Charlie Mouse lived in a cozy hole behind the kitchen wall of the National Day Calendar Cheese Shop. It was the most wonderful place for a mouse to live because when the shop closed Charlie could sample all sorts of delicious cheeses.

The only trouble for Charlie was Cal’s friend Tabby the Cat.

Charlie’s favorite was the golden cheddar that sat on the top shelf. But how was Charlie going to get that cheese and not bee caught by Tabby?

One day, as Charlie prepared for his nightly cheese tasting, he heard the staff talking. “Tomorrow is National Cheddar Day! We’re going to have a special celebration with our customers.”

Charlie’s whiskers twitched with excitement. That’s when Charlie realized that Tabby was going to be gone all day while customers were visiting the shop.

A whole day celebrating his favorite cheese, and no cat!

The next morning, Charlie first checked to see that Tabby was gone. He then found a perfect hiding spot behind a flower pot where he could watch the celebration. The shop was decorated with orange and yellow streamers, and there were tiny cubes of cheddar on toothpicks for customers to taste.

“Did you know,” staff told the customers, “that cheddar cheese was first made in the village called Somerset in England? And it can be aged for many years to make it sharp and tasty!”

Charlie learned so much that day. He discovered that some cheddar was white and some was orange, some was mild and some was sharp, and all owas delicious!

Charlie watched children and grown-ups smile as they tasted different kinds of cheddar. He saw them put cheddar on crackers, melt it on apple pie, and even make grilled cheese sandwiches.

After everyone had gone home, Charlie crept out to the counter where a small piece of aged cheddar had been left behind. As he nibbled on his treat, he thought about how wonderful it was to live in a place where people celebrated cheese.

And then he heard that cat. Tabby was back!

“Happy National Cheddar Day,” Charlie whispered to himself, his belly full and scurried off to his hole in the wall. His heart was happy. “Same time next year!”

Every February 13th, Charlie had his tiny cheese celebration, inviting all his mouse friends to share in the joy of cheddar. Tabby the cat never caught on.

The End

Okay, Okay, that was a silly story, although fun too, let’s get serious! Can you find all of the words in the Cheese Word Search below?

When you are finished with the word search puzzle be sure to try some of the other puzzles here too.