A Christmas story for kids: a short original one to read aloud
Below is a complete Christmas story for kids that takes about four minutes to read aloud: a young reindeer at the back of the sleigh team and a list that blows away on Christmas Eve. It is ours, written for this page, so you can read it as often as you like. After it come a few tips for reading it well, how to record it for a Creative Tonie or a Yoto card, and the personalised Wunderli version that is coming soon.
Coming soon to Wunderli
Personalised stories for your Creative Tonie
Soon you can save any Wunderli story with "Download MP3" and put it on a Creative Tonie or a Yoto card, with your child's name in the story. Join the waitlist and we will tell you the moment it is ready.
Until then: get Wunderli, the first story is free, and listen in the app.
The Reindeer at the Back of the Line
Every Christmas Eve the reindeer stood in a line in the snow, from the biggest at the front to the smallest at the back. The smallest that year was a reindeer whose antlers were still soft and whose legs had not quite decided how long they wanted to be.
"You will pull at the very back," said the old reindeer at the front. "Just keep up. That is your job."
The small reindeer nodded and tried to look as if keeping up was easy.
Off they went, up into the cold dark sky. The sleigh was heavy with parcels, and on top of the parcels lay the list: a long roll of paper with every house written on it, tied with a red ribbon. The wind tugged at it, and then tugged harder, until somewhere over a frozen lake, the ribbon came loose and the list slipped off the sleigh and fluttered down into the night.
Nobody at the front noticed. The small reindeer at the back saw the whole thing.
There was no time to ask anyone. The small reindeer slipped out of the harness, turned, and dived after the paper. It was far harder than keeping up. The list twisted left, then right, then sailed towards a pine forest. The small reindeer followed, close enough to hear it rustle, and finally caught the end of it between soft teeth, just above the tallest tree.
Then came the difficult part. The sleigh was gone. The sky was enormous and black and full of stars, and every direction looked the same.
The small reindeer hovered over the forest and thought. At the back of the line, there had been nothing to look at except the sleigh. And the sleigh had a bell, a small brass one on the very last runner, that rang a little whenever it turned.
So the small reindeer listened.
At first there was only wind. Then, very faintly, far to the north: ting.
The small reindeer flew towards it, list held tight, legs working harder than they ever had. Ting. Closer. Ting ting. And there it was, the sleigh, circling over a village while the old reindeer at the front looked worried and the driver searched every pocket.
The small reindeer flew up alongside and dropped the list into the driver's lap.
For a moment nobody said anything. Then the old reindeer at the front looked all the way down the line and said, "Next year, you are pulling next to me."
They delivered every parcel before the sun came up. When they landed back at home, the small reindeer was so tired that sleep came standing up, right there in the snow, with the little brass bell still ringing softly somewhere in a dream.
The end. About 450 words, roughly four minutes read aloud at a calm pace.
Reading it aloud
A few things that make a short story land better at bedtime:
- Read the old reindeer slowly and low. Two voices are enough for this story: the old reindeer and the narrator. Everyone else can be your normal voice.
- Make the bell a game. Each time you reach "ting", tap a glass with a spoon, or let your child say it. By the second one they will be waiting for it.
- Pause before the list falls. Stop after "then tugged harder" and ask what they think happens next. Then read on.
- Slow down for the last paragraph. It is written to wind down. Drop your volume a little with each sentence and let the final line trail off.
- Talk about it the next day, not straight after. At bedtime, let the ending be the ending.
For more stories to read, our collections of bedtime stories for kids and read-aloud stories are a good next stop.
Putting a personalised one on a Creative Tonie or Yoto card
Many families want a Christmas story the children can play themselves over the holidays, on the box they already have. There are two ways to do it.
Record this one. Read the story above into the tonies app or a phone voice memo, then add it to a Creative Tonie or a Yoto Make Your Own playlist. A reading in a parent's or grandparent's voice is hard to beat.
Soon: make one around your own child. In Wunderli you and your child shape the characters, the world and the mood together in six steps, and the hero can carry your child's name. Wunderli writes the story and narrates it with several narration voices, in 10+, 15+ or 20+ minutes. "Download MP3" is coming soon: the file will then be on your phone, for private family use, ready to upload. Until then: get Wunderli, the first story is free, and listen in the app.
A Wunderli Christmas story on a box
- Works with: Creative Tonie (Toniebox 1 and 2), Yoto Make Your Own
- MP3 download: coming soon, waitlist open
- First story: free
- Languages: English, French, German
- Length: 10+, 15+ or 20+ minutes
tonies says a Creative Tonie holds up to 90 minutes (checked 27 October 2026), so once "Download MP3" is live, plan on three long Wunderli stories or six short ones per figure. A Yoto Make Your Own card takes up to five hours according to Yoto. The step-by-step uploads are in our guides to Creative Tonies and Yoto Make Your Own cards, and personalised Christmas story covers giving one as a present.
Listen: a Wunderli story in English
tonies®, Toniebox and Creative-Tonie are trademarks of tonies; Yoto is a trademark of its owner. Wunderli has no business relationship with either.