Winnie is a happy little Christmas elf who doesn't have much to do with
Christmas. Instead, he loves spring, colorful flowers, and sandy beaches
(especially the Maldives, which he has never seen himself). While the
other elves are busy with the Christmas preparations, Winnie prefers to
sing spring songs, paint pictures of the beach, and decorate his room
with colorful confetti flowers and Hawaiian flower necklaces. Feeling
frequently frustrated by Winnie, Santa feels it is time to give Winnie a
new job. Winnie is assigned to bring Christmas closer to an orphan who
doesn't like anything about Christmas. As expected, Winnie is initially
indignant about playing babysitter to a little girl, but after a brief
thought, he agrees. Lilly is a small, cheeky, eight-year-old orphan, who
doesn't like anything and anyone and calls herself angry. She steals, is
cheeky, breaks everything, and obviously enjoys annoying others. She is
a loner and does everything to ensure that it stays that way. The other
children are afraid of her and try to avoid her as best they can. When
Winnie shows up, Lilly quickly shows that she is not happy about it. She
also tries to show him that it is better to avoid her and leave her
alone. Winnie doesn't even think about it and so their story begins to
unfold. After a dispute Lilly runs away from the orphanage. Winnie can
follow her just in time and accompanies despite Lilly's initial
resistance. Together they experience an emotional day with many
important lessons. With Winnie and Lilly, the readers meets a wide
variety of people who change the way they think, act, and feel. Lilly
also later learns the real reason why she is in the orphanage, and it
changes her tremendously. What the two experience and whether the
original Christmas grouches will eventually become two little Christmas
helpers remains to be seen....
