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Snowhill Surprises: A Winter Holiday Adventure
A funny story for English learners (Level B1)
Written for young English learners
Main Characters
Kate
12 years old. A city girl who loves detective stories. She sees a 'mystery' in almost everything, even a missing sock. This is her first winter in the countryside.
Vanya
12 years old. Kate's cousin. He has lived in Snowhill his whole life, knows every path, every neighbour and every animal, and always has a new (slightly crazy) plan.
Nick
13 years old. Vanya's best friend. He is very tall, a little clumsy, always hungry, and he tells the worst jokes in the village — but everyone laughs anyway.
Masha
11 years old. A calm, practical village girl who loves animals. She is the only person who can calm down Boris the goat and Napoleon the goose.
Contents
Chapter 1. Welcome to Snowhill
Chapter 2. The Great Sledge Race
Chapter 3. Boris the Goat's Great Escape
Chapter 4. The Snow Fort War
Chapter 5. Skating Disaster on Duck Pond
Chapter 6. Grandma's Tales and the Missing Mitten
Chapter 7. The Great Pirog Bake-Off
Chapter 8. The Search for Grandad's Watch
Chapter 9. Carollers and Costumes
Chapter 10. The Village Concert
Chapter 11. New Year's Eve at Snowhill
Final Quiz — Test Your Understanding
Answer Key
Notes for Teachers and Parents
Chapter 1. Welcome to Snowhill
Kate looked out of the car window and saw white fields, white roofs, and white trees, all the way to the horizon. Everything in the village of Snowhill was covered in a thick blanket of snow.
"Is this really it?" she asked her mum. "It looks like a postcard."
"This is Snowhill," said her mum, smiling. "Your grandmother has lived here for forty years. I grew up here too, remember?"
The car stopped in front of a small wooden house with blue shutters and smoke coming out of the chimney. Before Kate could even open the car door, a boy about her age ran out of the house, followed by a large white goose that was making a lot of noise.
"KATE! You're here!" shouted the boy, almost falling over in the snow. This was Vanya, Kate's cousin. Right behind him ran Napoleon the goose, honking loudly, as if he were shouting too.
"Um... hi, Vanya," said Kate, stepping carefully out of the car. "Why is that goose so angry?"
"Napoleon isn't angry," said Vanya. "This is just how he says hello. Don't worry, he only bites people he doesn't like yet."
Kate looked at the goose nervously and decided to stay very close to the car.
A tall boy came around the corner of the house, walking carefully on the icy path, holding a huge sandwich in one hand.
"Hi, I'm Nick," he said, taking a big bite. "Vanya's best friend. Want some bread with honey? Grandma made about a hundred sandwiches this morning."
"Maybe later," said Kate, laughing. "I just arrived."
Grandma Nina came out onto the porch, wearing a warm woollen shawl, and hugged Kate tightly.
"My city girl!" she said. "Come inside, it's freezing out here. I made pancakes."
Inside, the house was warm and smelled of wood smoke and fresh pancakes. A girl was sitting at the kitchen table, cutting carrots into small pieces.
"This is Masha," said Vanya. "She lives next door. She's the only person in Snowhill who can control Boris."
"Who's Boris?" asked Kate.
"As if answering the question, something crashed loudly outside — the sound of wood falling, and then an angry, familiar MEH-EH-EH!"
"That's Boris," said Masha calmly, not even looking up from her carrots. "He's our goat. He probably just knocked over the woodpile again. Don't worry, this happens every day."
"Every day?" said Kate, her detective brain suddenly waking up. "So there's already a mystery here: who lets Boris out of his pen every morning?"
Vanya, Nick and Masha looked at each other and started laughing.
"Kate," said Vanya, "you've been in Snowhill for exactly ten minutes, and you're already looking for a mystery."
"Old habits," said Kate, smiling. "Give me eleven days in this village, and I'll find a hundred mysteries. You just watch."
Nobody in the warm little kitchen knew yet just how right she was going to be.
Vocabulary
shutter
a wooden or metal cover on the outside of a window
chimney
a pipe on a roof that lets smoke out of a house
honk
the loud sound a goose (or a car horn) makes
shawl
a piece of warm cloth worn around the shoulders
woodpile
a stack of pieces of wood, usually kept outside for the fire
pen
a small closed area where farm animals are kept
Comprehension Questions
1. Where does Kate's grandmother live, and what does the village look like?
2. How does Napoleon the goose 'say hello' to Kate?
3. Who is Masha, and what is special about her?
4. What 'mystery' does Kate notice on her very first day?
Exercise
Are these sentences True or False? Correct the false sentences.
1. Kate has visited Snowhill many times before. ___ True ___ False
2. Napoleon is the name of a dog. ___ True ___ False
3. Masha is the only person who can control Boris the goat. ___ True ___ False
4. Kate decides that there are no mysteries in Snowhill. ___ True ___ False
Chapter 2. The Great Sledge Race
The next morning, Vanya woke Kate up very early by knocking on her door with something long and wooden.
"Get up, city girl!" he said happily. "Today is the Great Sledge Race. Me against Nick, every winter, down Bell Hill. This year, you and Masha can race us."
"I've never used a real wooden sledge," admitted Kate, rubbing her eyes.
"Don't worry," said Nick, appearing in the doorway with two more sandwiches. "It's easy. You sit down, you go fast, and sometimes you fall into a snowdrift. That's basically the whole sport."
Bell Hill was the tallest hill near the village, with a smooth, fast slope down to an old wooden barn at the bottom. By the time the four friends arrived, half the children of Snowhill were already there, shouting and laughing.
"The rules are simple," explained Masha, tying her scarf tighter. "First person to reach the barn wins. Watch out for the big rock near the bottom — everyone calls it 'the Surprise'."
"Why is it called that?" asked Kate.
"You'll understand very soon," said Vanya, with a mischievous smile.
Nick went first, screaming happily the whole way down, and managed to fly straight over 'the Surprise' rock, landing safely in a soft pile of snow.
Vanya went next, going even faster, laughing loudly until his hat flew off his head halfway down the hill.
Then it was Kate's turn. She sat carefully on the old wooden sledge, gripped the sides tightly, and pushed off.
The hill was much steeper than it looked. Kate felt the cold wind hit her face as the sledge picked up speed, faster and faster, snow flying up on both sides.
"AAAAAH!" she shouted, half frightened, half excited.
She saw the big rock coming towards her — 'the Surprise' — and, without thinking, she leaned hard to the left, exactly like Vanya had done. The sledge turned sharply, missed the rock completely, and flew straight into a huge, soft snowdrift at the bottom of the hill.
For a moment, everything was white and quiet. Then Kate popped her head out of the snow, covered from head to toe, and started laughing so hard that she couldn't stop.
"THAT," she shouted, "was AMAZING!"
Masha came down last, calm and controlled as always, steering perfectly around the rock without any trouble at all.
"You're a natural," said Vanya, pulling Kate out of the snowdrift. "Next year, you'll beat all of us."
"City girl versus 'the Surprise'," said Nick, taking a photo on an old camera. "This is definitely going in the Snowhill history books."
As they walked back up the hill for another race, Kate realised something surprising: she hadn't thought about phones, or the city, or anything else for the whole morning. She had simply been having the most fun she'd had in months.
Vocabulary
sledge
a vehicle with no wheels, used for sliding on snow
slope
a hill or surface that goes up or down at an angle
mischievous
playfully naughty, enjoying small jokes or tricks
grip
to hold something tightly
steep
rising or falling very quickly (about a hill or slope)
a natural
a person who is good at something without much practice
Comprehension Questions
1. What is the 'Great Sledge Race', and where does it take place?
2. Why is the big rock at the bottom of the hill called 'the Surprise'?
3. What does Kate do to avoid hitting the rock?
4. What does Kate realise at the end of the chapter?
Exercise
Complete the sentences with the correct word from the box: sledge, snowdrift, steep, natural, rock.
1. Vanya knocked on Kate's door with a wooden ___.
2. Bell Hill was much more ___ than Kate expected.
3. Everyone had to be careful of the big ___ at the bottom of the hill.
4. Kate's sledge flew straight into a soft ___ at the end of the race.
5. Vanya told Kate that she was a ___ at sledging.
Chapter 3. Boris the Goat's Great Escape
After lunch, Kate, Vanya, Nick and Masha were sitting on the porch, drinking hot tea from a thermos, when they heard Grandma Nina shout from the garden.
"MY SCARF! Boris has got my best scarf!"
Everyone ran around the side of the house. There, in the middle of the garden, stood Boris the goat, with a long red scarf hanging happily out of the corner of his mouth, like spaghetti.
"Boris!" shouted Masha, trying to sound stern, but almost laughing. "That is not yours!"
Boris looked at Masha, looked at the scarf, and then, deciding that running was more interesting than listening, he turned and ran straight through the open garden gate, out onto the village path.
"After him!" shouted Vanya, and all four friends started running.
Boris ran past the well, past Mrs Orlova's fence (knocking over three flowerpots on the way), and straight towards the small village shop, where an old man was standing outside, talking to a friend.
"Look out!" shouted Nick, but it was too late. Boris ran straight between the old man's legs, pulling the scarf — and, somehow, the man's hat — along with him.
"MY HAT!" shouted the old man, more surprised than angry, watching his hat disappear down the street on the back of a running goat.
Kate, running as fast as she could, felt her detective instincts fully activate.
"This is clearly a professional operation," she said, breathing hard. "First the scarf, now a hat. Boris is building a collection."
"Boris just likes soft things," laughed Masha, running beside her. "Last winter he stole four gloves and a teddy bear."
Finally, Boris stopped near the old barn, distracted by a pile of hay. Masha slowly walked towards him, talking in a soft, calm voice.
"Good boy, Boris," she said gently, holding out a piece of carrot from her pocket. "Nobody's angry. Just give us the scarf."
Boris looked at the carrot, thought about it for a long moment, then dropped the scarf (and the hat) onto the snow and happily ate the carrot instead.
"Every single time," said Vanya, picking up the muddy scarf and the slightly bent hat. "Carrots beat everything with Boris."
They returned the hat to the old man, who laughed so hard about the whole story that he gave all four children a piece of chocolate from his shop.
"Well," said Kate, as they walked home with chocolate melting in their pockets, "Mystery of the Missing Scarf: solved. Case closed."
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