Maureen Lipman - A Dot in the Snow CBeebies Bedtime Stories

Hello. I'm Maureen.

Do come closer.

And don't mind that polar bear.

She's very friendly.

Rather like the young cub in tonight's story.

It's called A Dot In The Snow.

It's written by Corrinne Averiss,

with pictures by Fiona Woodcock.

Miki wanted Mum to play in the snow,

not fish on the ice.

Snow was soft, and fishing looked hard.

Miki wasn't ready to dive,

so he scampered away,

up, up, up the snowy ridge,

and that's when he saw it.

A dot in the snow.

He raced to get a closer look.

The dot waved its paw.

SHE SNIFFS

Miki sniffed.

It smelled friendly.

He liked its twinkly face,

and the gurgling sound it made.

CHILD GURGLES

Did the dot want to play?

Yes, it did.

And then, suddenly, it didn't.

A red thing was missing from one of Dot's paws.

Miki raced back.

The ice went creak, crack.

CREAKING

The red thing fell into the sea!

Miki dived.

The deeper it sank,

the harder he paddled...

..until he caught it.

Now, the ice was breaking everywhere.

Miki showed the dot how to jump,

and together, they climbed up, up, up

to the place where they played.

But where had it gone?

Everything was white.

Everything except for a dot in the snow.

A mummy dot!

Two cold noses nudged goodbye,

and twinkly faces hugged hello.

Miki knew he would miss the dot,

but he missed his mum even more.

Paw after paw, slow through the snow,

Miki marched back to the ice.

"Mum! Where are you?"

A shape in the sea.

Could it really be...?

"Mum!"

No paddling left in little legs.

Mum swam Miki to a safer spot.

He wanted to tell her all about the dot.

But it would have to wait.

Miki dived deep, deep into sleep.

I hope you enjoyed that story as much as I did.

I'm happy that Miki and the dot found their mums in the end.

Aren't you?

And now, it's time for us to dive deep into sleep,

like Miki the polar bear.

Sleep tight.

Sleep tight.