50 Best Loved Christmas Stories and Poems for All Ages (Cambridge World Classics Edition)

Christmas Books Classic Literature (Volume 1)

OVERVIEW

Living as we do in our hectic modern world with enough distractions in a single day to occupy a lifetime, it is hard to imagine that just a few generations ago, some of the most wonderful Christmas memories were created through reading and storytelling. After a home cooked supper on a cold December evening, translucent snow gently falling on the streets outside, entire families would huddle around the fireplace, with warm drinks on the stove, and the father or mother of the family would finally open a well-worn book of best loved Christmas stories and poems. For the next hour or two, he or she would read out loud a story, or perhaps two ... voicing each character and intimating evoking every description, as if performing on a stage. And during this time, all the other family members, children, cousins, uncles and aunts would be kept rapt, their attention captivated by the sweet and soft turn of every word, and by the excitement about what would happen next.

This wonderful collection brings together, for the very first time, fifty of the best loved Christmas stories and poems in a single, beautifully illustrated volume. Opening with O. Henry’s classic story of transcendent love, The Gift of the Magi, and closing with Robert Frost’s celebratory poem, Christmas Trees, this anthology passes through the works of some of the greatest writers in world literature, including Charles Dickens, Hans Christian Andersen, Louisa May Alcott, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Sir Walter Scott, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, G.K. Chesterton, Thomas Hardy, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and William Butler Yeats.

It, of course, includes the well known classics such as Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and Moore’s The Night Before Christmas. However, it also contains some relatively unknown gems such as Abbey Farwell Brown’s A Christmas Angel and two wonderful folk tales retold by Elizabeth Harrison, Little Gretchen and the Wooden Shoe and A Story of the Little Child.

This collection has been newly edited, commented and painstakingly illustrated in the hope that it will create new joyous Christmas memories for generations to come.

CONTENTS

This completely new anthology of Christmas stories and poems contains an original preface and introduction, as well as a fully interactive table of contents.

Part One: The Meaning of Christmas

• The Gift of the Magi O.HENRY


• The Fir Tree HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN


• The Little Match Girl HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN


• A Christmas Carol CHARLES DICKENS


• A Christmas Dream, LOUISA MAY ALCOTT


• The Christmas Angel ABBIE FARWELL BROWN


• Little Gretchen and the Wooden Shoe ELIZABETH HARRISON


• A Story of the Child ELIZABETH HARRISON

Interlude: The Night Before Christmas

• The Night Before Christmas CLEMENT CLARKE MOORE


• The Night After Christmas CLEMENT CLARKE MOORE


• Santa Claus Does Not Forget M.A. HALEY


• The Fairy Christmas ETHELDRED BARRY


• Christmas Day ANNA MORRISON


• Grandma’s Christmas Gifts ANONYMOUS


• Mama’s Happy Christmas MIRIAM T. BARNARD


• The Christmas Carol of the Birds G. HALL


• A Turkey for One LAVINIA GOODWIN


• Little Christmas Carollers L.A. FRANCE


• What Happened Christmas Eve OLIVER HERFOLD.


• Susy’s Christmas Present ANONYMOUS


• Santa Claus’ Letter ANONYMOUS


• A Ragged Christmas Feast ANONYMOUS


• Part Two: Christmas Tales


• The Christmas Babe MARGARET E. SANGSTER


• A Western Christmas W.H. CORNING


• Joe's Search for Santa Claus IRVING BACHELLER


• Angela's Christmas JULIA SCHAYER


• First New England Christmas HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH


• The Chimes CHARLES DICKENS


• Billy's Santa Claus Experience CORNELIA REDMOND


• Christmas in Poganuc HARRIET BEECHER STOWE


• The Christmas Princess MARY LOUISA MOLESWORTH


• Widow Townsend's Visitor ANONYMOUS


• The Old Man's Christmas ELLA WHEELER WILCOX


• The Christmas Goblin CHARLES DICKENS


• The Song of the Star C. H. MEAD.


• My Christmas Dinner ANONYMOUS


• The Poor Traveler CHARLES DICKENS


• The Legend of the Christmas Tree ANONYMOUS


• The Peace Egg JULIANA HORATIA EWING


• Mouse and the Moonbeam BY EUGENE FELD

Part Three: Classic Christmas Poems

• Ceremonies for Christmas ROBERT HERRICK


• The True Christmas HENRY VAUGHAN


• A Christmas Carol SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE


• Christmas in the Olden Time SIR WALTER SCOTT


• Christmas Bells HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW


• A Christmas Carol G.K. CHESTERTON


• Mistletoe WALTER DE LA MARE


• The Oxen THOMAS HARDY


• The Magi WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS


• Christmas Trees ROBERT FROST

SPECIAL KOBO EBOOK ENABLED FEATURES

This edition has special Kobo eBook enabled features, including completely interactive table of contents, text-to-speech capabilities which enable audiobook features, as well as words that can be looked up on the eBook built in dictionary

REVIEWS

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  "Beautiful collection ... the best Christmas anthology of its kind. Likely to be treasured and passed down from generation to generation"

  
  


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  "This is the perfect book to introduce children to the magic of the classic Christmas stories”

  
  


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  "Tremendous value ... 50 Best Loved Christmas Stories and Poems for All Ages that has just been newly published by Cambridge World Classics is worth every single penny.”