There once was an elf, whose name was Robby.
Robby was the hardest worker in Santa's workshop, making more toys than all the other elves.
And Santa always praised his hard work. 'Oh, Robby, you make so many toys! The children will be very happy this Christmas! Ho ho ho!'
Robby was very proud because Santa liked him, but he felt that something was wrong. The other elves weren't like him. They were happy and cheery and they always laughed. But Robby never laughed...
Maybe I just don't have a funny bone, Robby thought. I know! I'll make one!
Robby went into Santa's Big Library and got out all the books about the body. And he looked and looked, but he couldn't find any bone that seemed funny.
Robby went to see Rudolf the Reindeer, who was the smartest of all of Santa's raindeer.
“Rudolf,” he asked, “what does a funny bone look like?”
Rudolf chewed on a carrot and thought. “Well,” he replied, “I think it's a little curved bone, like a smile.”
Happy with this answer, Robby went to work in Santa's workshop. He tinkered and toiled and carved a regular bone. Then, he took some pliers and bent it a little, so that it looked like a smile.
A skeleton smile, he thought.
He put the bone in his coat pocket and went to his friend Dixy, who was the funniest elf of them all.
“Dixy,” he said, “Tell me a joke!”
Dixy was surprised, because he knew Robby wasn't normally a big fan of jokes. Still, he told him the best joke he could think of.
“What do you call a bear with no teeth?” he asked.
Robby tried to think of an answer, but couldn't.
“A gummy bear!” Dixy shouted and burst into laughter, as did all the other elves. Except for Robby. Robby didn't smile, because he didn't understand.
Robby burst into crying, instead. And he wept and he wept, big crocodile tears.
Santa, who heard Robby crying, came and sat next to him.
“Why are you crying, Robby? What's the matter?”
Robby took the bone from his pocket and showed it to Santa. He told him what happened.
“Oh Robby,” Santa smiled, “You're not funny because of any bone...It's something you're born with.”
“I wasn't born with it.” said Robby, miserable.
“That's not true,” Santa chided, “everyone's born with it. You're just out of practice. You work too much, Robby. You have no time to play. You need to do things that make you happy.”
“But making toys makes you happy, Santa!”
“Yes, but seeing my elves happy makes me happier.”
Robby began spending less time in the workshop and more time playing and joking with the other elves. And Santa was right, he began to laugh at jokes. He even started telling jokes himself.
From that day, Robby never cried again.
Questions
1. Why was Robby the Elf sad?
2. What was Rudolf eating? What else do reindeer eat?
3. What joke would you tell Robby?
4. What do you think a funny bone looks like? Draw it!
5. What was the lesson Robby learned?