Bobby's Letter

Gifts are the one thing Bobby had on his mind when he thought of Christmas. Even
though he knew his parents had three other children, he was going to get more than
his share of presents.
You see Bobby was the youngest, smartest and best of all his brothers and sisters;
so Bobby had been telling Santa in his letter to the jolly man. Bobby had begun his
letter early in October to be sure Santa would receive his list before anyone else had
even thought of Christmas. He made sure to tell Santa what a good boy he was this
year and gave a very long list of gifts he wished to have under his tree.
Let’s see there was: a bike, a new baseball mitt, a computer, a hockey stick, some
comic books, and the list went on and on to fill up two pages of his letter. He also told Santa that he understood if he
could not receive them all, but would prefer that Santa chose at least most from the first page.
Bobby was very confident about his letter and so told his brothers and sister that they would be sorry they had not
been as smart or good as he this year.
In the North Pole, Santa had received Bobby’s letter first and was carefully reading this long list of wishes. How could
he possibly give so many presents to one child when there were millions of others to bring gifts to on Christmas eve?
Santa spent many hours trying to decide what to do. He talked to Mrs. Claus, the elves, the reindeer, and anyone who
may have the answer.
Santa wanted to give Bobby something that was not on pages one or two of his list, The Christmas Spirit.
Santa decided there was only one thing he could do and set about an early visit in disguise to meet Bobby. He
changed his beautiful red suit into a collection of rags and became a man who looked like a tramp except for a snow
white beard. This was the perfect disguise for his plan and he flew to Bobby’s house for his visit immediately.

Bobby’s house wasn’t decorated very much because they were not a wealthy family in
money . The only lights were that on the small tree in the rather small yard. It was grand for
that neighborhood indeed. Bobby’s house was old but rather nice. It had only three rooms
and his parents had kept them neat and tidy. Santa went up and knocked on the very old
door. The door opened slowly and there stood little Bobby with a strange look of curiosity in
his eye. "Who are you?" asked Bobby.
"I would like a small bit of warmth if I could." Santa replied.
"Mom there’s a stranger outside" Bobby shouted down the hall.
Bobby’s mother came to the door and politely told Bobby to invite the old man into their
small home for a bit of warmth. Santa was led to a tiny kitchen to have a cup of tea. Bobby
kept a watchful eye on who he believed to be just a poor old man. He sat at the table and
asked the man where he was from and how he came to choose their house and not
another. "It just looked so inviting and friendly. I am an old man, I don’t have a wife or
children, and I thought you could offer me a little cheer."
This was Bobby’s chance to tell the old man of his letter to Santa and so he did. "And", he
said, "I am sure to get all that I asked for because I was very good this year."
Santa began, "I am sure you were very good this year, but aren’t you forgetting what the Christmas spirit is, my boy? I
am going to the orphanage tomorrow to see many good girls and boys who want only one gift this year, come with me
and I shall show you what Christmas really means."
Bobby was puzzled. “Only one gift, boy it must be really big!” he thought. So his mother agreed to let Bobby go
with the old man to the orphanage if he would promise to bring Bobby home before 6 p.m. for dinner and would join
them. And so it was decided and they said good night until the morning. Bobby was up early the next morning and
very excited to go to the orphanage and find out what was the one present all these children could possibly want.
Santa came as he had promised and they began their walk to the orphanage. "Now Bobby, you must not ask the
children what they want for Christmas, you have to find it out yourself!" said Santa.
"Why can’t I ask them what they want?" Bobby replied.
"Because it will be more exciting if you can find out on your own" said Santa.
Bobby and Santa came around a long bend in the road and there it stood in an open lot without any trees around and
there was no sign of children outside. It looked very cold and lonely from the road.
The building needed much repair and there was an ancient look to it. As they came closer Bobby could hear the
sound of many other children behind the doors.
They knocked on the heavy door and waited anxiously. When the door opened there stood a child of Bobby’s age in
clothes even older than his ‘hand-me-downs’ and they were a bit small on the boy. "Please come in!" he said to the
old man and Bobby. "Who are you here for?"
"We are here to see you all" Santa answered. Bobby and Santa spent all day with the children talking and playing .
Bobby could not find out what the present was that these children wanted for Christmas, because there were so many
things they really needed: Clothes, warm shoes, books, toys and many other things he himself had already. He also
noticed that although they laughed while they were playing, these children seemed a bit sad.
When it was time to go Bobby was a bit unhappy to leave the children, but he was also looking forward to going
home. It was then that he suddenly realized exactly what the children wanted for Christmas. “I found out what they
want for Christmas." Bobby said to the old man.
"Don’t tell me until we get to your house and have dinner because then you will really understand why they want it."
Bobby rushed into their house with great excitement. He couldn’t wait to tell every-one what he knew. The family all
sat down at the dinner table and Santa joined them for a great meal, the best Bobby had ever tasted. As he was
eating he felt he had been wrong to ask for all those toys for Christmas. He decided to write Santa another letter
telling him he already had everything he wanted for Christmas this year. Santa, of course, already knew that and said.
"Now Bobby, tell everyone. What is the one thing all these children want for Christmas and what do you want this
year?"
Looking at his family Bobby began .....

RIGHT OR WRONG R W
1.Bobby is the youngest of four children.
2. Bobby gives his parents a list of gifts he wants for Christmas.
3. The most important wishes are on the first page.
4. Santa Claus discusses Bobby’s letter with his wife.
5. He is so angry that he doesn’t want to give Bobby anything.
6. He makes a plan to teach Bobby something important about Christmas.
7. He puts on his red clothes when he goes to Bobby’s house.
8. Bobby recognizes him immediately.
9. Bobby doesn’t want to go to the orphanage with Santa.
10. They have to be back at 6 o’clock.

III. Fill in the missing words!

Bobby is a little ______________ who lives in a family with ____________ other children: He has ____________

brother(s) and _______________ sister(s). He is the _________________ of the family, and he thinks he is also the

smartest and the ___________ . Before anyone else thinks of Christmas, Bobby ________________ a letter to

_______________________________ adding a long list of _______________________ he wants to have for

Christmas.

Some of the things he asks for are: a ___________________ , baseball mitts, a computer,

a _________________________ and many others.

When Santa ____________________ the letter he is really shocked. Of course he can’t give Bobby all these

_________________ because there are millions of other children who want presents, too.

So he decides to ___________________ little Bobby and __________________ him the important things about

Christmas. He puts on _________________ instead of his red suit, so Bobby won’t be able to recognize him.

When Santa gets to Bobby’s house the boy’s _____________________ invites him to come in. He pretends to be a

lonely _______________________ looking for some ______________________ .

Bobby talks to him about his wishes. Santa takes the boy to an ____________________________. He tells him to
______________ out what these children might want for Christmas. Bobby is shocked to see their poverty and
loneliness. When he comes home and has dinner with his _______________________ , he understands what is
really important about Christmas

IV. Answer the following questions!

1. What did Bobby say at the end of the story?

2. It says “... a great meal, the best Bobby had ever tasted” . Why doesn’t the author tell us
what they were eating?