07-12-2022 12:34
Christmas is such a magical time, isn't it? Personally I'm not one for big celebrations but one thing I do every year is listen to a very *magical* little radio show from the 1930's called The Cinnamon Bear.
It's rather silly but full of charm. I'm not sure the little bear's Irish accent is authentic 😂 but he does his best. I thought it would be fun to do a little listen-along throughout the month. For those who aren't up for listening to singing bears, I'll post a description of the episode in the comments each day.
The first one is below! Feel free to listen ahead, of course.
Twins Judy and Jimmy are writing their letters to Santa when their mother asks them to help go through a treasured box of Christmas tree ornaments. The tinsel, ornaments and lights are all there, but the silver star is missing! Uncle Jed might have put it away in the attic so the siblings head up the steep stairs to search.
After racing up the stairs, they spot an old spinning wheel and a music box...and there's the old trunk mother told them to look for! It's heavy and covered with an old crazy quilt, but still no silver star.
The children begin to dig through the trunk and find some curious little things: a box of broken ornaments, a golden glass aeroplane, and a teeny little teddy bear with a green ribbon round his neck.
And, oh boy, there's a telescope too! Jimmy takes a look and it makes everything a million times bigger. The teddy bear is the smallest Judy has ever seen so the pair decide they might be able to take a look at him with the telescope they found. Bigger he grows indeed but then...he moves!
Garah! Garooh!
He talks! Judy is a bit frightened and asks Jimmy to ask the teddy who he is. He sings:
I'm the Cinnamon Bear
With the Shoe-button eyes
And I'm looking for someone
To take by surprise
I go growling and prowling
Each night after dark
But the folks say my growl's
Just a cinnamon bark...
Paddy O'Cinnamon is his name and the children ask him if he's seen their beloved silver star.
"Oh I've seen it lots of times," he says. But it's gone now. It's been stolen away by the Crazy Quilt Dragon who's terribly fond of shiny, bright things. Judy is rather distraught about the star, but Paddy offers to help them find it. He think Crazy Quilt will have taken it to the Lollipop mountains which is just through a little hole in the wall by the music box.
"But we'll never fit through there," says Jimmy. "Oh, yes you will," Paddy replies, "all you have to do is de-grow. Just de-grow! Get smaller and smaller and smaller until you're four inches high like me!"
The children think that is rather impossible, but the Cinnamon Bear says he'll tell them how to do it.
See you tomorrow! 😉
07-12-2022 12:50
Oh my goodness this is so cute! I had never heard of The Cinnamon Bear but think it's adorable - Maybe I could "de-grow" a bit so I don't always bang my head on door frames! 😂
07-12-2022 12:53
So glad you enjoyed it! Maybe we can call up Alice and get some of those special cakes to save your head!
07-12-2022 14:18
07-12-2022 14:18
07-12-2022 15:48
07-12-2022 15:48
07-12-2022 17:04
We shall see tomorrow how they'll fit and go search for the Silver Star! Thanks for joining in @Cleoriff and @TallTrees 🌠
07-12-2022 19:34
08-12-2022 14:00
"Please hurry and tell us how to get small, Cinnamon Bear," said Judy anxiously.
"Of course, of course I will," he replied, "but first do you mind if I take a growl at this spider here? He's been making faces and me and it's very distracting!"
Grrrah! He ran so fast, you could hear him whistle (😂)
Paddy just loves giving a good growl, but onto the task at hand. He tells the children that size is just a matter of how you *look* at yourself. Now what happens when you look through the small end of a telescope?
The children take turns looking at each other through the telescope and marvel at how small they become. They can see each other, but how are they going to look at themselves? The Cinnamon Bear knows exactly what to do and tells the children to place the telescope on top of the dresser with the looking glass. When they look through the telescope, they'll see themselves just four inches high and Presto Change-O they'll be just as tiny as Paddy O'Cinnamon himself.
✨🎶✨🎶✨🎶
"Phew! Here we are," says Judy "Everything is so big!"
"I wonder what Mother would say if she could see us now," says Jimmy.
The tiny little hole now looks just like a tunnel! It leads to Maybeland and somewhere there are the Lollipop Mountains where that fiendish dragon Crazy Quilt has likely taken the silver star.
But now that the children are so tiny, how will they get down from the dresser and through the tunnel? Paddy's eyes alight on the golden glass aeroplane the children saw when they first got to the attic.
"But Cinnamon Bear," says Jimmy, "We can't go anywhere in that! It's just a Christmas tree ornament."
The Cinnamon Bear is a bit taken aback. "Well that's where you're mistaken, Jimmy. I'll have you know that is my very own extra private aeroplane and it flies beautifully. And if you want to know, I once made a Trans-Root Beer Oceanic flight in it."
Everyone jumps on and the propeller spins away. Off they go around the room a couple of times and into the tunnel to Maybeland they go.
It's a beautiful sight to see and filled with all kinds of people too-- dolls and animals and funny creatures. Not all of them may be as full of cheer as Paddy O'Cinnamon, though.
The lollipop mountains appear in the distance as a rainbow of colours fills the horizon. And just there! Jimmy spots that old Crazy Quilt dragon on a cliff at the top of Looking Glass Valley.
One thing you must know about Crazy Quilt is that he's very vain. He loves to look at his own reflection.
Hello there! What was that?
"Oh that's that obnoxious stork, Weary Willy," say's Paddy. Always going around and bragging about his travels. Pay him no mind."
I say hello there and cheerio! Could you accommodate a weary traveller in your aeroplane? I am most fatigued.
"Of course not! says the Cinnamon Bear. You're much too big! We're very busy chasing that Crazy Quilt dragon so just fly on, Willie!
Weary Willie isn't one to be rebuffed and says, "Well if you're unwilling to help me, at least give me a drink."
There's nothing on board to give him. The only thing on the aeroplane is the raspberry soda pop that powers the engine and he just can't have that.
POP! Glug glug glug...…
Without a hint of shame in his voice, Weary Willie thanks the trio for the drink and prepares to make his exit.
"That was delicious, my friends. Thank you, thank you. Now I believe I will just fly over and tell Crazy Quilt you're chasing him. Or, I should say, were chasing him. Pip pip!"
Without soda pop to power the aeroplane, it begins to drop right away, right into Looking Glass Valley where the mountain sides are steep and slippery. The children hold on tight as they go down but everyone's alright in the end.
Now they're in a right fix! The Cinnamon Bear has explored this valley before and discovered something very important: "Unless you have an airplane or can fly, there is absolutely, positively no way to get out."
My my, our adventurers are in a pickle aren't they?
08-12-2022 15:32
08-12-2022 15:32
08-12-2022 18:29
08-12-2022 18:29
Loved it @Breanna.
As @TallTrees said, it really fires your imagination. Not keen on Weary Willy though!!😂
Veritas Numquam Perit