Jolly Holly!

The large number of children on the 'Nice' list means many things to many people. To parents, it means pride that their child is growing up well. To children, it means they are learning to be well-behaved. And to Holly Elf?

"It means more wrapping paper!" said Holly with a smile.

Holly Elf is Santa's chief wrapping elf. Every present that leaves the North Pole spends at least a little time with Holly. :She's a great person for the job," said Santa, "because she's got such a good eye for detail! I guess it comes from all the games of hide-and-seek she's won!"

That's right--Holly Elf is also the North Pole's champion at Hide-and-Seek! It's a game that has always come naturally to Holly, and one that got her into trouble early in life!

When Holly was just a young Elf, her parents took her on a picnic. At one point, as her parents were setting the picnic table, Holly decided to play Hide-and-Seek with her parents, and climbed inside the picnic basket. The problem was---her parents didn't know she was playing. When they turned around and discovered their child missing, they went off searching for her in the woods. While they were searching, a yeti (also known as an abominable snowman) came by and walked off with the picnic basket--with Holly still inside!

Luckily, Holly was as good at seeking as she was at finding, and at the first opportunity, she climbed out of the basket, and found her way back to her parents.

:I learned a lot of things that day," Holly now says, "one thing is that I was very good at hide-and-seek. The second thing I learned is that you should NEVER play hide-and-seek unless you tell your parents that you're playing!"

Since that day, Holly's skills have only improved. She's so good at seeking that she is also in charge of the Santa Spotters--a group of people around the world who keep a lookout for Santa when he's away from the North Pole.

Holly Elf--one of the great Elves that make the North Pole Go!