A Louisa May Alcott Christmas Book and Charm: Selected Holiday Stories and Poems

by Louisa May Alcott, Raina Moore

Oh, the beautiful old story!
Of the little child that lay
In a manger on that morning,
When the stars sang in the day ... One of America's most treasured authors, Louisa May Alcott shines her brightest in this collection of holiday stories and poems. Each selection radiates with the true meaning of the season -- charity, hope, kinship, and love. From the Bassett family's holiday meal in An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving to Little Effie receiving a grand surprise in A Christmas Dream , and How It Came True , the girls and boys of this simpler time bring joy to our hearts today.

Genres: Christmas

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2004

About the author

Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel Little Women (1868) and its sequels Good Wives (1869), Little Men (1871) and Jo's Boys (1886). Raised in New England by her transcendentalist parents, Abigail May Alcott and Amos Bronson Alcott, she grew up among many well-known intellectuals of the day, including Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Alcott's family suffered from financial difficulties, and while she worked to help support the family from an early age, she also sought an outlet in writing. She began to receive critical success for her writing in the 1860s. Early in her career, she sometimes used pen names such as A.M. Barnard, under which she wrote lurid short stories and sensation novels for adults that focused on passion and revenge.
Published in 1868, Little Women is set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts, and is loosely based on Alcott's childhood experiences with her three sisters, Abigail May Alcott Nieriker, Elizabeth Sewall Alcott, and Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt. The novel was well-received at the time and is still popular today among both children and adults. It has been adapted for stage plays, films, and television many times.
Alcott was an abolitionist and a feminist and remained unmarried throughout her life. She also spent her life active in reform movements such as temperance and women's suffrage. She died from a stroke in Boston on March 6, 1888, just two days after her father's death.

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.51⭐

An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving 4⭐
The Silver Party 3.25⭐
Oh, the Beautiful Old Story (poem) 3⭐
Sophie's Secret 4⭐
Rosa's Tale 4.5⭐
The Little Red Purse 4⭐
Tessa's Suprises 3.5⭐
A Song for a Christmas Tree (poem) 2.75⭐
A Christmas Turkey, and How It Came 4.25⭐
What the Bells Saw and Said 2.5⭐
A Hospital Christmas 4⭐
How It All Happened 4.25⭐
Tilly's Christmas 4⭐
What Polly Found In Her Stocking (poem) 3.25⭐
A Christmas Dream, and How It Came True 3.25⭐
Kate's Choice 3.25⭐
A Christmas Dream, and How It Came True 3.25⭐
Mrs. Podgers' Teapot 4.5⭐
A Country Christmas 4⭐
Cousin Tribulation's Story 3⭐
Merry Christmas (poem) 4⭐

[✨Jinglemarco✨]

I really like this cover. It reminds of A Christmas Carol (so I think it represents the story A Christmas Dream).
1. An old-fashioned Thanksgiving. +
2. The Silver Party. - (nice ending, but too odd.)
3. Oh, the Beautiful Old Story. +
4. Sophie's Secret ?

[Juny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this a while ago though I remember liking it. Also there aren't as many books solely about Christmas so that's a bonus entertainment to read every time Christmas comes around :)

[Laurie D'ghent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, but my stupid dogs ripped it up when I was only three stories in. That being said, I expect I would have continued to like it, but short stories aren't my thing, so it's unlikely it would have gotten more than three stars, anyway.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

We listened to the audio version with two short stories for children. Perfect for Christmastime.