Saint Martin and the Miracle of the Little Lights

Read-aloud time: about 14–20 minutes

Lotti and Kalle make lanterns, help Ben and discover why sharing and friendship matter at Saint Martin. A read-aloud story for children aged 4 and over.

Brave Farm Adventures with Lotti and Kalle

Saint Martin and the Miracle of the Little Lights

An autumn story about making lanterns, a special friendship and the joy of sharing.

November · For children aged 4 and over · Reading aloud: about 8–10 minutes

An Unusual Discovery in the Barn

November had Anni’s farm firmly in its grip. Thin mist floated over the pastures, the trees had lost almost all their leaves, and the mornings were already very cold.

Lotti stood outside her stable, enjoying her breakfast. Nothing could disturb the black-and-white cow’s peace.

Until an enormous noise came from the barn.

RUMBLE! CRASH! THUMP!

“What was that?” cried Lotti, hurrying to the barn door.

There stood Kalle, the little young bull. His tractor overalls were covered in straw, and he had pulled a large cardboard box over his head.

“Ta-da!” he announced. “May I present the very first Kalle lantern!”

Lotti watched him for a while. Then she laughed so hard that her single gold tooth flashed in the light.

“Kalle, you aren’t a lantern! You’re a box on four legs.”

The little bull pushed the box off his head.

“But I’m practising! Saint Martin is coming tomorrow. And everyone needs a lantern!”

“Saint Martin?” asked Lotti. “What does he have to do with lanterns?”

Before Kalle could answer, farmer Anni came out of her farm shop. Her blonde hair fell over her shoulders, and her blue eyes sparkled cheerfully.

“You’ll find out soon,” she said. “This afternoon the village children are coming to make lanterns. Tomorrow evening we’ll walk through the darkness together with Saint Martin.”

Kalle bounced about excitedly.

“Can we help make them?”

“Of course!” answered Anni.

Lotti lifted her head proudly.

“Then I’ll make the most beautiful lantern this farm has ever seen.”

Kalle folded his front legs.

“Mine will be just as beautiful!”

“As long as you don’t cover everything in glue again,” replied Lotti.

An Afternoon of Paper, Colours and Glue

That afternoon, the village children streamed onto Anni’s farm. The large barn had become a proper craft workshop.

The tables were covered with colourful sheets of paper, translucent paper, scissors, glue sticks and wooden poles. Anni had provided small battery-powered LED lights for the lanterns.

Beside them stood cups of warm apple juice. The smell of freshly baked Saint Martin bread rolls drifted from the kitchen.

“Find a seat and think about what sort of lantern you’d like to make!” Anni explained.

Lotti had already decided.

“My lantern will be a cow,” she told Mia, a little girl who had sat beside her. “With black spots, pink ears and, of course, a gold tooth.”

“Just like you!” laughed Mia.

They immediately got to work. Mia cut out the ears while Lotti carefully glued on the black spots.

At the other end of the table sat Kalle.

In front of him lay green card, two black wheels and lots of yellow translucent paper.

“I’m making a tractor that glows in the dark!” he explained.

Unfortunately, the first wheel wouldn’t stay on.

Kalle pressed it firmly into place. As soon as he let go, the second wheel fell off.

“Oh, bother!”

He reached for the glue, moved closer to the table and took a clumsy step.

SPLAT!

Suddenly both his front hooves were right in the craft glue.

“Um, Lotti? I think I have a little problem.”

Lotti turned around.

“You really have found the glue again!”

The children giggled, and Holgi, the old grey donkey, poked his head curiously through the open door.

Anni brought a damp cloth and helped Kalle get free.

“I only wanted to test how well the glue sticks,” the little bull claimed.

“And?” asked Lotti.

Kalle sighed.

“Extremely well.”

The Boy Without a Lantern

While everyone around her was cutting, gluing and laughing, Lotti noticed something.

A little boy sat alone on a bench. A torn sheet of paper lay in front of him.

Lotti went over to him.

“Hello! I’m Lotti. Why are you sitting here all by yourself?”

“My name’s Ben,” the boy answered quietly. “I wanted to make a star lantern. But the paper tore.”

He held up the two crumpled pieces.

“Now I haven’t got enough.”

Lotti looked at her nearly finished cow lantern. Beside it lay some sheets of coloured paper she had planned to use for extra decorations.

She thought for only a moment.

“Come on, Ben. We’ll make your star together. You can have some of my paper.”

Ben looked at her in surprise.

“But then you’ll have less for your own lantern!”

“That doesn’t matter,” answered Lotti. “My cow will still look pretty with a few fewer spots.”

Kalle had overheard them. He immediately took a large sheet of yellow translucent paper from his pile.

“And you can have this from me! We’ll use it to make a really bright star.”

“Don’t you need it for your tractor?” asked Ben.

“Then it’ll have smaller windows,” Kalle explained. “A good tractor can drive with small windows too.”

Together they made a five-pointed star lantern. Lotti helped with the cutting, Kalle carefully attached the LED light, and Ben glued on the gold decorations.

When they had finished, Ben switched on the light.

His star shone beautifully.

“Thank you!” he cried, hugging them both.

Anni, who had watched everything, smiled.

“You’ve just done something that fits Saint Martin wonderfully.”

Why Do We Celebrate Saint Martin?

The children gathered curiously around Anni. They sat on straw bales while Lotti and Kalle joined them.

Max, the sleepy Labrador, settled down comfortably and rested his head on his paws.

“A long time ago,” Anni began, “there was a soldier called Martin. One freezing winter’s day he rode through a town. At the town gate he saw a poor man who was terribly cold.”

Kalle moved closer to Lotti.

“Didn’t the man have a warm jacket?”

“No,” explained Anni. “He had hardly anything to protect him from the cold. Martin saw that he needed help.”

“What did he do?” Mia wanted to know.

“He took his sword and cut his own cloak in half. He kept one half and gave the other to the shivering man.”

Ben was amazed.

“But then Martin must have been cold himself!”

Anni nodded.

“Afterwards he had only half a cloak. But what mattered to him was that the other person also had something warm.”

For a moment the barn became quiet.

Then Kalle looked at Ben.

“A bit like our lantern? We all gave something, and in the end Ben had a beautiful star.”

“Exactly,” said Anni. “That’s why we remember Saint Martin. He shows us how important compassion, helping others and sharing are.”

Lotti looked at the gold paper tooth on her cow lantern.

“Then it doesn’t really matter who has the most beautiful lantern.”

“What matters is that nobody has to be without light,” Kalle added.

At Last, Saint Martin Arrives!

The following evening, the time had come.

The farm was festively decorated. Little strings of lights sparkled between the buildings, and the children eagerly held their handmade lanterns.

Lotti proudly showed off her black-and-white cow lantern. Its gold paper tooth gleamed in the warm light.

Beside her stood Kalle with his green tractor.

“Look!” he cried. “My tractor even has a light in the cab!”

In his excitement he swung the lantern pole a little too hard.

The lantern spun right around.

“Whoops!” said Kalle, catching it just in time.

“Careful, racing driver!” laughed Lotti.

Suddenly they all heard a horse approaching.

Clip-clop. Clip-clop.

A rider wearing a large red cloak appeared on the farm track.

“Saint Martin is here!” the children shouted.

The rider greeted the families and then led the lantern parade.

The familiar song rang out cheerfully:

“Lantern, lantern, sun, moon and stars …”

Colourful lights moved through the darkness. Some lanterns were round, others square, and some were shaped like animals.

Holgi walked calmly along the edge of the procession. Max ambled behind the children with Anni.

Lotti, Kalle and Ben walked side by side.

Stars glittered above them, and the lanterns ahead shone like little colourful miracles.

A Dark Star and a Broken Tractor

Suddenly Ben stopped.

“My lantern!” he cried in alarm.

His beautiful star had gone dark.

Ben pressed the switch, but nothing happened.

“It doesn’t work any more,” he said sadly.

Kalle examined the lantern closely.

“Perhaps your star just has a little technical fault.”

He carefully checked the battery compartment. Sure enough, a contact had come loose.

Kalle pushed the battery back into place.

CLICK!

The warm light came on again.

“It works!” cheered Ben.

Kalle jumped into the air with joy. He completely forgot that he had put his own lantern on the grass.

A strong gust of wind blew across the path.

The lantern pole toppled over.

CRACK!

One wheel came off Kalle’s tractor, and the green paper tore.

The little bull stared at his broken lantern.

“Oh no. Now my tractor is broken.”

His blue eyes looked very sad.

Ben went over and took his hand.

“You helped me when my star stopped shining. Now I’ll help you.”

He held the star lantern between himself and Kalle.

“We can carry it together.”

Lotti joined them too.

“And when we get home, we’ll mend your tractor. I’m sure we can do it.”

At last Kalle smiled.

“Then we’ll share a star!”

The three of them carried on together. The golden star swayed between them and lit their way.

Saint Martin Rolls for Everyone

Back at the farm, the Saint Martin bonfire was waiting. Anni had made sure the children stood a safe distance from the fire.

The families gathered, sang together and admired all the lanterns once more.

Afterwards Anni handed out her freshly baked Saint Martin rolls.

“There’s one for everyone!” she called.

Kalle took his roll. Then he looked at the particularly large one Lotti had received.

“Lotti?”

“Yes, Kalle?”

“Yours looks unbelievably delicious.”

“Yours is just as delicious.”

Kalle thought for a moment.

“But perhaps yours tastes just a tiny bit better?”

Lotti laughed and broke off a piece for him.

“Here you are, my little gourmet.”

Kalle thanked her. Then he looked at Ben, broke his own roll in half and offered one half to the boy.

“Shall we share?”

“I’d love to!”

Anni sat down beside the three of them.

“What did you enjoy most this evening?”

Lotti looked at the colourful lanterns.

“I liked how lovely it is to make something together.”

Ben lifted his star.

“And that with friends you can still have light even when your own lantern breaks.”

Kalle nodded eagerly.

“And that sharing doesn’t mean you end up with less joy.”

Anni smiled contentedly.

Meanwhile, Holgi stood by the barn, watching the last glowing lanterns. Max had curled up on a soft blanket and was sleeping peacefully.

The bright November moon shone over the farm.

Lotti nudged Kalle affectionately.

“Well? What will you make next year? Another tractor?”

Kalle thought about it.

“No. Next year I’ll build a giant cow lantern! With four legs, two horns and a gold tooth!”

Lotti laughed and shook her head.

“Then we’d better start collecting a big supply of craft paper right now!”

“And glue!” added Kalle.

“But this time, please stand beside it!”

Their happy laughter could be heard across the farm for a long time.

And that evening everyone knew:

A little light can bring great joy. Especially when we share it with one another.

The End.

Lotti and Kalle’s Saint Martin Thought

Lotti looks at the children and says: “The loveliest thing about Saint Martin isn’t the biggest lantern or the longest parade. It’s the joy that comes from helping one another.”

Kalle nods and adds: “And making things together is much more fun! I just need to be more careful with the glue next time.”