Free Listen to the audiobook for kids:
It was Christmastime and a thick layer of snow had settled on the roofs of the houses in the little mice settlement. Smoke billowed from each chimney and a lantern hung outside each door casting a warm glow in the snow.
“Nothing smells better than your cookies do, Mommy,” squeaked Theodore. His little paws pitter pattered as he walked around the kitchen. He only had two days left of school before the holiday break.
The next day, as Theo and his friends walked home from kindergarten, they all noticed the delicious smells coming from Theo’s house.
Theo’s friend Olivia said, “What kind of cookies is your mom making today, Theo? It always smells so good here at Christmastime.”
“I think she’s making fresh gingerbread cookies today. I’ve been really looking forward to them!”
Theodore was proud that his mommy was so good at baking. He wanted to make himself useful in the kitchen that afternoon so he offered to help her.
They measured out all the ingredients and mixed them in a large bowl. It started to smell like delicious gingerbread and Theo couldn’t wait to roll out the dough on the big kitchen table. He was still learning so some flour landed on the floor and the butter stubbornly stuck to his furry paws. His favorite task was cutting out the cookies and spreading them as carefully as possible on the baking tray.
A short time later, the crispy gingerbread cookies were sitting on the windowsill to cool so they could be decorated. Theo didn’t know anyone who could decorate cookies with icing as neatly as his mom could.
When all the cookies were decorated, Theo had an idea. He and his mom stored half the cookies in a tin for Theo to take to school as a surprise for his friends. The other half were going to be used as ornaments for the tree. Christmas day was just around the corner so Theo decorated the green, bushy tree in the living room with the rest of the fresh gingerbread cookies.
As Theo lay in bed that evening, he thought about how everyone would react when he showed up at kindergarten the next day with a tin full of delicious gingerbread cookies. He imagined all his friends gathering around him to try one and felt proud of his Christmas surprise.
