A Classic Christmas: A Giftable Collection of Classic Christmas Stories and Seasonal Poetry

by Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, Hans Christian Andersen

For many people, Christmas is by far the most wonderful time of the year. With all the gifts, decorations, and stories, there are plenty of things that bring people of all ages and walks of life together for the holiday season. Throughout time there have been many timeless Christmas stories written by some of history’s greatest authors. This collection includes the following:

A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
The Cricket on the Hearth (Charles Dickens)
The Chimes (Charles Dickens)
The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain (Charles Dickens)
The Battle of Life (Charles Dickens)
What Christmas is as We Grow Older (Charles Dickens)
The Wreck of the Golden Mary (Charles Dickens)
A Christmas Tree (Charles Dickens)
The Gift of the Magi (O. Henry)
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (Clement C. Moore)
The Velveteen Rabbit (Margery Williams)
The Selfish Giant (Oscar Wilde)
Messiah (George Frideric Handel)
Hymn on the Nativity (John Milton)
A Country Christmas (Louisa May Alcott)
The Romance of a Christmas Card (Kate Douglas Wiggin)
The Story of the Other Wise Man (Henry Van Dyke)
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (E.T.A. Hoffmann)
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The First Christmas of New England (Harriet Beecher Stowe)
The Old Nurse’s Story (Elizabeth Gaskell)
Christmas Storms and Sunshine (Elizabeth Gaskell)
A Christmas Sermon (Robert Louis Stevenson)
A Letter from Santa Claus (Mark Twain)
A Kidnapped Santa Claus (L. Frank Baum)
The Little Match Girl (Hans Christian Andersen)
The Steadfast Tin Soldier (Hans Christian Andersen)
The Fir Tree (Hans Christian Andersen)
A Christmas Inspiration (L.M. Montgomery)
A Christmas Mistake (L.M. Montgomery)
Christmas at Red Butte (L.M. Montgomery)
The Christmas Surprise at Enderley Road (L.M. Montgomery)
Papa Panov’s Special Christmas (Leo Tolstoy)
At Christmas Time (Anton Chekhov)
The Christmas Banquet (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
The Burglar and the Blizzard (Alice Duer Miller)
The Three Kings (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
Christmas Bells (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

Genres: Christmas, Classics, Poetry, Short Stories, Holiday, Fiction, Adult

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1843

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

[Carolyn Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely beautiful collection of classic Christmas stories and poems! This was perfect for me being such a lover of classic literature and the Christmas season!

[Celeste · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the other books in this series, A Classic Christmas delivers the nostalgia and hope I crave during the Christmas season. It highlights the true reasons for the season, the importance of Christ’s birth, and generosity, and kindness. This particular collection includes one of the most famous stories of all time, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It also includes “A Visit from Saint Nicholas,” (or “Twas the Night Before Christmas”) by Clement Clarke Moore, which is one of the most beloved and well-known poems of all time. Besides these two obvious highlights, some of my favorite pieces in the book were the Alcott and Montgomery stories (as has been the case in all three collections), as well as Harriet Beecher Stowe’s story, “Betty’s Bright Idea”.

Every book in this little series has been a delight. These are beautiful, affordable books filled with lovely, uplifting, edifying stories that I think could help restore the true meaning of Christmas to even the coldest heart, if given half a chance. I will treasure these pretty little books, and I can see myself rereading them most years, until the covers are frayed and the pages are loose. They’re precious.

[Mikayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this as a gift and thought it was cool what a range of authors it had in it. I did enjoy most of it, but not enough to re-read.
I really enjoyed A Christmas Carol, Lousia May Allcott's story's, and a couple of the poems, but otherwise, it was not my favorite. I found myself bored a few times. Just not my thing.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a bit hard to rate since it is a collection of stories and poems. But, I do give it 4 stars because it has the classic, A Christmas Carol and I love and enjoy reading it every year. I also enjoyed L.M.Montgomery’s and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s stories. I enjoyed the poetry as well.

[Staci · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic collection of Christmas stories and poems. The narrator for A Christmas Carol is very good and really adds even more depth to the already great story. I also enjoyed the other short stories and poems. This is one we will read over and over.

[Patricia King · Rating 5 out of 5]

These lovely stories were told with such vigor and grace. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the stories. Job well done.

[Cathie (ClassyLibrarian) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spent an enjoyable Thanksgiving evening reading this collection of stories and poems.
Perfect way to usher in the holiday season.

[Lolita Kringe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had very old classic stories and poems. I likes some of the stories and poems.

[anetka · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book shall be a family heirloom 🥹

[Zach · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Christmas Carol was well done. The rest were okay, but the last bit was just poems.

The worst story was the one about the Christmas tree from the tree’s point of view. It was all excited about being decorated and such, then was chopped up for firewood after it was dried and shriveled. Possibly the most depressing story I’ve ever heard.

[a r e l i c · Rating 2 out of 5]

134 scent of clover on the air
140 fragrance of hot tea & muffins
282 droppings of fragrant hay

[Steph Lovelady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of Charles Dickens' Christmas stories, I had previously read only "A Christmas Carol," and while I enjoyed all the stories in this collection, I came to the inescapable conclusion that "A Christmas Carol" is the famous one for a reason. The other stories, especially "The Chimes" and "The Haunted Man," do share a lot with it, thematically and structurally. In both, supernatural beings spur change and growth in the protagonists, but they're not up to the same standard as "A Christmas Carol." However, that would be hard to achieve because that's a near perfect story, in my opinion. (Though it's worth noting, Dickens himself preferred "The Chimes.")

I was surprised how tangential Christmas is to some of the stories. "The Chimes" takes place right before New Year's Day and there's no connection to the holidays or barely any at all in "The Cricket on the Hearth" and "The Battle of Life." They're called his Christmas stories because they were published at Christmastime and marketed as gifts for Christmas.

[Hamster · Rating 3 out of 5]

This anthology includes quite a wide selection of short stories (and a novella) and poems by mostly 19th century authors. I confess I was drawn to it by the pretty cover and long list of famous names.

A Christmas Carol of course is quite good. Dickens' prose struggles at times but the story is powerful enough to overcome that.

The rest of the prose section was decent but it all struck me as much too sappy and sentimental. Almost all had the same idealized characterization of people who are poor, with the same cookie cutter message of how the rich ought to help them. I fully agree with that message, but when you just rely on cliches to convey a message you'd be better off preaching, it makes for uninteresting literature.

The only short story I actually really liked was the one by Hans Christian Anderson because it was less sentimental and had a more complex theme.

The poetry was solid - not super memorable but nothing bad.

All in all I'm glad to have a copy of A Christmas Carol and the cover is pretty, so I'm content even if the rest mostly isn't remarkable.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main story of this book is A Christmas Carol. I had never read it before and I really wanted to read it this year. I believe it might become a new christmas tradition to read it on Christmas Eve every year. I absolutely loved it! I gave it five stars!

The other stories were also very nice. I really liked the fir tree by Hans Christian Anderson and 'Twas the night before Christmas Clement Clarke Moore. This book is just perfect for those who love the nineteenth century and Christmas.

[Joanne Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent collection of Christmas stories. I picked this up to read A Christmas Carol and was engaged in the rest of the stories. I really enjoyed reading Louisa May Alcott, Tilly’s Christmas and Tessa’s Surprise. Included was the story of the Fir Tree by Hans Christian Anderson and other short stories by L.M Montgomery and Harriet Beecher Stowe. I did enjoy this small book and hope to read the rest in the series of 3 books next year during the holiday.

[Crystan M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this volume because it contained Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, which was far and away my favorite in this collection. While there were some other nice surprises, A Christmas Carol captured my imagination. Mr. Dickens ability to use the English language, and this little story made me want to read more of his work.

[Lily]

$5.19 hardcover on ChristianBookBag.

https://www.christianbookbag.com/A-Cl...

[Mar · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2
Obviously, I love A Christmas Carol, it’s a five star read on its own, and some of the short stories I liked but others I didn’t and the poems were not particularly interesting.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 stars for Dickens’s A Christmas Carol and lower ratings for the rest of the stories and poems, so it averages out to a 3.

I’m 3 for 3 with getting teared up at the end of a Dickens story, and I’m honestly a little surprised. Especially with feeling moved by A a Christmas Carol, since that’s the story I’ve seen played out a hundred different ways in various media. It’s a classic for a reason, I guess.

[Sarah Horner]

12/25/22 — A Christmas carol

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! Very touching and uplifting stories. There were several stories and poems that I have never read.
I especially liked " Betty's Bright Idea" by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice collection of Christmas stories and poems that remind the reader of the real meaning of the holiday.

[Charlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Christmas Carol by Dickens, plus many more short stories and poems by other famous authors in the 1800's and early 1900's. Very heartwarming and nostalgic, perfect for this Christmas season.

[Maygon Brack · Rating 5 out of 5]

12-9-25 Second year of reading this collection and I love it just as much!! I am loving the poems more and more also!!

12-17-24 I’m loving reading all of these old classic stories & poems. This was my first time to ever read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It was great and I loved it!! I also have been enjoying reading the short sweet Christmas stories by Louisa May Alcott & L. M. Montgomery!! I’ll be rereading these books for years to come each Christmas!! They are all telling the true meaning of Christmas!!

[Shawn Deal · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a collection I give it four stars. A must read for any Dickens fan. Some tales are not that good, I tended to like his novellas better then the short stories. But I thoroughly enjoyed the collection as a whole.

[Devin · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a handful of Victorian Christmas stories that have become classics in the western canon. And I haven't actually read any of them lol. This volume was a convenient way to knock several big names off the list at once, most notably A Christmas Carol and "'Twas the Night Before Christmas."

The standout here was the big hitter from Dickens. He would get a 4 star on its own. Yes, this story is very sentimental and there's a lot of Scrooge being really dramatically weepy to the point of melodramatic caricature. But the message is solid and the effective.

The Andersen story, The Fir Tree, managed to be his usual melancholy heartache. He created a moving and impactful tale about the importance of enjoying the small things into just a few pages. Defintely not a jolly story, this tree will haunt me for a while, it was so sad.

L.M. Montgomery provided two soft stories that have the feel, if not the overt Pollyanna sweetness, that can sometimes come through with Anne of Green Gables. I enjoyed "The Christmas Surprise at Enderly Road" the most.

I thought that Alcott and Stowe's stories don't live up to the others. I found the poems, except for the big one, rather lacking. All of these pieces are very overtly Christian in their messages. I'd describe their delivery as heavy- handed didactic lessons for kids who can't understand any subtley. The messages of the stories was about giving to the destitute to learn how to be good. Noble suffering, noblesse oblige, the power of faith, and the temperance movement all feature heavily. The Bible is quoted by the obviously good people. Beauty = good, ugly = bad.

[Meiri · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Enchanting Collection of Christmas Stories
A Classic Christmas surpasses its predecessor, A Vintage Christmas, with a refined selection of Christmas stories, beginning with the most famous of them all, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

It was a pleasure to reread the moving story of Scrooge, but the stories I didn't know, written by Louisa May Alcott and Lucy Maud Montgomery, were equally touching. Betty's Bright Idea, a short story by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was a pleasant surprise, since the previous works I had read by her hadn't particularly captivated me. This one, however, conveys a message that didn't seem forced, as it was essential to the plot; without a doubt, it's one of the best stories in this collection.

Poems about Christmas are also included in this book, and all are beautiful and full of sensitivity; I couldn't choose a favorite. It was a delightful read!

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oddly, several of the reviews here are not for the book shown and described above. Charles Dickens' Christmas Stories: A Classic Collection for Yuletide, contains five stories by Dickens - A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life, and the Haunted Man. There are no poems or stories by other writers.

I was curious to read the four less well known stories, since A Christmas Carol is obviously a beloved Christmas classic. I like it very much, but didn't like the other stories at all. They were tedious to get through, and seemed much longer to me than Carol, even though they're all about the same length. My curiosity is satisfied but disappointed. I give the book 2 and a half stars.

[Meredith Christensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s hard to rate this book since it’s actually a collection. First, it took me past Christmas to finish reading largely because we took a family trip in December for 2 weeks and then I was sick for another 3 days and didn’t read during any of that time.
Not a big fan of a Christmas Carol. And I struggled reading it because everytime a description of a character was given I had to actually hurdle the picture in my head first - because all I could imagine for some reason was the Disney Scrooge Duck version of Christmas Carol! Lol.
There were some beautiful short stories included as well as poems and I really enjoyed the book once I got through A Christmas Carol (which I’d read before so what’s wrong with me that I can’t just skip part of a book?).

[Grace Summy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so glad this book introduced me to the short story, "Betty's Bright Idea", by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It is an absolutely beautiful Christmas story, that should be a classic we all recognize. I read this book myself, but loved this short story so much, I reread it aloud to my family as part of Advent devotions.

I was not fond of The Fir Tree by Hans Christian Andersen, as it was macabre, and definitely didn't leave you feeling "in the Christmas spirit."

Overall, this book was a great collection of stories from Christmas past.