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Over the years, Christmas has inspired many
authors to write about its spirit and significance. The spirit that
embodies charity, forgiveness, friendship, unselfish love and
generosity. In the stories that follow, you will find many examples of
what makes the Christmas Spirit so unique and special. Though most of
these stories have been written for children, readers of all ages will
enjoy these skillfully told tales.
1. The Little Match Girl – Hans Christian Anderson
Hans
Christian Andersen (April 2, 1805 – August 4, 1875) was a Danish author
and poet noted for his children’s stories. During his lifetime he was
acclaimed for having delighted children worldwide, and was feted by
royalty. His poetry and stories have been translated into more than 150
languages. They have inspired motion pictures, plays, ballets, and
animated films. Originally published as part of Andersen’s fifth volume
of Fairy Tales in 1848, The Little Match Girl is an original Andersen
story inspired by a Johan Thomas Lundbye drawing and loosely based on an
incident that happened to Andersen’s mother when she was a child.
Written nine years after Andersen’s friend and colleague Charles Dickens
finished Oliver Twist, The Little Match Girl shed a light on a very
oppressed and silent group in Europe — its children.
2. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
A
Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first
released on 19 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy
Ebenezer Scrooge’s ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation
after the supernatural visitations of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of
Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come. The novella met with instant
success and critical acclaim. With A Christmas Carol, Dickens hoped to
illustrate how self-serving, insensitive people can be converted into
charitable, caring, and socially conscious members of society. With each
Ghost’s tale functioning as a parable, A Christmas Carol advances the
Christian moral ideals associated with Christmas—generosity, kindness,
and universal love for your community.
3. The Gift of the Magi – O. Henry
O.
Henry was the pseudonym of the American writer William Sydney Porter
(September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910). O. Henry’s short stories are well
known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist
endings. The Gift of the Magi is one of O. Henry’s most famous stories.
The story contains many of the elements for which O. Henry is widely
known, including poor, working-class characters, a humorous tone,
realistic detail, and a surprise ending. A major reason given for its
enduring appeal is its affirmation of unselfish love. Such love, the
story and its title suggest, is like the gifts given by the wise men,
called the Magi, who brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the
newborn Jesus.
4. Papa Panov’s Special Christmas – Leo Tolstoy
Leo
Tolstoy, or Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (September 9 1828 – November
20 1910), was a Russian writer widely regarded as among the greatest of
novelists. Tolstoy’s further talents as essayist, dramatist, and
educational reformer made him the most influential member of the
aristocratic Tolstoy family. Papa Panov’s Special Christmas was
originally written in French by Ruben Saillens, and then translated into
English by Tolstoy. This is a very thoughtful story, based on the Bible
text ‘I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me
water’ which Jesus used to make us understand how we should serve him by
serving each other. The story of Papa Panov is an excellent way to
introduce young chldren to the principles of kindness.
5. A Letter From Santa Claus – Mark Twain
Samuel
Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), well known by
his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. Twain is
noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has been
called “the Great American Novel”, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Twain was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European
royalty. His elder daughter, Suzy Clemens, was born in Elmira, New York,
and lived a short life, dying at the age of 23 from meningitis. In
childhood, Suzy often had poor health, similar to her mother. At 13, she
wrote a biography of her father, which was included as par of Twain’s
Chapters From My Autobiography. Mark Twain wrote a letter to his
daughter, which he sent from Santa Claus, during one of her childhood
illnesses.
6. The Elves and the Shoemaker – Brothers Grimm
The
Elves and the Shoemaker is part of a collection of German origin fairy
tales first published in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the Brothers
Grimm. The collection is commonly known today as Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
The theme is a well-known one throughout European folklore. There are
many warning stories about what should happen if the recipient of faerie
help should offer clothes to his or her benefactor. According to the
tales, pixies and faeries alike consider clothing to be a form of
bondage, and see any kind offers or new clothes as a way to enslave the
faerie.
7. The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The
Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle is one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes
stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7
July 1930), and is the seventh story of twelve in The Adventures of
Sherlock Holmes. The story was first published in Strand Magazine in
January 1892. The plot revolves around a rare blue carbuncle (a type of
semi precious stone) going missing. Watson visits Holmes at Christmas
time and finds him contemplating a battered old hat, brought to him by
the commissionaire Peterson after the hat and a Christmas goose had been
dropped by a man in a scuffle with some street ruffians. Peterson takes
the goose home to eat it, but comes back later with the carbuncle. His
wife has found it in the bird’s throat. Holmes cannot resist a good
mystery, and he and Watson set out across the city to determine exactly
how the stolen jewel wound up in a Christmas goose.
8. Christmas Day in the Morning – Pearl S. Buck
Originally
published in 1955, Christmas Day in the Morning is a heartwarming story
about sacrifice and the spirit of giving. Pearl S. Buck (June 26, 1892 —
March 6, 1973) was an award-winning American writer who spent the
majority of her life in China. Her novel The Good Earth won the Pulitzer
Prize in 1932. In 1938, she became the first American woman to be
awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for her rich and truly epic
descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical
masterpieces. In Christmas Day in the Morning, Buck has captured the
spirit of Christmas in this elegant, heartwarming story about a boy’s
gift of love.
9. The Snowman – Raymond Briggs
The
Snowman is a children’s book by English author Raymond Briggs (born 18
January 1934), published in 1978. In 1982, this book was turned into a
26-minute animated movie by Dianne Jackson. The film was nominated for
the Academy Award for Animated Short Film in 1982. The book is wordless,
as is the film except for the song "Walking in the Air”. The story is
told through picture, action and music. A groundbreaking publication
depicting the birth and development of a beautiful but fragile
friendship between a young boy, James, and the Snowman he has built in
his back garden.
10. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer – Robert L. May
Rudolph
the Red-nosed Reindeer is a character created in a story and song by
the same name. The story was created by Robert L. May in 1939 as part of
his employment with Montgomery Ward. In its first year of publication,
Montgomery Ward distributed 2.4 million copies of Rudolph’s story.
Johnny Marks decided to adapt May’s story into a song, which through the
years has been recorded by many artists. It was first sung commercially
by crooner Harry Brannon on New York City radio in the latter part of
1948 before Gene Autry recorded it formally in 1949, and has since
filtered into the popular consciousness.
