toy.

Written by Johannie Dufour and Sarah Beauregard
Translated by Cyan Caruso-Comas