Franny Visits Germany

Hi there kids, my name is "Fly-About" Franny Elf, and I've been sent on a special mission to help Santa. But first, let me tell you why all the other elves have nicknamed me "Fly-About" Franny.

Well, Franny is my first name, so that makes sense, but one year when I was supposed to be making toys, I kept getting curious about the different places Santa delivered them to. I kept wandering into Santa's office to look at his globe. I would spin it round and round and round until I stopped it with my finger and find a place I'd never been.

I kept bugging Mrs. Claus and Santa with so many questions about where he goes, that Santa decided to give me a new job. When the other elves found out what I got to do they nicknamed me "Fly-About Franny".

See, Santa delivers presents to all the boys and girls across the world on Christmas, but in different parts of the world the boys and girls celebrate Christmas differently. So for the weeks before Christmas, I travel to faraway places and tell Santa how children celebrate Christmas in many special ways.

This year I first went to Germany. Germany is a country on the continent called Europe, and it's kinda close to the North Pole. Germany has lots of kids, and there is so much to do that they start to celebrate Christmas on December 6th. That's when kids leave their shoes outside their door at night to gather presents… if they were good! And of course most everyone is.

Instead of sending letters to Santa's workshop, German kids leave them on the windowsill where they are picked up and then sent to the North Pole. These letters are decorated with glue and sparkles and sugar to make them extra sweet!

Kids and grown-ups in Germany spend the nights right before Christmas baking spiced cakes and cookies, and making dolls of fruit to share with each other. Sounds delicious! Like a lot of other parts of the world, they decorate Christmas trees and love to look at them glowing in their windows. It's so pretty to look at. I think the best part is when little German boys dress up as kings and carry a Christmas star around the village on Christmas Eve. They get to sing carols to everyone watching!

Oh golly, it's getting late and I have a lot more places to visit.

Come back next Friday and I'll tell you about Christmas in another part of the world!

Until then, Frohe Weihnachten! (Merry Christmas!)
Franny