December stamp fairy tale with a substitute as the protagonist

Better late than never, you finally get to see the text of the fairy tale created especially for the 2025 December stamps this year, in which the moral is incorporated. For when you send someone a card (to Grandma and Grandpa Squirrel in the fairy tale), you show that you care about others. The PostNL press release expresses such a truly serving act in a moralistic way with “Have compassion for others” or “Love one another.” The journey of the congratulatory message Once upon a time, there was a mysterious fairytale book. For years, it lay hidden in a hollow tree in the middle of the dark forest. It seemed as if it had been patiently waiting all that time for the moment it would be found and see the light of day . . . That happened on a cold December morning when Papa and Mama Squirrel were looking for acorns. They were so surprised and moved by their find that they decided to take it to their cozy nest high in a treetop. The squirrel children, Pom and Fluff, were overjoyed. “Wow, what a beautiful fairytale book!” said Pom. The find was carefully placed on the table and opened. “Hey, look!” cheered Fluff. “It comes with beautiful fairytale stamps too! And they are all different.” Dad immediately read one of the stories aloud. The children snuggled up against him and Mom. As the winter holidays approached, the squirrel family decided to send a heartwarming greeting to Grandma and Grandpa Squirrel. They lived on the other side of the forest, which made them feel lonely sometimes. Mom wrote the greeting on a postcard with a very old pen that Dad had found years ago at the edge of the forest, close to the village. A real fairy tale after all A few weeks ago, after receiving the PostNL press release (the sales period for the children's stamps and the release of the fairy tale book would not begin until a week later), I wrote about the fairy tale 'Journey of the Good Wishes': “A little mouse and a squirrel leaf through and read a fairy tale book together.” But, as it turns out? In the fairy tale, not a single word is devoted to the role of the mouse! The little animal functions as an insignificant extra, whereas the mouse and the squirrel do play the leading roles on the stamp image, instead of the two squirrel children, Pom and Pluis. Indeed, the stamp image and the fairy tale text are not correctly aligned, yet it is surprising, corresponding entirely to a fairy tale.