Chistmas Tales 2025

The Magi honored the Christ child with three gifts. 

In honor of the magi, I read three Christmas tales each December.

 

The Little Match Girl by Hans Chistian Anderson, 1845

 

The very short story of a poor girl selling matches, cold and shoeless, New Year’s Eve in some great European city. It felt like London, but perhaps Anderson envisioned Copenhagen. The little match girl hasn’t sold any matches and she knows her fathter will beat her if she doesn't. In despairing cold, she lights a match to warm herself and in the comfort of the flame she sees a sumptuous feast. She lights another and sees a family gathering around a beautiful Christmas tree. She lights another and sees her dear Grandmother, the only soul who ever loved her. To preserve the reverie, she lights the whole bundle of matches and is lost in the warmth of her Grandmother's love and the vision becomes reality when she is released from all suffering by the one who knows what it is to find no welcome on a winter night.

 

It is a bittersweet tale, very reminiscent of The Beggar Boy at Christ’s Christmas Tree by Dostoevsky, 1876. Perhaps Dostoevsky borrowed a bit from Anderson.

 

 

The Family under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson, 1858

     Illustrated by Garth Williams

 

Armand is a hobo, roaming the streets of Paris, Christmastime very early 1900s. He is a very contented hobo with a carefree life of no work and no responsibility. He tells a friend… 

“I can’t abide children,” grumped Armand. “Starlings they are. Witless, twittering, little pests.”

His friend, kindly old Mireli… 

…shook her finger at him. “You think you don’t like children,” she said, “but it is only that you are afraid of them. You’re afraid the sly little things will steal your heart if they find out you have one.”

Forshadowing, that.

 

Armand seeks refuge in a favorite spot under a particular bridge only to find it occupied by three little “starlings”: Suzy, Evelyn, and Paul, and even a dog who "should be white" named Jojo. I bet you can’t guess what happens.

 

It is a sweet tale with surprising adventures, and a happy Christmas ending.

 

The illustrations, including the cover seen here, by Williams are marvelous.

 

 

The worst Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, 1972 

 

The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. 

So this children’s novel begins as narrated by Beth Bradley, a grade school classmate of Imogene Herdman, the notorious ringleader of the Herdman children. They steal, swear, smoke, set fires, and bully the other children and some adults. Beth’s mother is the reluctant director of the annual Christmas pageant, which is doomed to be the worst ever when the Herdmans volunteer for the lead roles. No one else volunteers under threat of violence by the Herdmans. Imogene herself will play the Virgin Mary.

 

There is of course, outrage and thoughts to abandon the pageant, but perhaps miraculously, the show goes on, and although decidedly unorthodox, there is a powerful and poignant ending that makes it the best pageant ever.

 

It is a marvelous tale, comic enough to make me laugh out loud, but oh — there is something so much more profound, so much more glorious.

But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven. ~ Matthew 19:14

 

 

Merry Christmas

          ~ The Wanderer

 

May you be blessed with

the spirit of the season, which is Peace,

the gladness of the season, which is Hope,

and the heart of the season, which is Love

 

 .

 

Christmas Tales 2024

The Magi honored the Christ child with three gifts. 

In honor of the magi, I read three Christmas tales each December.

 

The Elves and the Shoemaker by the Brothers Grimm

 

The tale of a humble and honest shoemaker near the end of his resources. He lays out material for one last pair of shoes, intending to finish them in the morning. He awakes to find a marvelous pair of shoes, all made that sell for a premium. This goes on for many nights until the shoemaker and his wife keep watch one night to discover the helpful elves who are inexplicably naked. The shoemaker’s wife makes a tiny set of clothes for each tiny shoemaker. The elves are giddy with delight and prance away, but the shoemaker is prosperous enough by this time that we assume he makes a comfortable living on his own.

 

It is intended, no doubt, to show the virtues of honesty, charity, and gratitude. It is very short and sweet, but definitely intended for very young children.

 

 

A Kidnapped Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum

 

From the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz comes a Christmas fantasy of the year Santa is kidnapped by some jealous neighbors: the daemons of Selfishness, Envy, Hatred, Malice, and Repentance. Before they resort to kidnapping, they try to spoil Santa’s reputation by tempting him with their special vices, but the Jolly Old Elf is immune to their wiles, so they resort to more desperate measures. It all comes right in the end, and even though Santa fails to make his Christmas Eve rounds, some of Santa’s helpers make the deliveries for him with only minor mixups resulting in some oddly matched gifts and recipients.

 

Also very short, but not so well known. Any similarity to a major motion picture is purely coincidental. Although…A Kidnapped Santa Claus is in the public domain, so… just sayin.

 

 

Noel by J. R. R. Tolkien

 

A poem by the author of The Lord of the Rings. I've read most everthing Tolkien wrote, but this was unknown to me until this year. It was unknown to anyone until 2013.

It's an homage to the birth of our Lord, and a bit less traditional. Tolkien paints a picture of the night of Christ's birth describing bleak winter scenes. I believe the imagery is metaphorical for the hopeless condition of man without a savior, rather than a physical description of the night that night. It's quite beautiful.

 

Mary sang in this world below:
They heard her song arise
O’er mist and over mountain snow
To the walls of Paradise,
And the tongue of many bells was stirred
in Heaven’s towers to ring
When the voice of mortal maid was heard,
That was mother of Heaven’s King.

 

The poem in entirety can be found HERE.

 

Merry Christmas

          ~ The Wanderer

 

May you be blessed with

the spirit of the season, which is Peace,

the gladness of the season, which is Hope,

and the heart of the season, which is Love

 

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Christmas Tales 2023

The Magi honored the Christ child with three gifts. 

In honor of the magi, I read three Christmas tales each December. My Christmas reads are also part of A Literary Christmas – sponsored by In the Bookcase 

 

 

 

A Letter from Santa Claus by Mark Twain

A letter Twain wrote to his three-year-old daughter Suzie. Writing as Santa he explains that he got her and her sister’s letters and that he would fulfill all he could. He directs Suzie to take certain actions, to which he will respond, all to keep the fantasy of Santa alive for his daughter. It is of course very sweet, with a bit of Twain’s humor coming out in Santa. 

 

The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter

As you would expect from the creator of Peter Rabbit, this is a sweet tale with anthropomorphized animals, kindly but sometimes inept humans, and a happy ending. The only surprise was the eventual peace and cooperation between the tailor’s cat, Simpkin, and the mice. It is beautifully illustrated by Potter.

 

Christmas Bells by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A poem, which is now the carol we know as I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. It is one of my favorite carols, though it is absolutely essential to sing the final two stanzas (as opposed to the practice of picking a couple stanzas at random). Some hymn books do not include all seven stanzas, but I believe they always include the final two, and as I say, you cannot omit those two.

Wadsworth wrote it as the American Civil War raged. It is his lament that there was no peace on earth. I think we can relate. He was near despair, and then…

 

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

“God is not Dead; nor doth he sleep!

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail

With peace on Earth, good-will to men!”

 

 

 

Merry Christmas

          ~ The Wanderer

 

May you be blessed with

the spirit of the season, which is Peace,

the gladness of the season, which is Hope,

and the heart of the season, which is Love

 

.

 

A Literary Christmas 2022

brought to you by In the Bookcase

 

The Rules are simple – pick your Christmas reads for 2022, write a blog post about them, and link back to In the Bookcase. And now that it's December, I can do this :)

 

I honor of the Magi, who brought the Christ child three gifts, I read three Christmas tales each December. This year I will be reading:

 

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (translation by J. R. R. Tolkien)

 

A Country Christmas by Louisa May Alcott

 

Is there a Santa Clause by Frank Church

(Commonly known as Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus)

 

Have a Blessed Christmas

 

The Wanderer

 

Christmas Tales 2021

The Magi honored the Christ child with three gifts.

 

In honor of the magi, I read three Christmas tales each December. My Christmas reads are also part of A Literary Christmas – sponsored by In the Bookcase.

 

 

Papa Panov’s Special Christmas Day by Leo Tolstoy

 

A short story about Papa Panov, a village shoemaker somewhere in Imperial Russia. He seems a
simple man, in the best sense of the phrase, of modest means. He is a widower, and whatever children there were have long since left to make their own way. Papa Panov can still smile though at the sights and sounds of Christmas in his village. On Christmas Eve, he reads of the birth of Christ, and wishes he had been in Bethlehem to offer hospitality to Mary, Joseph, and the Son of God. He sleeps and dreams that Christ tells him he will visit Papa Panov on Christmas day.

 

Papa Panov awakes and awaits expectantly, but with a bit of doubt. It was only a dream after all. The only visitors are poor, and cold, and hungry. Papa Panov shares what he can to comfort the small stream of visitors. At days end as he prepares to retire for the night, he peacefully accepts…

 

it had been just a dream after all. Jesus had not come.

 

But there are a few lines left. They are not difficult to guess, but I’ll offer a hint from the Gospel of Matthew:

 

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matthew 25:40

 

 

A Christmas Inspiration by Lucy Maud Montgomery

 

A short story about a group of five young women – girls by most accounts – who, away from family in
a boarding house, share their Christmas treasures with one another in only slightly self-indulgent jollity. They remember the spinster, Miss Allen, whom they don’t really like, and who doesn’t really like them. They remember the postman, almost comical under his burden of gifts, and they remember that for Miss Allen there were no packages, no cards, no notice. 

Jean, the unofficial leader of the group, has an inspiration, and the story turns foolishly maudlin, absurdly predictable, and blessedly beautiful!

 

The girls realize the “old truth, that it is more blessed to give than to receive. But this is so obvious, I would stand by my description of foolish and absurd, except the girls take the old truth and pledge to make it an “all-the-year-round inspiration.”

 

 

On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity by John Milton

 

An ode written by John Milton in 1629, one of his earliest poems, written when he was just 21, at
some time after Christmas. It contains a four-stanza proem (preamble – new word for me), and the main hymn of 27, 8-line stanzas. The hymn has four major themes:

 

Stanzas 1-12 – nature’s reaction to the advent of Christ.

I (excerpt)

It was the Winter wilde,

While the Heav'n-born-childe,

All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies;

Nature in aw to him

Had doff't her gawdy trim,

With her great Master so to sympathize:

 

Stanzas: 13-18 anticipates Christ’s redemption of humanity.

XVI (excerpt)

The Babe lies yet in smiling Infancy,

That on the bitter cross

Must redeem our loss;

So both himself and us to glorifie:

 

Stanzas 19-26 depicting Christ’s expulsion or silencing of pagan dieties.

XIX (in entirety)

The Oracles are dumm,

No voice or hideous humm

Runs through the arched roof in words deceiving.

Apollo from his shrine

Can no more divine,

With hollow shreik the steep of Delphos leaving.

No nightly trance, or breathed spell,

Inspire's the pale-ey'd Priest from the prophetic cell.

 

The final stanza, 27 – the nativity scene itself.

XXVII (excerpt)

But see the Virgin blest,

Hath laid her Babe to rest.

Time is our tedious Song should here have ending,

 

It was beautiful, clearly a work of passion and devotion. I’ve not read Milton before, and this was an amazing introduction. I may take on Paradise Lost in the New Year.

 

The Early Modern English is a bit challenging. It was much more accessible with scholarly introduction and commentary, such as: The John Milton Reading Room

 

 

 

Merry Christmas

 

          ~ The Wanderer

 

May you be blessed with

the spirit of the season, which is Peace,

the gladness of the season, which is Hope, 

and the heart of the season, which is Love

 

 

.

A Literary Christmas 2021

 brought to you by In the Bookcase

 

The Rules are simple – pick your Christmas reads for 2021, write a blog post about them, and link back to In the Bookcase.

 

I honor of the Magi, who brought the Christ child three gifts, I read three Christmas tales each December. This year I will be reading:

 

Papa Panov’s Special Christmas Day by Leo Tolstoy

On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity a poem by John Milton written in 1629.

 

A Christmas Inspiration by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Wrap Up post HERE

 

 

Have a Blessed Christmas

 

The Wanderer

Christmas Tales 2020

The Magi honored the Christ child with three gifts.

 

and in honor of the magi, I read three Christmas tales each December which are also my selections for A Literary Christmas hosted by In the Bookcase.

Christmas on Ganymede by Isaac Asimov

One of Jupiter’s moon, Ganymede has been, not so much colonized as industrialized, by Earth corporations which are harvesting the planet’s natural resources using the indigenous race of Ossies as labor (Ossies: so named for their resemblance to Ostriches) One of the earthmen, Olaf Johnson, innocently tells the Ossies of the Santa Claus legend, and the Ossies subsequently go on strike, until they are visited by Sannycaws. This will negatively impact the bottom line, so the corporate production supervisors, arrange for a reasonable facsimile, consisting of Olaf posing as Santa, a rudimentary flying sleigh, and another indigenous species, the spinyback – cross between an aardvark and stegosaurus – to perform as reindeer. It is intentionally, quite silly, and good clean fun, but not at all profound, as are my next two selections.

 

The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern

This short story is the basis for the classic film, It’s a Wonderful Life. Legendary director Frank Capra called The Greatest Gift

 

…the story I had been looking for all my life!

 

To be honest, the film is the better telling, simply because it contains more details of how one life touches so many others. But the STORY, and its marvelous message, that THE greatest gift, the gift of life…is all Stern’s. In reviewing classic literature, I often say, skip the movie, read the book, but in this case I say, LOVE the movie, then appreciate it better, by reading the book. (Also read the background, of the short story Stern couldn’t sell, and how it became the classic film.)

 

The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain by Charles Dickens

This is final of Dickens’ five Christmas tales: A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life, The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain 

 

WOW!

 

Goodness, this surprised me. After Dickens drew raves for his first three Christmas novellas, he created great expectations (pardon the pun) for more, his fourth and fifth were not so well received, but for me, The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain is perhaps the most poignant of all. To further add to my enjoyment, it was a perfect complement to The Greatest Gift, as the moral for both could be…be careful what you wish for.

 

The haunted man is Mr. Redlaw, a man everyone would say

 

…looked like a haunted man.

 

He sits long hours alone, pondering over…

 

things that might have been, and never were

 

Redlaw is indeed haunted by a specter twin of himself, who reminds him of all the sorrow of his life, and who eventually offers him the dreadful bargain.

 

“Hear what I offer! Forget the sorrow, wrong, and trouble you have known! Forget them!” He repeated.

 

Redlaw is suspicious of the seemingly evil smile, that presages the bargain, but reasons to himself…

 

All men and women have their sorrows, - most of them their wrongs; ingratitude, and sordid jealousy, and interest besetting all degrees of life. Who would not forget their sorrows and their wrongs?

 

The bargain is struck, but course all does not turn out as was hoped (much like George Bailey’s bargain in The Greatest Gift.)

 

He is not happier, once relieved of the burdens of sorrowful memory, if anything, he is more miserable…and makes those around him more miserable in the bargain.

 

I am tempted to leave it at that, and tempt you to read it, but I cannot omit this moment, when Redlaw, in the depths of despair, is admonished by a kind and gentle friend.

 

“I have no learning, and you have much,” said Milly; “I am not used to think, and you are always thinking. May I tell you why it seems to me a good thing for us, to remember wrong that has been done us?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“That we may forgive it.”

 

Amen!

  

Merry Christmas

 

          ~ The Wanderer

 

May you be blessed with

the spirit of the season, which is Peace,

the gladness of the season, which is Hope, 

and the heart of the season, which is Love

 

.