The whole story in 26 sentences. Listen, repeat, and get ready to tell it yourself! Then: tell the whole joke →
How to work: click ▶, listen, then repeat the sentence aloud. Two voices in one story: the storyteller, calm and serious, and little Tommy in his letters, sad at first, then very happy… and finally angry! For the punchline, slow down and keep a straight face.
1Set the scene
It was Christmas time, and the workers at the post office were sorting through the letters from the children that were addressed to Santa Claus.
And one of the letters really got the attention of one of the workers.
2Tommy's letter: the coat and the hat
It said: “Dear Santa Claus, I've been a good boy all year long, but my family is really poor,
and if I had a warm coat, I would be able to play outside, and I'd be able to keep warm at home because our house is really cold.
And if I had a warm hat, my ears wouldn't get all red, and the kids wouldn't make fun of me.
Oh, I'm so embarrassed, the kids always make fun of me and laugh at my red ears.
3Tommy's letter: the gloves and the video game
And I wish I had a pair of gloves to keep my hands warm, because I have to help my parents get firewood for the fire, and my hands just freeze.
If I had a good pair of gloves, I wouldn't be so cold and frozen.
And I would really like a video game, too. If I had a video game, I'd be able to talk about it with all the other kids. I'd be so happy.
Merry Christmas, Santa. Love, Tommy.”
4The collection
Well, this boy sounded so poor and unhappy that the worker went and sought his colleagues,
and they all decided to give some money.
Each one gave a dollar, five dollars, ten dollars. And they got about eighty dollars and bought…
…a nice warm coat for this boy, a nice warm hat, and a video game. And they sent it to his house for Christmas.
5The thank-you letter
So after Christmas, they received a letter addressed to Santa Claus from little Tommy.
It says: “Dear Santa Claus, thank you for all the wonderful presents. I love the warm winter coat.
I didn't use to play outside because I was so cold,
but now I do, and I just love it.
I love the nice wool hat. It's perfect.
My ears used to get all red, and I used to be so embarrassed when the boys made fun of me.
But they don't do that anymore, and I'm really happy.
I also want to thank you for the video game.
I used to imagine how great it would be to play,
and now I know.
6The punchline
Unfortunately, I didn't get the gloves.
I guess those incompetent losers at the post office stole them.”