My grandson spent the weekend with his mom at the North Pole, riding the Polar Express and meeting Santa. Tuesday, we’ll be putting up the tree and getting ready for a welcome visit from my son and his family who are flying in from Chicago to spend a few days with us for Christmas.

I hope all of you are able to get into the spirit of the season…no matter whether you celebrate one of the winter holidays or not. Our backyard is a snow-covered wonderland – there is a special hush that falls in the woods when there is snow on the ground.

Today I have a special treat for you – well, I hope it will be a treat. My friend, children’s author Susanna Leonard Hill, is holding her famous annual Holiday Contest. All week, writers can post a holiday story for children on their blog and link it to her post or they can add their story to the comment section if they don’t have a blog of their own.

Rule rundown: 350 words or less, kid-friendly (for children under 12), story must include some weather event that impacts the holiday.

At the end of the week, Susanna and her assistants will pick some of the stories and put up a poll where you can go and vote for the one you think is the best. There are great prizes…the quality of the stories is incredible…I hope if you are not participating, you will visit some of the blogs and read the entries.

My story is about three musicians, Hither (a mouse who plays acoustic guitar), Thither (a jazz-funk drumming toad) and Yon (a swan who plays classical violin). When a tornado rips through the town of Delight, will their music be able to soothe the savage storm?

Photo courtesy: http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-tornado.htm (This is a GREAT science site for parents, teachers and kids!)

Hither, Thither and Yon Save Christmas – (303 words)

Have you heard about Hither and Thither and Yon,

a mouse and a toad and an elegant swan,

who battle with music one dark Christmas night

in the midst of a storm in the town of Delight?

Hither and Thither love Club Razzmatazz

and evenings of improvisational jazz.

Guitar on his shoulder, and drums at her hips,

they be-bop along with a song on their lips.

And Yon, he is headed the opposite way.

His violin sings at the Swan Lake ballet.

Each night the whole audience rise to their feet.

“Encore!” they all clamor. “Please maestro, repeat!”

The wind whips and whistles – a dust-cloud appears.

It whirls and it swirls and it deafens the ears.

And Hither and Thither turn up the wrong street.

They enter the ballet with toe-tapping feet.

Around the next corner at Club Razzmatazz

the jazz band is missing some guitar pizzazz.

Again the wind howls and rumbles and roars

and Yon and his fiddle explode through the doors.

As Hither plays jazz funk and Thither, the blues,

the dancers don taps on their soft ballet shoes.

At Club Razzmatazz, things are going quite well

as Yon and the band are beginning to jell.

But outside the spiral of wind picks up steam,

rip stripping the roofs – “Help!” the dancers all scream.

The storm is a monster – a villain – a beast

gobbling gaily wrapped gifts like a fine Christmas feast.

But Hither’s guitar strums a soft lullaby,

and Thither’s drum whisks with a hush and a sigh,

and answering back is Yon’s sweet violin.

Soon the twister starts losing its devilish spin.

The town has been rescued, and Christmas is saved,

and good boys and girls who all year have behaved

get tickets to Hither and Thither and Yon,

now appearing on Broadway in “MOUSE, TOAD AND SWAN.

The End

Ta-Da! I hope you enjoyed that.

And I hope you sign up for my newsletter so I can send you the Anti-Bullying Toolkit Guide for Kids: http://eepurl.com/8pglH. Everyone who subscribes will be entered into a raffle for a copy of my parent-teacher resource book, Show Me How! The winner will be announced in the first blog post of the year.

Stay warm! Eat chocolate! Read books!