Christmas with Louisa May Alcott

by Louisa May Alcott

Features two Christmas-themed stories:  “A Christmas Dream," and "How It Came to Be True,” a tale inspired by Charles Dickens’s  "A Christmas Carol,"  and his short story, “How It Happened.” 

Genres: Christmas, Classics, Short Stories, Fiction, Holiday, Historical Fiction, Anthologies

64 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 2021

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

[Katherine Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always love Louisa May Alcott’s writing, and this one definitely did not disappoint! From what I’ve read from Alcott, her stories tend to share a common theme where characters who start off thinking only of themselves learn to think of others first. As a result, Alcott’s stories always inspire me. Both short stories in this little book kept me interested until the end, and I absolutely enjoyed reading them!! If you love classics and Alcott’s writing style, I recommend this collectible 100%!

Magic and/or supernatural content:
A magic candle, Christmas spirits (think Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol), and mentions of fairies.

Language:
Clean.

[Victoria]

christmas is for poor people

[Justin Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I have ever read by Louisa May Alcott. These two Christmas stories by her were very poignant, and I enjoyed them immensely.

[Allison Riding Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tender and lovely. Merry Christmas!

[Mary-Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

”Never give up your faith in the sweet old stories, even after you come to see that they are only the pleasant shadow of a lovely truth.”

This was simply precious. I love Louisa May Alcott so much, and I enjoyed these two sweet Christmas stories from her. They were the perfect addition to this season.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was sweet, and she writes so well, of course. Both stories were of the classic “rich-people-feeling-good-about-themselves-by-giving-to-the-poor”, though, so they just don’t give the best feeling when reading them now. But I understand their purpose for the time they were written.

[Ellie Higgins]

This was a lovely little book! A surprise from my mom that I wasn’t expecting:) tender, sweet, and short!!

[Kait · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clocking in at 54 pages, this final tiny volume of holiday stories from classic authors was a lovely conclusion to the series. Louisa May Alcott is one of my favorite authors and these two tales made me want to re-read “Little Women.”

[annabeth ☼ · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.5

A Christmas Dream, and How It Came to Be True: 5 ⭐️
This short story felt so reminiscent of A Christmas Carol through the lens of Alcott’s personal style that really made this story feel like a beautiful, wistful dream. I cannot believe that I’ve never read this before and will absolutely be returning to it again in the future!

How It All Happened: 4 ⭐️
This short story didn’t feel nearly as magical or pleasant as the last one, but it was definitely still a sweet and festive story. It definitely also had the sort of nostalgic or comforting style to it that comes with Alcott’s writing inherently, which I, of course, loved.

[Carrie Brownell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely short and easy read. ;) Two sweet Christmas stories by Louisa May Alcott. A perfect (did I mention quick?) little book with the right sense of holiday spirit about it.

[PB · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am ashamed to say that I have yet to finish Little Women and didn't have hopes of finishing it by Christmas so I picked this Louisa May Alcott mini collection of Christmas short stories namely "A Christmas Dream, and How It Came To Be True" and "How It All Happened." The former is about spoiled little girl who has a dream and learns of gratitude and appreciation, while the latter is about the spirit of giving being infectious! In just a little over 50 pages, Louisa May Alcott gives the taste and feeling of Christmas between the pages!

[Joy Gerbode · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two nice Christmas stories from a beloved author! Short, quick, a nice way to get the season started.

[sophia (taylor’s version)]

i got this for free because i’m a b&n member ☺️

[michaela · Rating 2 out of 5]

a bit problematic but hey it counts towards my goodreads goal, i’ll take it lol

[Klaudia Maciejowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sweet, short read 😌

[addie beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

super cute, quick and easy read

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who doesn’t enjoy the heartwarming writing of Ms Alcott? Feel good, compassionate tales of the Christmas season.

[Abigail H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always throw in a little short book in my last push to throw myself a bone. This was a sweet little ode to classic Christmas!! I can’t believe we have to wait another year 😭

[Lisa Burris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Consisting of two Christmas-themed short stories, this slight chapbook is a holiday treat for Alcott fans or American literature buffs. Of the two works, the first, "A Christmas Dream, And How It Came to Be True," is the weakest and is plodding, but the second story, "How It All Happened," is a charming tale of a family in need and how sharing brings out the true spirit of Christmas.

[Midniteillusion · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately I don’t think the first story hold up. It’s all about a spoiled rich girl who doesn’t want Christmas because they’re no good presents left to be had. Until she decides to parade poor orphans around while pretending to essentially be Santa Clause so they all worship her as the way to enjoy Christmas. Very much doing good to make oneself look/feel good not simply to help those who might need it.

The second story was better, neighbors in a boarding house coming together to make everyone’s Christmas a little happier.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun light Christmas week read.

[Erika RS · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very short book with two Christmas stories by Louisa May Alcott. Both stories remained true to her focus on loving families and on social charity. At only an hour's read, it's worthwhile for any Louisa May Alcott fan.

[Haley Boggess · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect stocking stuffer! Two precious short stories about Christmas. I loved them.

[Thalia]

oiiiii is Christmas innit????!!!!

[Lizzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like Christmas and Louisa May Alcott read these two short books!

[C. McGee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ol’ Louisa May always knows how to pluck the heart strings.

[Pages & Cup · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet stories. This edition includes “A Christmas Dream, and How it Came to be True,” and “How it all Happened.”

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a sweet little book of 2 short Christmas stories by Louisa May Alcott.

One is called A Christmas Dream, and How It Came to be True.” Its about a sulky girl who is an only child and her parents are well-to-do. She gets anything she wants and is bored. She falls asleep and has a most wonderful dream about helping other children at Christmas. When she wakes up her mother has a big surprise for her. The girl is now getting her dream come true. Her mother has the children in the village, especially the poor ones, come and have a wonderful Christmas just like in this girl’s dream. It makes this girl very happy.

The other little short story is called “How it All Happened.” It is about a poor mother and her 2 children living in a rooming house with other tenants. This mother wants to give her children a wonderful Christmas, but she can’t afford it. While the children are in bed and the mother is at work at night, the other residents in the house have enough to give. Their hearts are softened and one lady starts the ball rolling of giving a surprise Christmas to the children and their mother. One by one each resident gives a gift and leaves their gifts at the door of this poor little family. Some gifts are homemade, others are not. Soon a little pile of gifts are at this family’s door. The mother comes home late after work and sees the gifts. She leaves them at the door so the children can be surprised when they open the door the next morning. During the night a cat living in the rooming house had kittens. She wanted to protect them so she found a very cozy, warm and protective place among the basket of Christmas items. The children awoke and to their delight after they opened their door, there was their gifts including the kittens. They were so excited. It was a dream come true for them because they thought they wouldn’t be getting anything. The children and their mother went downstairs and the generous residents wanted to show them another surprise. They were taken to another room and found a real Christmas tree all decorated by the residents. It was the most wonderful Christmas for all of them.

These 2 stories tell of people who gave willingly at Christmas for those who didn’t have as much, if at all. They learned the lesson of “It’s more blessed to give than to receive.” They were all happier because of it.

[Tweller83 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two short stories in this little book. I loved Little Women so I wanted to get this one to combine Christmas (favorite holiday) with a favorite author to see what I would get.

A Christmas Dream, and How It Came to Be True is the first story. I'm of two minds with this one. I think it might be good for young people to read in its time because a rich girl in essence gives up her Christmas for some less fortunate girls. And while that premise is good, I thought that the taking credit part of the story was a little bit much. I think if we are going to give to others, it should be without any thought to getting credit. But maybe that is a more modern interpretation or idea, I'm not sure. Anyway, it was okay but not as good as I thought it would be for me.

How It All Happened is the last story of this book which I quite liked. This harkens back to the writing and character work in Little Women. We still have rich, or at least richer people helping out the very poor, but it is done in such a way that while they do get credit, it is not the reason they are doing it. They genuinely want to help this family and it is all in one boarding house, so it makes sense. I found it quite charming and would highly recommend.

So, overall, I like but didn't love this little bind-up. I'll probably reread the second story and skip the first to be honest. I'm looking forward to the L.M. Montgomery one that I also purchased from Book Outlet. I hope to read that this month.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this cute little book of Christmas stories after my L.M. Montgomery ones. I did like this collection of stories a bit more because while it was only two, I think having only two stories to focus on and that were able to be longer was a better choice than the three in Montgomery’s due to the characters and plot just needing to be fleshed out a bit more. You got to see more growth in the characters and the story in Alcott’s whereas the other one sort of felt rushed in pacing and writing due to it trying to hurry up and get to the next tale in the collection. Furthermore, I also think Alcott’s writing is just stronger compared to Montgomery’s. It’s a little bit more descriptive, witty, and daring in how it also directly speaks to the reader on the situation - stepping out and breaking the fourth wall. The story I really liked in here was the first one, “A Christmas Dream, And How It Came To Be True”, but the second one was also really good. The only reason I have a preference over one compared to another is just due to me and not really anything to do with the writing or the story like in how I compared L.M. Montgomery’s collection.

Also, I just love Louisa May Alcott so much. She can really do no wrong, so keep my biases very much in mind when reading this lol. Okay, byeeeeee! 😀