HEAR this story read aloud by Barbara M. Nelson! Just click on the link below and wait for the file to load.
Alvie, the Little Brown Burro Gets His Name
For along time the little brown burro had been living in a lonely bin in a lonely toy store. But happily, he had just recently been bought by a very nice lady. She took him home with her, away from the lonely toy store, to live with her and her very nice husband.
The burro loved his new home. He felt very happy and grateful to live with such a nice lady and man, in such a nice house, in such a nice neighborhood.
He decided he would be a good little burro - or at least as good as possible for a little brown burro - and would be happy each and every day.
Right away the nice man said "This little burro needs a name."
"He certainly does. After all, we can't just call him 'Hey You'! And it should be something fun." the nice lady said.
Since it was near Christmas time, the nice man and lady were listening to the radio. They loved to hear the sound of Christmas music filling the air. Just then, the "Chipmunk Song" came on the radio. You know - the one about the 3 chipmunks with the funny sounding voices. "That's it!" said the nice husband. "I have a great idea. We'll call him ALVIE after one of the chipmunks in the song.
"That sounds like a good name." said the nice lady. But the she wanted to be sure his new name had an important and nice meaning. So she went on the internet and looked up the name ALVIE to find out what it means. The little brown burro watched her very carefully. After all, if ALVIE was going to be his name, he wanted to be sure it was a good name.
And guess what she found out?
The name ALVIE means "wise friend". How about that?
The nice man and lady decided that "ALVIE" was indeed a fine name for their new little brown burro.
"This is a perfect name." said the nice lady.
"It sure is," said the nice man, "Alvie is what we will call him."
They hoped that by giving him such a good name, he would grow up to become a "wise friend" to one and all.
And that's how Alvie got his name!
By the way....in case you were wondering how Alvie felt about his new name....he liked it a lot! He remembered what it was like to have no friends - like when he was in that lonely bin in the toy store. Right then and there he decided that he would always try to remember the meaning of his name and to be a good friend.
What did Alvie learn? He learned that names are important. Be careful what name you call someone. And if you happen to have a really great name, like Alvie, you should try to live up to it.
THE END
Here are some good discussion questions to ask your children after reading them Alvie's story:
1. Did the little brown burro like his new home?
2. Where did the name ALVIE come from?
3. How did they find out the meaning of the name ALVIE?
4. What does the name ALVIE mean?
5. What did Alvie learn?
Want to know the meaning of your name? Check out this website.
Home Story Collection Activity Page Alvie's Photo Gallery Alvie's Blog Parenting Resources About the Author Site Map Privacy Policy
