Also by this author: Every Leaf, Line, and Letter: Evangelicals and the Bible from the 1730s to the Present, Every Leaf, Line, and Letter: Evangelicals and the Bible from the 1730s to the Present, Diary of an Old Soul: Annotated Edition
Published by Moody Publishers on September 3, 2024
Genres: Fiction, Christian, Christmas, Historical
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A feast of great literature—12 Classic Christmas Stories all in one volume!
Celebrate this magical season with some of the greatest literary figures in history. The wisdom and warmth of Christmas are wrapped in the stories of beloved and gifted authors such as Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, O. Henry, G. K. Chesterton, Willa Cather, Conan Doyle, Washington Irving, George MacDonald, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anthony Trollope, and other classic storytellers.
Not only will you be immersed in the Christmas spirit, but you will draw from the insight of historian Dr. Timothy Larsen who introduces each tale, sharing with readers the history, background, and inspiration behind the literature.
This collection invites us to contemplate and savor all that is good and true about God’s redemptive story and our call to be Christ-like. The stories call us to generosity, reconciliation, and sacrifice. They encourage us to live with joy and gratitude. Hope and wonder abound as you gather your family around the fire and read aloud the Twelve Classic Christmas Stories.
Increasing our love for great tales and for Christmas, this beautiful hardcover book is the perfect gift.
I greatly enjoyed Twelve Classic Christmas Stories, and I am thankful that I had the chance to review this. I had only encountered two of these stories before, and the rest were new to me. The editor of this collection focused on stories by beloved classic authors such as Louisa May Alcott, G.K. Chesterton, and Charles Dickens, but the stories themselves are mostly little-known. Like with any anthology, I enjoyed some stories more than others, but the selection never felt repetitious, and there is something here for everyone. The editor, Timothy Larsen, hopes that families will experience this book together as a Christmas read-aloud, and it is also delightful for solo reading.
Before each story, a one-page introduction describes that story’s content and themes, explains some of the history around it, and mentions some best-known works by that author. These introductions do not give away the plot, but help to orient the reader. Larsen also indicates how long each story is, so that someone can choose one that is appropriate for their current needs. Some stories have multiple chapters, while others are just a few pages long. All of them feature Larsen’s annotations, which define unfamiliar words, explain historic cultural references, and cite Scripture passages for biblical quotations and references. Because I grew up reading Victorian-era literature, I needed the annotations far less than many readers will, but I still found some of the annotations essential for understanding something, and also learned actual definitions for things that I had always made contextual guesses about before.
When it comes to content warnings, I have very little to mention. The stories are age-appropriate for any child who has the attention span to listen to them. However, families who have experienced child loss should know that one story involves the death of a newborn. Also, parents of especially sensitive and easily frightened children may want to preview the Charles Dickens story to determine if the goblins will be too much for their child. Other than that, parents should be aware that many stories include archaic words and expressions that now have an exclusively sexual meaning. For example, there are several mentions of couples “making love,” which meant at the time that they were merely flirting. I hope that parents will warn their kids when a word or phrase isn’t something to repeat in modern life.
Twelve Classic Christmas Stories: A Feast of Yuletide Tales is one of the best short story anthologies I have ever read. The editor did a wonderful job curating these stories, and I appreciated the range of different genres and themes represented here, as well as the balance between male and female authors. This book is also a beautiful, high-quality hardcover, and the thick cream pages have standard margins and a comfortable font size. The annotations are also very helpful, both for people who love classic literature and for people who feel timid about reading stories written so long ago. I highly recommend this wonderful Christmas anthology to a broad audience, and I look forward to reading it again in the future.
