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Alvie the Little Brown Burro's First Valentine's Day
One day in early February, Alvie and Daddy were sitting together in Daddy’s big leather chair watching TV. Alvie liked to watch TV with Daddy because he liked spending time with Daddy. It made him feel all warm and fuzzy. Daddy would laugh at the funny things the people on TV did and Alvie would laugh too. It was fun spending time with Daddy.
On this day, there was an ad on TV with a man and lady. The man gave the lady something sparkly and the lady kissed him. Alvie thought that was pretty mushy, but Daddy seemed interested.
“Alvie, that ad reminds me that Valentine’s Day is coming soon,” said Daddy. “I need to get a nice gift for Mommie because she is so special to me,” said Daddy. “I want her to know just how much I love her.”
Alvie thought that was kind of mushy too, but he knew Mommie would like it.
Well, the days went by fast and soon it was February 14th – Valentine’s Day. That evening when Daddy got home from work, he sneaked up behind Mommie and grabbed her in a big hug! He had a big red heart-shaped box of candy in his hand and gave it to her along with a big kiss. “Happy Valentine’s Day!” he said.
Mommie smiled. She didn’t think that was mushy at all!
She looked at the big red heart-shaped box, and do you know what was on top of it?
Sitting right on top of the box was the cutest little brown bear you ever saw. The bear had a red ribbon around her neck and she was chubby and cute. “Thank you Daddy. I love the candy, but I especially like this cute little bear,” said Mommie. “Now Alvie will have a sister to play with everyday. Let’s name her Valentina since she came to live with us on Valentine’s Day.”
“Alvie, do you like your new little sister?” asked Daddy.
Alvie looked at Valentina, she was a beautiful brown color, like him, but she was not so little. In fact, Alvie thought she was kind of chubby.
“She’s pretty fat, isn’t she? I hope she won’t eat all my oats!”
When Valentina heard that, a big tear rolled out of her eye and down her face. It hurt her feelings to be called ‘fat’. She had felt so happy to find a new friend named Alvie, but now she just felt sad.
“Alvie! That is really not a nice thing to say!” exclaimed Mommie. “All bears look like that. When a bear is big and round, it means they are strong and healthy. It’s just the way they are. I think you hurt Valentina’s feelings. Look, she”s crying.”
That made Alvie feel really bad. He didn’t mean to make Valentina cry. And he certainly did not mean to hurt her feelings. He knew he had to do something to make things right.
So he walked up to her, took her hand and said ‘Welcome to our home Valentina. I’m so sorry I hurt your feelings. I am really very glad to have you for my sister. Would you like some oats?”
Valentina’s tears immediately dried up and she smiled a watery little smile. “No thanks” she said. “I don’t really eat oats. But thank you for sharing.”
She was happy to have a new big brother named Alvie who was nice enough to apologize when he said something wrong.
What did Alvie Learn? He learned not to call people names because you might hurt their feelings. He also learned not to judge people based on what they look like. It’s what a person is like inside that is really important. He also learned to apologize when you have done something wrong.
THE END
Here are some good discussion questions to ask your children after reading them Alvie's story:
1. What time of year did this story take place?
2. What holiday was coming up?
3. What sitting on top of the red heart-shaped box that Daddy gave Mommie?
4. What did they name the brown bear?
5. Did Alvie like Valentina?
6. When Alvie hurt Valentina's feelings, what did he do to make things right?
7. What did Alvie learn?
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