Front matter
Reading edition
Edited by Ada M. Skinner RAND McNALLY & COMPANY CHICAGO NEW YORK Copyright, 1915, By Rand McNally & Company The Rand-McNally Press Chicago
CHRISTMAS TIME
“I have always thought of Christmas time ... as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time ... when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely ...; and I say, God bless it!”
Charles Dickens
A FOREWORD
The selections in Little Folks’ Christmas Stories and Plays emphasize the joy expressed by “good will toward men” and the abundant life suggested by “peace on earth.” Some of the stories and legends will appeal to the child’s interest because they are filled with the spirit of fun and jollity which is always associated with Christmas merrymaking; other selections affirm the spiritual blessings which the birth of the Christ Child brought to the children of men.
The young reader’s enjoyment is enhanced and his interest quickened if he can begin to read his book without the aid of an interpreter. Therefore the stories and poems in this volume are arranged in two groups: Part I includes those selections which are simple enough in theme and form to be read by the child; Part II is made up of more complex stories and poems, which the story-teller may read aloud or relate to the young listener.
My thanks are due to the following authors and publishers who have allowed reprints from their works: Maud Lindsay for permission to use “The Promise”; Richard Thomas Wyche for “A Boy’s Visit to Santa Claus”; Ruth Sawyer for “The Christmas Kings”; Mrs. Richard Watson Gilder for permission to use the poem, “The Christmas Tree in the Nursery,” by Richard Watson Gilder; Mary Stewart for “The Finding of the Treasure”; Raymond MacDonald Alden for “In the Great Walled Country”; Edmund Vance Cooke for “Going to Meet Santa Claus”; Alma J. Foster for her translation of “Cosette” by Victor Hugo; L. Frank Baum and The Delineator for “Kidnaping Santa Claus”; Emma A. Schaub for her translation of “Christmasland” by Heinrich Seidel; Margaret Deland and Moffat Yard & Company, publishers, for permission to use the poem, “While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night”; Milton Bradley Company for “The Christmas Cake” from Mother Stories by Maud Lindsay; A. Flanagan Company for the selection, “The Stars and the Child,” from Child’s Christ Tales by Andrea Hofer Proudfoot; the Pilgrim Press for “The Visit of the Wishing Man,” from The City that Never was Reached by J. T. Stocking; The Macmillan Company for a selection from Serapion Brethren by E. Th. Hoffmann; Dr. Washington Gladden and the Century Co. for “The Strange Adventures of a Wood Sled”; the Contemporary Review for “A Florentine Legend of Christmas” by Vernon Lee; the Packer Institute of Brooklyn for the adaptation of the mystery play, “The Star in the East,” and to Abbie Farwell Brown and Houghton Mifflin Co. for the selection, “A Blessing.”
Grateful acknowledgment is also made to Miss Elizabeth A. Herrick and Miss Anda G. Morin for valuable suggestions given during the compilation of these stories.
Ada M. Skinner
St. Agatha School, New York City, N. Y.
CONTENTS
PAGE
A Foreword vii
Part I. Stories Children Can Read
Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn3
The Promise12
A Boy’s Visit to Santa Claus18
The Christmas Kings28
The Christmas Cake39
The Doll’s Wish43
The Christmas Spruce Tree48
A Little Roman Shepherd52
The Christmas Tree in the Nursery57
The Stars and the Child59
The Stranger Child61
The Star Song63
The Visit of the Wishing Man64
Kriss Kringle80
The Star of Bethlehem81
Nutcracker and Mouse King83
A Visit from St. Nicholas104
Christmas in Many Lands108
Part II. Stories to Read and Tell to Children
Selection from the Bible: Luke ii, 8-20125
The Finding of the Treasure127
The Meaning of the Star140
While Shepherds watched their Flocks by Night142
The Great Walled Country 144
Going to Meet Christmas155
A Legend of St. Boniface166
Cosette’s Christmas Eve171
The Strange Adventures of a Wood Sled192
Kidnapping Santa Claus217
Christmasland235
A Christmas Legend258
The Star in the East265
A Blessing276