Bedtime Stories

Every night, I read Ethan two bedtime stories of his choice. He has some classic favorites, like the Cat in the Hat, and The Berenstain Bears. He also has some new favorites, like Llama Llama Misses Mama. The Llama Llama books are among his favorites.


That is why when Christmas came around, we got Llama Llama Holiday Drama for him. I thought that this story would have at least some glimmer of Christmas, but I was wrong. It was just a vague glossing over of the "Holiday Season." Not that I think books like this shouldn't be read or printed, they just aren't to my taste. I was then determined to find a book that would explain Christmas in a way and format that a three-year-old would understand. 


About a day or two later, my stepmother was reading my son a bedtime story at their house. He liked it so much that he wouldn't leave their house without the book. It was at that time that my stepmother decided to part with the book that she started reading to her children years and years ago. He now wants me to read this to me almost every night.


I read him the book a few nights later. The book is called The Poky Little Puppy's First Christmas. I figured that this would be another book glossing over what Christmas was about, but as has happened many times in the past, I was wrong.


In a nutshell, the book is about a little puppy, Poky, that befriends a skunk, Herman. On the way home from making friends with Herman, he comes across a muddy rubber boot that he adores, but his mother wouldn't let him bring it inside because it was dirty. The mother then cleans it up and gives it to Poky as a Christmas gift. Christmas morning, Poky goes out into the woods where Herman lives, only to find that he was cold and wet, because his home was destroyed. Poky takes Herman home, and Poky's mother, surprised that Poky had made friends with a skunk, feels sorry for Herman and lets him sleep in the doghouse outside. Poky decides to sleep outside in the doghouse as well. The next morning, the whole doggy family along with Herman awoke to find Poky missing. Poky was in the woods, with his favorite rubber boot. He gave Herman the boot as something for him to live in.


I read this story a few times and despite whether the author intended it or not, he told not only what Christmas is about, but what the Great Commandments are about as well. When you think of a list of dirty, disgusting animals that no one wants to be around, skunks are most likely towards the top. In a way, skunks would be the "outcasts" of the woods. Many times in the Bible, Jesus talks to those who society at the time rejected. Thieves, lepers, Samaritans, even the 12 Apostles were composed of the least of society. Yet it was for these sinners that Jesus not only came into the world, but died for as well, so that we may live. While Poky didn't pay the ultimate price, he did give his most prized possession, his boot. 


The thing is, if there was a children's book out there that talked about the birth of our Savior, and that he died for our sins, it would be lost on my three-year-old. However, this little golden book tells the story in a way that he understands perfectly. Merry Christmas.


Amen.




P.S.: I'm waiting for you Crazy Hippy!