Ryers Readers - How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Episode Date: December 9, 2022

A classic! And a Ryers Readers favorite! Listen along as this grinchy ‘ol Grinch learns the true meaning of Christmas!

Let's do this. Thank you so much for tuning into today's story. Don't forget to rate and follow so you never miss out on all the Ryers readers fun. Before we get into the story, do you want to know a fun fact? Did you know that reindeer are the only type of deer that have hair completely covering their nose? Their hairy noses help them warm the air that they breathe in. and helps them recognize direction. I'm sure their keen sense of direction comes in handy.

Okay, story time. Today, we are reading how the Grinch stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. Every who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just north of Huville, did not. The Grinch hated Christmas, the whole Christmas season. Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason. It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right.

It could be perhaps that his shoes were too tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all may have been that his heart was two sizes, too small. But whatever the reason his heart or his shoes, He stood there on Christmas Eve, hating the hoo's, staring down from his cave with a sour, grinchy frown at the warm-lighted windows below in their town, for he knew every who down in Whoville beneath was busy now, hanging a mistletoe wreath. And they're hanging their stockings, he snarled with a sneer. Tomorrow is Christmas!

practically here. Then he growled with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming, I must find a way to stop Christmas from coming. For tomorrow, he knew. All the who girls and boys would wake up right and early. They'd rush for their toys. And then, oh, the noise, oh, the noise, noise, noise, noise. That's the one thing he hated. The noise, noise, noise, noise. Then the who's young and old would sit down to a feast. And they'd feast, and they'd feast, and they'd feast, feast, feast, feast, feast. They would feast on who pudding, and rare who roast beast, which is something the Grinch couldn't stand in the least.

And then they'd do something he liked least of all. Every who down in Whoville, the tall and the small, would stand close together with Christmas bells ringing. They'd stand hand in hand, and the whos would start singing. And they'd sing, and they'd sing, and they'd sing, sing, sing, sing, sing, sing. And the more the Grinch thought of this Who Christmas, the more the Grinch thought, I must stop this whole thing. Why, for 53 years I've put up with it now, I must stop Christmas from coming. And he got an idea, an awful idea. The Grinch got a wonderful,

awful idea. I know just what to do. The Grinch laughed in his throat, and he made a quick Santee Claus hat and a coat. And he chuckled and clucked. What a great grinchy trick. With this hat and this coat, I'll look just like St. Nick.

All I need is a reindeer. The Grinch looked around, but since reindeer are scarce, there was none to be found. Did that stop the old Grinch? No, the Grinch simply said, If I can't find a reindeer, I'll make one instead. So he called his dog, Max,

then he took some red thread, and he tied a big horn on the top of his head. Then he loaded some bags and some old empty sacks on a ramshackle sleigh, and he hitched up to old Max. Then the Grinch said, Gidey up, and the sleigh started down towards the homes where the whos lay a snooze in their town. All their windows were dark. Quiet snow filled the air.

All the whos were dreaming sweet dreams without care when he came to the first little house on the square. This is stop number one. The old Grinchy Claws hissed, and he climbed to the roof. empty bags in his fist. Then he slid down the chimney, a rather tight pinch, but if Santa could do it, then so could the Grinch. He got stuck only once for a moment or two. Then he stuck his head out of the fireplace flew, where the little who stockings all hung in a row. These stockings, he grinned, are the first things to go.

Then he slithered and slunk with a smile most unpleasant around the whole room he took every present. Pop guns and picycles, roller skates, drums, checkerboards, tricycles, popcorns, and plums. And he stuffed them in bags. Then the Grinch, very nimbly, stuffed all the bags one by one up the chimbley. Then he slunk to the icebox. He took the Who's feast. He took the Who pudding. He took the roast beast.

He cleaned out that icebox as quick as a flash. Why, that Grinch even took their last can of Who hash. Then he stuffed all the food up the chimney with glee. And now, grinned the Grinch, I will stuff up the tree. And the Grinch grabbed the tree, and he started to shove, when he heard a small sound like the coo of a dove. He turned around fast, and he saw a small who. Cindy Lou Who, who was not more than two. The Grinch had been caught by this tiny Who daughter, who had gotten out of bed for a cup of cold water.

She stared at the Grinch and said, Sandy Claus, why? Why are you taking our Christmas tree? Why? But, you know, that old Grinch was so smart and so slick, he thought up a lie, and he thought it up quick. Why, my sweet little tot, the fake Santee Clause lied. There's a light on this tree that won't light on one side,

so I'm taking it home to my workshop, my dear. I'll fix it up there, and I'll bring it back here. And his fib fooled the child. Then he patted her head. He got her a drink and he sent her to bed. And when Cindy Lou Who went to bed with her cup, he went to the chimney and stuffed the tree up. And the last thing he took was the log for their fire.

Then he went up the chimney himself, the old liar. On their walls, he left nothing but some hooks and some wire. And the one speck of food that he left in the house was a crumb that was even too small for a mouse. Then he did the same thing to the other whose houses, leaving crumbs much too small for the other whose mouses. It was a quarter past dawn. All the who's still a bed. All the who's still a snooze when he packed up his sled, packed it up with their presents. the ribbons, the wrappings, the tags, and the tinsel, the trimmings, the trappings. Three thousand feet up, up the side of Mount Crumpet, he rode with his load to the tip-top to dump it.

Pooh-poo to the whos, he was grinchously humming. They're finding out now that no Christmas is coming. They're just waking up. I know just what they'll do. Their mouths will hang open for a minute or two, then all of them. All the hooves down in Hooville will cry, boo! That's a noise, grinned the Grinch, that I simply must hear. So he paused, and the Grinch put his hands to his ear.

And he did hear a sound rising over the snow. It started in low, then it started to grow. But the sound wasn't sad. Why, this sounded merry. It couldn't be so, but it was. Mary, very. He stared down at Whoville, the Grinch popped his eyes. Then he shook. What he saw was a shocking surprise. Every who down in Whoville, the tall and the small, was singing without any presents at all. He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming. It came. Somehow or another, it came just the same. And the Grinch, with his Grinch feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling.

How could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags. And he puzzled three hours till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.

Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. And what happened then? Well, in Whoville, they say, that Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day. And the minute his heart didn't feel quite so tight, he whizzed with his load through the bright morning light, and he brought back the toys and the food-fut-fut-yed.

for the feast and he, he himself, the Grinch carved the roast beast. The end. Don't forget to stick around to see if you can answer today's paying attention question. For you go, do you think you can answer today's paying attention question? Once the Grinch got down the chimney, what were the first things he took? If your answer was, the stockings, you did it! Great job! You sure were paying attention! I hope you enjoyed that story. I wonder what we're going to read next.