set!” Mary says.

We are very happy. Now we have everything for gingerbread and for Christmas cards. We walk to the next shop to buy little presents for our family and friends. But what presents we buy is a big secret. I will not write it in this chapter. I will tell you later in the next chapters.

New words

artist – художник

brush – щетка

to stick – приклеить

to leave – оставлять

poster – плакат

jar – баночка

set – набор

lid – крышка

choice – выбор

to suggest – советовать

highly recommend – настоятельно рекомендовать

scissors – ножницы

curly scissors – фигурные ножницы

pattern – узор (в данном случае), образец, шаблон

Exercises

Answer the questions

1. Where do the puppies go to buy everything for the Christmas cards?

2. On which floor is the shop for artists?

3. What is on the poster of the shop for artists?

4. How many colors are there in the set of paints?

5. What is your favorite color?

6. What last thing does the Lady Seller recommend to buy?

True or false

1. After buying everything for gingerbread, the puppies go to the café.

2. Mikky’s favorite color is green.

3. Betsy’s favorite color is light blue.

4. After the set of paints, the puppies take a set of brushes.

5. There are six scissors in the set.

Guess the riddles.

1. This is a special tool. You can cut paper with it.

2. This is a tool too. You need it if you want to draw a picture with paints.

Chapter 5

Christmas Service Starts

It is morning now. Betsy and I are getting ready for school. Mommy comes to kiss us and to say ‘Goodbye’.

“Have a good day, my dear puppies!” Mom says and kisses Betsy and me.

“Thank you, Mommy! We hope you have a good day too!” We answer together and kiss our mommy on both cheeks.

“By the way, puppies, the Christmas season has started. Did you have a chance to serve to other dogs?” Mother asks.

“Not yet, Mommy, but we will start today!” I answer.

“Good job, my dears! I am very proud of you!”

“Thank you, Mommy.” Betsy says.

“Goodbye, Mommy! We love you very much!” I say.

We are at school now. It is thirty minutes before the lessons start. We are in the school hallway with our Christmas team.

“So how will we serve others today?” I ask.

“I have a branch of a fir tree, decorated with artificial snow and Christmas toys.” Mary says and takes an amazing fir tree branch out of her bag. The branch is nicely decorated with artificial snow, Christmas balloons and stars.

“Wow this branch is beautiful!” Betsy is excited.

“Did you make it yourself?” Archie asks.

“I made it with my mother. We will secretly put this branch on our teacher’s table.”

“This is a great idea!” Mikky says. “Our teacher, Mrs. Forest, loves this kind of decorations!”

“Yes, she will be very surprised!” I say.

“Also, I have a paper heart; let’s write on it: ‘To our favorite teacher Mrs. Forest, and let’s put this paper heart on the branch.” Mary says.

“Yes, we will do it!” I say.

“And we will give it to our teacher too.” Says Archie.

“Betsy and I will stay after the lessons in our classroom. We will wash floors, water flowers and decorate windows with paper snowflakes.”

“That is very nice of you!” I say. “I want to help you. How many lessons do you have today?”

“We have five lessons today.” Archie answers.

“Cool. We have only five lessons today too. So after the lessons I will come to your class to help you to clean the room and decorate it!”

“I will go with you Rex.” Mikky says.

“I want to help you too. We are a team, aren’t we? If we are a team we need to do everything together!”Mary says.

“Yes, we will do this service all together! We are a real Christmas Team!” I say. I am very glad to have such an amazing team.

New words

by the way – кстати

good job – отлично

to be proud of – гордиться кем-то

hallway – коридор

branch – ветка

artificial – искусственная

Exercises

Answer the questions

1. Who comes to kiss Rex and Betsy in the morning?

2. What does Mary take out of her bag?

3. Who helped Mary to decorate the branch?

4. What are the puppies going to do with a branch?

5. What is the teacher’s name?

6. What are Betsy and Archie are going to do after lessons today?

7. What good things can you do for your teachers?

True or false

1. The branch of a fir tree is decorated with artificial snow and Christmas toys.

2. The branch looks ugly.

3. All the puppies have only four lessons today.

4. Rex, Mary and Mikky want to help Betsy and Archie clean their classroom after lessons.

5. Rex is very happy to have such an amazing team.

Guess the riddles

1. This is something white; you can decorate Christmas trees with it to pretend it’s snow.

2. This is a man or a woman who work at school. He or she helps children to learn new subjects.

Chapter 6

The First Christmas Present

Mary, Mikky and I are in our class room. We came very early before the lessons.

“We are lucky. Our teacher Mrs. Forest is not here yet.” I whisper.

“Let’s put the branch quickly on the table and let’s run back in the hallway.” Mikky whispers.

“But should I put the branch just on the table? It would