i
The little elf sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes and yawned. It was morning. Daylight was creeping into his bedroom through a crack in the curtains.
“Ho hum,” said the little elf, throwing off his blanket. “A whole new day!”
He jumped out of bed and his feet landed perfectly in his slippers.
Just then the elf began to shiver.
“Gracious!” he said, through chattering teeth. “It’s terribly cold this morning!” And his breath frosted in the air as he spoke.
ii
The little elf put on his dressing gown and wrapped it tightly around him.
“How did it get so cold?” he wondered. “I’d better make sure that the sun hasn’t gone out.” And he walked over to the window and pulled back the curtain with a shivering hand.
Sure enough, the sun was still shining in the sky.
“Silly me,” said the elf. “Of course the sun hasn’t gone out. There wouldn’t be any daylight if it had.”
But there was something very different about the world outside the window. Everything had turned white.
“Goodness gracious!” exclaimed the elf. “Everything’s covered in snow!”
iii
The little elf’s garden, where he grew his vegetables, was completely covered in snow. The little path that led to his door had completely disappeared under the blanket of snow. Even the woodland trees all around had snow sitting on all their branches. The snow had turned the whole wood white.
“Oh gracious!” said the elf. “What is that peculiar noise? It sounds like a family of woodpeckers tapping on my roof!”
But the peculiar noise was actually the sound of the little elf’s teeth chattering with the cold.
“Time to wrap up warm!” he said.
iv
The little elf dressed in his warmest clothes and went through to the kitchen. He sliced a couple of pieces of bread and put them in the toaster. As they were toasting, he rubbed his hands together, and stamped his feet on the floor to keep them warm.
When his toast was ready, the little elf buttered it, and spread on the top some of his favourite blackberry jam.
After he’d eaten his breadfast, the little elf pulled on his boots, his hat, his gloves, and wrapped his scarf around his neck.
“Now let’s have a closer look at that snow!” said the elf, and he turned the doorknob.
v
But the cold and the snow had frozen the door fast. The little elf took a tight hold of the doorknob and pulled with all his strength. Nothing happened.
“Oh I say!” gasped the elf. And he tried again. He grasped the doorknob as tightly as he could and pulled again. The door flew open and the little elf flew backwards and landed hard on his bottom. And then the wind blew a pile of snow straight through the door, into the kitchen, and onto the elf as he lay on the floor.
“Brrrr!” he shivered, wiping the snow from his face.
vi
The little elf stood up and brushed the snow from his coat. Then he walked outside and closed the door behind him. He looked out over the blanket of snow.
“Well now,” he said. “The snow has completely covered my little path. I’ll just have to guess which way it goes.”
And so the little elf stepped out into the snow, and walked along where he thought his path lay hidden under the snow.
vii
But the little elf had lost his way. he walked straight into the birdbath. It was so cold that all the water in the birdbath had turned to ice.
“Oh dear,” said the elf. “My path is supposed to lead to the woods, not to the birdbath! What am I to do?!”
And the little elf looked at all the snow covering his little garden, and wondered whereabouts his path lay beneath it.
“I shall get so terribly lost!” he muttered.
viii
Suddenly the little elf noticed some footprints leading from the door of his cottage to the birdbath. The footprints were the shape of elf boots, and just the same size as the little elf’s feet. And the elf had one of his amazing ideas.
“Well I never!” he said. “These are my footprints! I can walk wherever I like, and when I’m ready to go home, I can just follow my footprints back!”
The little elf smiled a wide elf smile and set off towards the woods, whistling as he went.
ix
After a little while, the elf came across another set of footprints in the snow. They were very different from his own footprints. These footprints were the exact shape of a toasting fork, pressed into the snow.
“I wonder what kind of creature has toasting forks for feet!” wondered the elf. “If I follow the footprints, perhaps I’ll find out!”
And so the little elf followed the strange footprints into the wood.
x
The footprints went this way and that way, sometimes going in a complete circle and then carrying on again. The little elf followed the footprints all around the trunk of a huge snow covered tree, where they came to a stop. And there stood the blackbird.
“Hello elf,” said the blackbird.
“Oh, hello there, blackbird,” replied the little elf. “Isn’t this snow pretty?”
“The snow might be pretty,” said the blackbird, “but it’s hidden all the seeds I like to eat.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, blackbird,” said the little elf. “Here, have some special elf cake instead.”
And the little elf reached into his pocket for the cake and scattered it onto the snow.
xi
“Thankyou elf,” said the blackbird, pecking at the cake crumbs.
“I say, blackbird,” said the elf. “Have you seen a strange creature with feet like toasting forks? I’ve been following its footprints in the snow.”
The blackbird looked at the strange footprints.
“There’s nothing strange about those footprints, elf,” said the blackbird. “They are perfectly ordinary blackbird footprints. In fact, they are my footprints!”
And the blackbird lifted up one of her feet for the elf to see. What the elf had thought were toasting fork prongs were actually her toes.
“Oh thankyou, blackbird,” said the little elf. “You’ve solved that mystery!”
“I did see some very strange footprints on the other side of that tree though,” said the blackbird, pointing with her beak. “They must belong to a very strange creature indeed.”
“Thankyou, blackbird,” said the elf. “I’ll see if I can find them.”
And off he went.
xii
And sure enough, the little elf found the strange footprints on the other side of the tree. Each one was the shape of a tiny head with four little tufts of hair.
“Goodness gracious!” said the little elf. “Perhaps this strange creature bounces along on its head!”
And the little elf followed the strange footprints through the snow covered brambles and across the snow covered woodland floor.
Suddenly the footprints came to an end, and there stood a mouse. The mouse had a little bit of snow on its whiskery nose.
“Hello elf,” said the mouse.
“Oh, hello there, mouse,“ said the elf. “Isn’t this snow pretty?!”
“I suppose the snow is quite pretty,” said the mouse. “But it’s hidden all the nuts I like to eat.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” said the elf. “Here, have some of my special elf cake instead!”
And the little elf reached into his pocket for some more cake, and scattered it onto the snow.
xiii
“Thankyou elf,” said the mouse, her whiskery nose snuffling in the snow for the crumbs.
“I say, mouse,” said the little elf. “Have you seen a strange creature bouncing along on its head? I’ve been following these prints in the snow.”
The mouse looked at the strange prints.
“There’s nothing strange about those prints, elf,” said the mouse. “They are perfectly ordinary mouse footprints. In fact, they’re my footprints!”
And the mouse lifted up one of her feet for the elf to see.
“The roundish print is my foot,” said the mouse. “And the four long prints are just my claws.”
“Oh thankyou, mouse,” said the elf. “You’ve solved that mystery!”
“I did see some very strange footprints on the the other side of these brambles, though,” said the mouse. “They must belong to a very strange creature indeed.”
“Thankyou, mouse,” said the elf. “I’ll see if I can find them.”
And off he went.
xiv
And sure enough the little elf found the strange footprints on the other side of the brambles. They were shaped just like his own footprints, but were much much bigger.
“Goodness gracious!” exclaimed the elf. “These must be the biggest footprints in the whole wide wood!”
The footprints were indeed very big. In fact, they were bigger than the little elf’s bed!
“These footprints must belong to a giant!” said the elf. But the little elf was very brave, and decided to follow the huge footprints anyway.
xv
The footprints led to a little clearing in the woods. And there stood a huge white giant, made of snow. The giant was wearing a tatty old hat, and had a nose that looked very much like a carrot.
The little elf walked right up to the white giant.
“Hello there!” said the little elf. “I’ve been following these footprints and I think they might be yours. Could you show me your feet please?”
But the giant said nothing, and stayed completely still.
“Are you a little shy?” asked the elf.
But the giant still just stood there, not speaking or moving at all.
Just then the ground began to shake,and the elf heard some very heavy footsteps running towards the little clearing. He darted behind a tree trunk and hid there.
xvi
The little elf carefully peeped out from behind his tree trunk and saw a giant person running into the clearing. It looked a little bit like him, but its ears weren’t pointed, and it was much much bigger than he was.
The giant person ran right up to the white giant, who kept completely still.
“Hello again, snowman!” shouted the giant person. “I told you I’d find you a pipe!”
And the giant person pushed a twig with a fircone on right into the snowman’s mouth. It did look very much like a pipe. But the snowman still didn’t say anything.
“You’re the best snowman I’ve ever made!” said the giant person.
And the giant person - who was of course an ordinary human child - ran away, leaving behind giant footprints. The footprints were just the same as the ones the elf had been following.
And the little elf had another of his amazing ideas.
“I shall follow my footprints home,” he said, “and make my own snowelf out of snow!”
And he followed his footprints home, whistling as he went.
Elf DIY - do it yourself!
Would you like to make your own snowelf? If you’re lucky enough to have snow outside at the moment, then an adult will show you how to make a snowelf out of snow. But even if there isn’t any snow outside at the moment, you can still make a nice toy snowelf.
1. Find the following things:
a) A white pingpong ball.
b) A cardboard tube from the middle of a toilet roll.
c) Some white cotton wool.
d) Some flat cardboard for the snowelf’s ears.
e) A pair of scissors.
f) Some glue or sticky tape.
g) A black marker pen.
h) Some doll’s clothes - a hat and a scarf.
2. Cover the cardboard tube with cotton wool. This will be the snowelf’s body.
3. Cut out two elf’s ears from your flat cardboard. Stick them onto the pingpong ball. This will be the snowelf’s head.
4. With the black marker pen, draw a face onto the snowelf’s head. You can also draw buttons on his body.
5. Stick the snowelf’s head onto his body.
6. Dress the snowelf in the clothes you have found for him. You can always make your own scarf out of a piece of material.
7. And that’s it! Your snowelf is now finished - and he won’t melt in the sun!
A secret elf trick: The little elf followed his footprints in the snow all the way home. But all wise elves know that if it snows again while you are out, then the snow will cover up your footprints!