Put Me In The Story: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas on Sesame Street! Personalized Book

e r o f e B t h g i N e h t s

’Twa

s a m t s i r Ch on

A holiday story Liam

for

e m a Ses ! t e Stre

Merry Christmas from Grandma

e r o f e B t h g i N e h t s a ‘’Tw

s a m t s i r h C on e

m a s e S t e e Str

By Lillian Jaine

Illustrated by Joe Mathieu

A holiday story Liam

for

Merry Christmas from Grandma

For Liam:

Wishing you a magical Christmas.

You are my little joy!

Lots of Love, Grandma

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a Grouch.

T he stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

Cookie Monster was nestled all snug in his bed, while visions of cookies danced in his head.

When out on the street there arose such a clatter,

he sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Who's out th ere, Liam?

And what to his wondering eyes should appear, but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer!

“Santa!” he cried. “Me think this is great!”

“But me wish me not eat what was on Santa’s plate!”

“Oh no!” Cookie shouted. “What should me do?”

He must make more cookies for Santa, he knew.

So he flew to the kitchen, this time not to eat,

but to make sure he left his friend Santa a treat!

T here was so much to do and no time to waste, and Cookie was worried by all that he faced.

W

no, h O m!

Lia do? e m an c hat

If only he had an elf helper or two,

then there would be nothing that he couldn’ t do.

T hen the very next moment, Cookie heard a strange sound.

Santa? he thought, as he turned right around.

Not Santa, but better: ‘twas all of his friends!

“We can help,” Elmo said, “from now till the end.”

Elmo started to mix, then measure and splatter.

(And though Bert was the baker, Ernie tasted some batter.)

T he clock ticked away, and when the bell sounded, they opened the oven, pleased and astounded!

T he Count frosted cookies, then counted each one, and Abby got all of the sprinkling done.

"Hooray!� Cookie cried, his plate filled to the brim.

Now Santa had treats that were ready for him!

And then, in a twinkling, they heard on the roof

the prancing and pawing of each reindeer hoof.

T hey set out the cookies, and as they turned ‘round, down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound!

His eyes, how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

He had a broad face and a little round belly

that shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

, Ho, ho, ho Liam!

He spoke not a word,

but went straight to his work, and filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.

r gift fo A ! k o Lo Liam!

T he cookies—he saw them! Right next to the tree!

Li

am

“Oh boy!” Cookie whispered. “Me sure hope he’s hungry!”

Santa took a big bite,

and then smiled so wide

that our dear Cookie Monster was beaming with pride.

“We did it!” he whispered, and hugged all his friends.

Li

am

“Me thank you, again and again and again!”

And now all the friends were as pleased as could be.

Santa ate not just one cookie, but three!

T hen laying his finger aside of his nose,

Liam

and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, and away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But they heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight,

“Merry Christmas, Sesame Street, and to all a good night!”

tmas,

Chris Merry Liam!

Cookie Monster’s Christmas Sugar Cookie Recipe Have an adult preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

INGREDIENT S F OR COOKIES 1 cup butter or margarine 2 cups granulated sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 2 eggs (or egg substitute) 4 cups flour 2 tsp. baking powder tsp. salt ½ INGREDIENT S F OR F ROST ING 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature 4 tbsp. unsalted butter (½ stick), at room temperature 1 lb. powdered sugar 1 tbsp. vanilla extract Decorations of your choice DIRECT IONS . Combine ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed 1 until smooth. . Chill dough in fridge for 30 minutes, then roll out and cut using a cookie 2 cutter (try a Christmas tree cookie cutter!). . Bake at 350 degrees for 8–10 minutes or till desired color. Have an 3 adult take the cookies out of the oven. . While cookies cool, create frosting by beating cream cheese and butter 4 until smooth and combined. Slowly add powdered sugar, a cup at a time, beating after each addition until combined. Add vanilla extract. . Frost and top with decorations (try green or red sugar sprinkles!).

5 . Enjoy!

6

Liam's Ornament F RONT

Me

BACK

s rry C hristma Liam

2014 INST RUCT IONS: With the help of an adult, use scissors or a hobby knife to cut out the front and back pieces of your custom ornament. For sturdier construction, trace one of the pieces onto a sheet of cardstock, cut out the form, and mount pieces to either side of cardstock using a glue stick or double-sided tape. Punch or cut a hole at the top of the ornament, string a ribbon or a colored shoelace through it, and display.

“Sesame Workshop,”® “Sesame Street,”® and associated characters, trademarks, and design elements are owned and licensed by Sesame Workshop. Copyright © 2014 Sesame Workshop. All rights reserved.

Cover and internal design © 2014 by Sourcebooks, Inc. Cover illustrations © Sesame Workshop Cover design by Jason Lavicky Text by Lillian Jaine Illustrations by Joe Mathieu Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc. Put Me In the Story is a trademark of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc. Published by Put Me In the Story, a publication of Sourcebooks, Inc. P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410 (630) 961-3900 Fax: (630) 961-2168 www.putmeinthestory.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file with the publisher Source of Production: Lightning Source, Inc. 1246 Heil Quaker Blvd, La Vergne, TN 37086 Date of Production: MM YYYY Run Number: 99999 Printed and bound in the United States of America.

LSI 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

It’s the night before Christmas, and Cookie Monster is about to get a surprise visit from Santa!