Edgar, an adorable young dragon, is so excited about Christmas that he cannot control the flames from his mouth. He even burns the village Christmas tree, dampening everyone’s Christmas spirit. But when his best friend Ava gives him a thoughtful gift just right for an excitable dragon, he realises how much she cares for him.

1. Who is Edgar?
2. What does he burn?
3. What come out from his mouth?
4. What happens to the snowman?
5. Why does the ice of the ice rink melt?
6. What’s the thoughtful gift?

Song lyrics:

Bastille: I can’t fight this feeling any longer

I can’t fight this feeling any longer

And yet, I’m still afraid to let it flow

What started out as friendship, has grown stronger

I only wish I had the strength to let it show

And I can’t fight this feeling anymore

I’ve forgotten what I started fighting for

It’s time to bring this ship into the shore

And throw away the oars, forever

‘Cause I can’t fight this feeling anymore

And even as I wander, I’m keeping you in sight

You’re a candle in the window on a cold, dark winter’s night

And I’m getting closer than I ever thought I might

And I can’t fight this feeling anymore

I’ve forgotten what I started fighting for

It’s time to bring this ship into the shore

And throw away the oars, forever

‘Cause I can’t fight this feeling anymore

I’ve forgotten what I started fighting for

And if I have to crawl upon the floor

Come crashing through your door

Baby, I can’t fight this feeling anymore.

Key

1. Edgar is an adorable and excitable young dragon.
2. He burns the village Christmas tree.
3. Flames come out from his mouth.
4. Edgar wants to put the carrot into its face, but the snowman melts because of the flames coming from Edgar’s mouth.
5. Because Edgar runs excitedly to the ice rink and the flames melt the ice.
6. Christmas pudding so that Edgar can ignite it with the coming from his mouth.

– Hot tea. Cheese and …… . Keep away from those …… .

– Any …… requests?

– Oh, no. Just …… .

– Fly safe. Don’t forget …… .

– I won’t.

– Easily done. …… , harrr!

– Dear Mrs. Claus,

My name is Jake and I am …… years old.

– Jake, stop taking my …… .

I have a big sister called Anna who is …… and sometimes …… .

– Get out!

– Dad!

– Jake!

I also have a dog called …… who loves eating things.

– Kill! Tiger! Kill!

– Jake, stop! Stop!

– I’m sorry.

This Christmas I need your …… . Because I want something. And I know you can …… it for me.

– Tiger, shh!

– Dad!

– Did you?

– Don’t look at me.

– All right, come on!

To Anna. Jake …… you to have this. With love. Mrs. Claus.

– Oh, Jake! Oh, thank you so much, Jake!

You might think I don’t like my sister very much. But I do. I love her …… . And I want her to be …… at Christmas.

Love, Jake

Age 6, but 7 in …… weeks

– Happy Christmas! How was your night?

– Oh, you know, …… .

– How did that get there?

– Well, it wouldn’t be fun if you knew all my …… .

Check your answers here.

– Hot tea. Cheese and pickle. Keep away from those mince pies.

– Any last-minute requests?

– Oh, no. Just bills.

– Fly safe. Don’t forget Australia.

– I won’t.

– Easily done. Rudolph, harrr!

– Dear Mrs. Claus,

My name is Jake and I am six years old.

– Jake, stop taking my things.

I have a big sister called Anna who is tall and sometimes angry.

– Get out!

– Dad!

– Jake!

I also have a dog called Tiger who loves eating things.

– Kill! Tiger! Kill!

– Jake, stop! Stop!

– I’m sorry.

This Christmas I need your help. Because I want something. And I know you can get it for me.

– Tiger, shh!

– Dad!

– Did you?

– Don’t look at me.

– All right, come on!

To Anna. Jake wanted you to have this. With love. Mrs. Claus.

– Oh, Jake! Oh, thank you so much, Jake!

You might think I don’t like my sister very much. But I do. I love her a lot. And I want het to be happy at Christmas.

Love, Jake

Age 6, but 7 in 2 weeks

– Happy Christmas! How was your night?

– Oh, you know, quiet.

– How did that get there?

– Well, it wouldn’t be fun if you knew all my secrets.

On a snowy winter’s night.

And it didn’t take me long to see

That something wasn’t right.

They called her Christmas Carol,

Said her mind was nearly gone,

But she could still light up the room

When she sang a Christmas song.

Seems no one knows the story

To explain her Christmas cheer.

Why, she keeps the decorations up

All through the year.

And though she long ago

Forgot the names of family and friends,

When it comes to singing Christmas songs,

She’s like a child again.

[CHORUS:]

Sing, oh sing, Christmas Carol,

Sing with all of your might!

Sing Joy to the World,

Sing O Holy Night!

You’re closer now to Jesus

Than you’ve ever been;

Sing, oh sing, Christmas Carol,

Sing your songs to Him.

I’d told my son about her,

So I thought I’d take him by.

And he was so amazed at all

The tinsel and the lights.

She laughed and told her stories

Of her Christmas memories,

But nothing told it better than

When she began to sing.

[CHORUS]

Last time that I saw her,

She didn’t recognize me.

Her hair was thin and she was frail,

And she couldn’t even speak.

But I could sit down next to her,

Sing her favorite Christmas songs,

And somehow, God only knows how,

She could still sing right along!

Can you answer the questions?

1. Why was the old lady called Christmas Carol?

2. What was the problem with the old lady?

3. What was her house like?

4. What did she forget long ago?

5. What didn’t she forget?

6. What could she still do even if she couldn’t speak?

Key

1. Because she knew a lot of Christmas songs and liked to sing them all year long.

2. She was old and frail and her mind was nearly gone.

3. It was Christmassy. She kept the Christmas decorations up all through the year.

4. The names of family and friends.

5. She didn’t forget her Christmas songs.

6. God only knows how but she could still sing Christmas songs.

And there I stood in another line

Trying to buy that last gift or two

Not really in the Christmas mood

And standing right in front of me was a

Little boy waiting anxiously

Pacing around like little boys do

And in his hands he held

A pair of shoes

His clothes were worn and old

He was dirty from head to toe

And when it came his time to pay

I couldn’t believe what I heard him say

[Chorus:]

Sir I wanna buy these shoes

For my mama. please

It’s Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size

Could you hurry sir

Daddy says there’s not much time

You see,

She’s been sick for quite a while And I

know these shoes will make her smile And I

Want her to look beautiful

If mama meets Jesus tonight

They counted pennies for what seemed like years then the

Cashier said, “Son, there’s not enough here.”

He searched his pockets frantically

Then he turned and he looked at me and he said

“Mama made Christmas good at our house though

Most years she just did without, Tell me sir,

What am I gonna do?

Some how I gotta buy her these Christmas shoes.”

So I laid the money down

I just had to help him out

And I’ll never forget the look on his face when he said,

“Mama’s gonna look so great.”

[Repeat Chorus]

I knew I’d caught a glimpse of heaven’s love as he thanked me and ran out

I knew that God had sent me that little boy to remind me what Christmas is all about

[Repeat Chorus with children]

[Little girl:]

I want her to look beautiful if mama meets Jesus tonight

Here are a few words or expressions from the lyrics? What’s the opposite of them?

1. right in front of me

2. pacing

3. worn

4. dirty

5. sick

6. frantically

7. forget

Key

1. right behind me

2. standing

3. new, brand new

4. clean

5. healthy

6. calmly

7. remember

That’s exactly how Icelandic people celebrate Christmas each year. This tradition is known as Jolabokaflod, which translates roughly to “Christmas book flood” in English.

Jolabokaflod started during World War II, when paper was one of the few things not rationed in Iceland. Because of this, Icelanders gave books as gifts while other commodities were in short supply, turning them into a country of bookaholics to this day. In fact, a 2013 study conducted at Bifröst University found that 50% of Icelanders read more than eight books a year and 93% read at least one.

Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country in the world, with five titles published for every 1,000 Icelanders. But what’s really unusual is the timing: Historically, a majority of books in Iceland are sold from late September to early November.

Today, Icelandic isn’t spoken by many more people than the roughly 319,000 who live in the small country. But in 2009, book loans at the Reykjavík City Library totaled 1.2 million — in a city of only 200,000 people. There’s a popular TV show in Iceland, Kiljan, which is devoted entirely to books. And in 2011, Reykjavík was designated a UNESCO City of Literature.

So Icelanders love books.

“If you look at book sales distribution in the U.K. and the States, most book sales actually come from a minority of people. Very few people buy lots of books. Everybody else buys one book a year if you’re lucky,” “It’s much more widespread in Iceland. Most people buy several books a year.”

What kind of books, exactly?

“Generally fiction and biographies would be the mainstays, although it varies a lot,” “Two years ago one of the surprise best-sellers was a pictorial overview of the history of tractors in Iceland.”

That book, And Then Came Ferguson, wasn’t the only unusual breakout success. Another, Summerland: The Deceased Describe Their Death And Reunions In The Afterlife was another one. The book, by author Gudmundur Kristinsson who believes he can talk to the dead, sold out completely before Christmas 2010 — and sold out yet again after being reprinted in February 2011.

And Summerland was self-published — a fairly common phenomenon in Iceland. There is some kind of a myth that people like to tell here, that every Icelander dreams about writing a book. “And sort of 50 percent of those who dream of it actually do it. Before they die they try one way or another to write a book.”

A Book Catalog In Every Mailbox

The Book Flood tradition dates back to World War II, when strict currency restrictions limited the amount of imported giftware in Iceland.

“The restrictions on imported paper were more lenient than on other products, so the book emerged as the Christmas present of choice. And Icelanders have honoured the tradition ever since.” The Flood begins with the release of Bokatidindi, a catalog of new publications from the Iceland Publishers Association distributed free to every Icelandic home.

“It’s like the firing of the guns at the opening of the race,” “It’s not like this is a catalog that gets put in everybody’s mailbox and everybody ignores it. Books get attention here.”

Iceland is Europe’s most sparsely populated country, with just more than 3 inhabitants per square kilometer. So while there’s a high level of engagement, the Icelandic book market is still one of the smallest in the world.

Bryndís Loftsdottir, project manager for Icelandic books at the book chain Penninn-Eymundsson, says that until about 15 years ago, paperbacks were rare because Icelanders didn’t see books as something to be read and bought cheaply.

The success of translated Scandinavian crime fiction has made paperbacks more common today, Loftsdottir says. But the industry and Icelanders have been slow to move to e-books. Part of the reason is a consequence of dealing with a language that’s not widely spoken. But it’s also cultural.

The book in Iceland is such an enormous gift that people give a physical book. They don’t give e-books.

Source: npr.org

Watch the video and answer the question.

What are the people going to read on Christmas Eve?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Key

John Cheever: Drinking, F.Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby, Charles Dickens: Great Expectations, Dylan Thomas: A Child’s Christmas in Wales, Posy Simmonds: Cassandra Darke, Louisa May Alcott: Little Women, Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol, Lisa Gabriele: The Winters

[Verse 1]

Silent night, holy night!

All is calm, all is bright

Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child

Holy Infant so tender and mild

Sleep in heavenly peace

Sleep in heavenly peace

[Verse 2]

Silent night, holy night!

Shepherds quake at the sight

Glories stream from heaven afar

Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!

Christ the Saviour is born

Christ the Saviour is born

[Verse 3]

Silent night, holy night!

Son of God, love’s pure light

Radiant beams from Thy holy face

With the dawn of redeeming grace

Jesus Lord, at Thy birth

Jesus Lord, at Thy birth.

“Silent Night” (“Stille Nacht” in its original German) is one of the most well-known traditional Christmas carols sung around the world.

The song was originally a poem written by pastor Joseph Franz Mohr and composed by his friend Franz Xaver Gruber in early 19th century Austria. Pastor Mohr desperately needed a carol for the Christmas Eve midnight mass that was only hours away, and he hoped Gruber – a school teacher as well as the church’s choir master and organist – could set his poem to music; he composed the melody in just a few hours on that Christmas Eve.

The Hungarian lyrics:

Csendes éj! Szentséges éj!

Mindenek nyugta mély;

Nincs más fenn, csak a szent szülepár,

Drága kisdedük álmainál,

Szent Fiú, aludjál, szent Fiú aludjál!

Csendes éj! Szentséges éj!

Angyalok hangja kél;

Halld a mennyei halleluját,

Szerte zengi e drága szavát,

Krisztus megszabadít, Krisztus megszabadít!

Csendes éj! Szentséges éj!

Szív örülj, higgy, remélj!

Isten Szent Fia hinti reád,

Ajka vigaszt adó mosolyát,

Krisztus megszületett, Krisztus megszületett!

During the Christmas season, people go on the hunt for the perfect tree whether they buy a fresh evergreen tree or an artificial one. The family spends time together decorating it with beautiful lights balls and ornaments. Then it’s time to place the wrapped gifts under the tree waiting until Christmas Day to open. Homes are decorated with evergreen wreaths, candles, and the nativity scene and stockings are hung by the fireplace with small gifts and treats placed inside.

Christmas is the largest card-sending occasion in the world. Many people include a family picture and letter about the year of family events in the cards and e-mails trying to send them so they will arrive before Christmas Day. Christmas is a time when each person expresses his or her love through giving. On Christmas Eve or Christmas Day families and friends exchange gifts. Most children wake up early on Christmas morning and run in their pajamas to open their presents placed under the tree. Many families gather together, sing Christmas carols, read the Christmas story from the Bible and then exchange gifts with one another.

On Christmas Day families gather to eat a big meal together. A typical Christmas dinner would include turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberries, mashed potatoes and gravy, pies and lots of Christmas cookies. People also like to watch football games on television. Time spent with family and friends is a very important part of the holiday.

Around the world, many people attend special Christmas programs which are performed at churches and schools. Children and adults sing popular Christmas carols and perform the Christmas story acting out the account of Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, the shepherds, and the angels.

These are the traditions that surround Christmas, but since Santa isn’t the origin and the wonderful celebrations are not the essence then what is the true meaning of the holiday? This is a good question since all of history points to this event! Each day we refer to this date, the birth of Christ. Our calendars make this known in the use of B.C. and A.D.

B.C. means “Before Christ” and A.D. “Anno Domini” means “in the year of our Lord” referring to Jesus Christ. All of history looks at the birth of Christ and every time we say the date we are really saying “It has been more than 2,000 years since the birth of Christ.”

Jesus’ life is not only recorded in the Bible and the writings of the early church fathers but also in other historical books. For example Josephus an important Jewish historian tells of Jesus’ birth, life, and death. Both Tacitus a Roman historian and Pliny the Younger a Roman governor of Bithynia and persecutor of Christians confirm the life of Jesus in their secular writings. The word Christmas itself talks about the reason Jesus came.

Christmas can be broken into two parts: “Christ” and “mas”.  “Christ” is the Greek translation of the word “Messiah” and “mas” is the Latin word for “to send”. When you put the word “Christmas” together you get “To send the Messiah”. This is the Messiah God promised to mend the relationship that had been broken by Adam and Eve the very first people the ones who disobeyed Him.

According to the Bible God had created the man and woman and put them in the Garden to have fellowship with them. There they walked and talked and enjoyed fellowship. When Adam and Eve sinned against God it broke that relationship. In God’s love and mercy, He sent his own son Jesus to Earth in the form of a man to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins so that we might have forgiveness and a relationship with God realizing the purpose of why we were created.

The purpose of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus did not come from the West He was from the East born in Israel in the city of Bethlehem. But how does the story of this famous event go?

The angel Gabriel appeared to a young girl named Mary and told her that she would become pregnant and that she was to name the baby “Jesus” which means “He shall save His people from their sins.” This had been predicted many years earlier in the writings of Isaiah the prophet. Mary became pregnant and carried the baby without ever knowing a man. Joseph took Mary as his wife as God had directed him. On the night Jesus was born Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem to find all of the inns full. The only place available for the King of Kings to be born was a small barn with farm animals. He was wrapped in cloths and placed in a manger. Shepherds were living out in the fields nearby when an angel of the Lord appeared to them. They were terrified. But the angel said “Fear not I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today the Saviour has been born. He is Christ the Lord.” They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus exactly where the angel had said they would be. Thousands of angels filled the sky that night celebrating the birth of Jesus. Also, wise men came from the East during King Herod’s reign in Israel and brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh and worshipped the small child.

Christmas is a wonderful time worldwide filled with much celebration, hope, and joy.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

True or false?

1. Santa has always been part of the festive season.

2. People send a lot of greeting cards in the Christmas season.

3. Watching football is a part of Christmas in the United States.

4. Jesus’ life is recorded in historical books, too.

5. The purpose of Christmas is to exchange gifts.

Key

1. false

2. true

3. true

4. true

5. false

Every year, millions of kids around the globe communicate with Jolly Old St. Nick the old-fashioned way: Pen (or crayon) and paper. The top three countries that generate snail mail to Santa send more than 4 million letters annually: CNN estimates that 1.7 million come from France, 1.35 million are sent from Canada, and more than a million letters are written in the U.S. (The United States Postal Service doesn’t have an exact number, but says the number of letters to Santa from American kids is easily in the millions.)

That’s a lot of correspondence. So what happens to all of it? Well, as with any other piece of mail, it depends on how the letter was addressed.

In 1912, the U.S. Postmaster General gave local postmasters the authority to allow employees and citizens to answer letters addressed to Santa. It eventually became known as Operation Santa, and today, multiple locations across the U.S. participate in the program to help deliver gifts to needy children. Those who want to play elf for the season can drop by any one of them and select a letter (or letters) to Santa to fulfill. If you don’t have a participating post office in your area, you can volunteer to start an Operation Santa in your city or donate to an existing location.

The USPS has another program called Letters to Santa, which guarantees children a response from the North Pole, but no presents. Parents mail their children’s letters to the “North Pole Postmark Postmaster,” along with Santa’s response and a self-addressed, stamped envelope. The North Pole Postmark Postmaster will return the letter to the child with a special postmark from Santa.

The U.S. isn’t alone in its Yuletide philanthropy—there are similar Santa programs around the globe. The Royal Mail makes sure kids who send letters to Mr. Claus receive a response, as does the Canada Post, which even gives the big guy the custom postal code “H0H 0H0.” Brazil has Papai Noel dos Correios, a program similar to Operation Santa. And in France, any child who writes to Le Père Noël will receive a response from a post office dedicated specifically to the cause. In fact, since 1962, receiving a response from Le Père Noël is actually guaranteed by law, bringing new meaning to that whole “naughty or nice” thing.

source: mentalfloss

Here are a few definitions. Find the word in the text.

1. an active effort to promote human welfare

2. the period of several days around and including Christmas Day

3. the ordinary postal system as opposed to e-mail

4. badly behaved; disobedient

5. to guess or calculate the cost, size, value, etc. of something

Key

1. philantrophy

2. Yuletide

3. snail mail

4. naughty

5. to estimate

– Phew.

– Father Christmas?

– Oh, uh, hi. I didn’t mean to wake you. Was just trying to find the loo.

– It wasn’t you. It’s that stench.

– I’m sorry deary. Just go back to sleep.

– I was dreaming of sugar plums then along came the ghost of Christmas ass.

– Listen, just give me a second, okay and I’ll wrap this thing right up.

– What is that smell?

– Oh, jeez not again…

– Holy Saint Nicholas!

– Please, girls, go back to bed.

– He is dropping yule logs down his chimney.

– Come on now, a little privacy would be great. I’ve been holding this thing since Dubai.

– The whole house smells like a gingerbread manslaughter.

– I’m sorry it’s the milk and cookies, okay, every year destroys me.

– Well, now that you are here dumping lumps of coal in our toilet, what did you get me for Christmas?

(toot)

– Gross!

– I don’t make a meal of it, okay. It’s not that bad.

– Look, what I’ve found.

– Jesus, there’s another one? Whoa! Put that back!

– I was looking around for that horrible stench and I’ve found this under the tree.

– That’s not for you.

– Look. iPhones! Hundreds of them! All for us!

– As soon as I’m done here, I’m gonna get those gifts back and you’re all going on the naughty list.

– Oh, yeah. Then I’m going to put you on Instagram. #Busted.

– Do you know who I am? Do you have any idea?

– Put it in the cloud with his stinky farts.

– You can’t blackmail Santa!

– Look, Kringle!

– You never should have pinched off a hot slice of fruitcake without using Poo-Pourri.

– Poo-Pourri?

– Poo-Pourri? The gift that stops stinking! Since we are exchanging gifts, here is one for you. Next time spritz the bowl before you go and and noone else will ever know.

– So, you can keep sneaking without wreaking!

– And your dingleberries will smell like jingleberries.

– Anything else?

– Yeah, Santa, hurry up, I really need to take a sh…

– Jingle Bells, your poo smells before you drop a bomb. Click right here to save your rear at PotPourri.com!

(stomach growling)

Poo-Pourri is a company that devises and sells fragrant sprays for toilets. These are made of essential oils and other natural compounds, which coat the surface of the water and, the manufacturer claims, hold in bad odours. Poo-Pourri is best known for its viral YouTube advertisement, Girls Don’t Poop.

Santa Claus facts:

1. Santa Claus also has some other names: Saint Nicholas, St. Nick, Kris Kringle, Pelznickel. Two of his names — Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas — both come from the Dutch who settled in New York long ago.

2. The man behind the story of Father Christmas/Santa Claus was St. Nicholas, a Bishop who lived in the fourth century in a place called Myra in Asia Minor (now Turkey).

3. Santa Claus’s sleigh is led by eight reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder (variously spelled Donder and Donner) and Blixem (variously spelled Blixen and Blitzen), with Rudolph being a 20th-century inclusion.

4. What’s Santa’s address? It’s Santa Claus, North Pole.

5. The USPS has a program called Letters to Santa, which guarantees children a response from the North Pole, but no presents. Parents mail their children’s letters to the “North Pole Postmark Postmaster,” along with Santa’s response and a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

I’m not dreaming of a white Christmas

All I’m dreaming of the whole day long

Is a peaceful world

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year

To those of you who live in fear

And let us hope that very soon

The peace you seek will then resume

I’m not dreaming of a white Christmas

I’m not dreaming of a white Christmas

All I’m dreaming of the whole day long

Is a peaceful peaceful world

(I’m not dreaming of a white Christmas

I’m not dreaming of a white Christmas

All I’m dreaming of the whole day long

Is a peaceful world)

Merry Christmas,…

Can you fill in the gaps in the sentences with a word or expression from the lyrics of the song?

1. If you …… you long for peace.

2. Whatever you …… hope that you will find it.

3. Although I was working …… I couldn’t finish the project in time.

4. Let’s hope we are going to have a …… Christmas.

5. …… fame and wealth I just want to be happy.

Key

1. live in fear

2. seek

3. the whole day long

4. white/peaceful

5. I’m not dreaming of

Just like the ones I used to know

Where the treetops glisten and children listen

To hear sleigh bells in the snow

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas

Just like the ones I used to know

Where the treetops glisten and children listen

To hear sleigh bells in the snow

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas

With every Christmas card I write

May your days be merry and bright

And may all your Christmases be white

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas,

Just like the ones I used to know

May your days be merry and bright

And may all your Christmases be white

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas,

With every Christmas card I write

May your days be merry and bright

And may all your Christmases be white

May your days be merry and bright

And may all your Christmases be white

And may all your Christmases be white (all your Christmases be white)

And may all your Christmases be white (all your Christmases be white)

And may all your Christmases be

(All your Christmases be white)

(All your Christmases be white)

“White Christmas” is a 1942 Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. The version sung by Bing Crosby is the world’s best-selling single with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide. Other versions of the song, along with Crosby’s, have sold over 50 million copies.

Accounts vary as to when and where Berlin wrote the song. One story is that he wrote it in 1940, in La Quinta, California, while staying at the La Quinta Hotel. He often stayed up all night writing—he told his secretary, “Grab your pen and take down this song. I just wrote the best song I’ve ever written—heck, I just wrote the best song that anybody’s ever written!”

The first public performance of the song was by Bing Crosby, on his NBC radio show The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day, 1941. At first, Crosby did not see anything special about the song. He just said “I don’t think we have any problems with that one, Irving.”

The song initially performed poorly and was overshadowed by Holiday Inn’s first hit song: “Be Careful, It’s My Heart. By the end of October 1942, “White Christmas” topped the Your Hit Parade chart. It remained in that position until well into the new year. It has often been noted that the mix of melancholy—”just like the ones I used to know”—with comforting images of home—”where the treetops glisten”—resonated especially strongly with listeners during World War II.

Although Crosby dismissed his role in the song’s success, saying later that “a jackdaw with a cleft palate could have sung it successfully,” he was associated with it for the rest of his career.

What rhymes with what? Fill in the rhymes.

1. know – ……

2. glisten – ……

3. white – ……

Key

1. know – snow

2. glisten – listen

3. white – bright – write

1. Marshmallow Advent Calendar – behind each door you’ll find a delicious piece of handmade marshmallow, with different tasty flavours.

2. Tea advent calendar – an advent calendar full of rare teas, from Jasmine Fairy through to the incredibly named Double Dragon Pearl.

3. Ornament advent calendar – in the guise of a Georgian mansion and made from white porcelain, this advent house contains 24 individual and surprising Wedgwood ornaments in blue and white.

4. Coffee advent calendar – a selection of indulgent coffees in a variety of flavours.

5. Stationery advent calendar – different stationary items behind the little doors.

6. Doggie advent calendar – For man’s (and woman’s) best friend – a bone-shaped advent calendar contains a selection of natural and tasty biscuits in original and carob flavour.

7. Beer advent calendar – This advent calendar contains a selection of beer. Designed to take you on a tasty beer adventure from lagers via pale ales.

8. Musical advent calendar – an advent calendar that contains 24 spaces to hide sweets, toys and other treats, but upon opening each door, a different Christmas tune will play.

9. Wine advent calendar – and advent calendar full of a selection of wines.

10. Biscuit advent calendar – different biscuits and different tastes to taste.

11. Jewellery box advent calendar  – a 12 door advent calendar is for the DIY jewellery lovers. It contains all the ingredients for creating a delicate charm bracelet and necklace. Plus you can personalise the front of the box.

12. Radio or Tv show advent calendar – In Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden there is also a tradition of having a calendar in the form of a radio show or TV show.

13. A digital advent calendar –  a  beautiful main scene conceals a new game, animated story or other activity for every day of December up to Christmas Day, all accompanied by music carefully selected for each occasion. You can design your own tartan, build your own snowflakes and, of course, decorate your own Christmas tree. There are a selection of fun activities available even before the start of December, and the main scene itself is also full of unexpected surprises, gradually becoming more colourful and festive as the big day draws near. (jacquielawson.com)

We give you the definition. What’s the word?

1. a mythical monster like a giant reptile breathing fire

2. a soft, sweet, pink or white food

3. . an object that is beautiful rather than useful and is added to increase the beauty of something

4. writing and other office materials

5. having or producing happy and enjoyable feelings suitable for a festival or other special occasion

Key

1. dragon

2. marshmallow

3. ornament

4. stationery

5. festive