I am an Anglo-Irish writer and anthologist enjoying a life-long love affair with Christmas, which I have successfully transplanted to my home in Japan. I have edited three Christmas-themed anthologies, with many more to come. My own writing has been translated into French and Japanese. Determined to never grow up, in my sixtieth year, I still firmly believe in Father Christmas!
I wrote
A Treasury of Christmas Stories: Classic Tales For The Festive Season
A heart-warming illustrated collection of Christmas stories, poems and newspaper articles collected from around the world. Spanning the years 1823-1920,…
This large-format book has been my firm favourite for over forty years. I love it because it encompasses every aspect of the Christmas season.
It is my handbook on how to enjoy the season. Bookended with festive boardgames, it is wonderfully illustrated with many full-page original illustrations highlighting the text. It includes classic stories alongside explanations and histories of the many Christmas traditions, carol lyrics, poetry, craft ideas, recipes, and much more.
I can’t imagine celebrating Christmas without it. It truly is Christmas in a book.
I knew that I would love this book from the moment I first set eyes upon it. I like that the stories and illustrations have been reproduced exactly as they were originally published in the Victorian magazines.
This is a book which I always read alone and free of distractions so that I can not only lose myself in the stories, but also contemplate the messages they contain. Like our Victorian forebears l love the sentimental aspects of Christmas, and this anthology never fails to cause me to think back with a smile, and sometimes a tear, to Christmasses long ago with relatives and friends no longer with us.
The Victorian Christmas is everyone's ideal of what a Christmas ought to be; children enraptured before a candlelit tree, tables groaning under an abundance of turkey, goose and pudding, stories of ghosts and hobgoblins, carol singers, church bells ringing through the midnight air. It is only in the last hundred years or so that such Christmas feasts and entertainments have been shared by the majority, rather than by the privileged few.
In Victorian times, 'Christmas as at Windsor' became the established order, for it was the festivities of the Royal Family that people took as their model. The popular Press…
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I love this book because its slim size makes it ideal to carry and read on the move.
I often read it on the train, in cafes, or in the park when I take a break during my busy workday. The twelve stories it contains are all well-loved classics that have been anthologised many times, but it is that familiarity that I like about this anthology. I never tire of reading these stories, many of which were read to me as a child.
Christmas is a time of warmth, and this selection fills me with festive warmth even on the coldest of park benches.
Poems, stories, and excerpts from novels, including O. Henry's "Gift of the magi," Clement C. Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas," and works by Willa Cather, Louisa May Alcott, and Charles Dickens, offer a look at the holiday season
A family reading session bathed in the glow of the Christmas tree lights is one of my traditional activities during the Christmas season.
I like this anthology because the selected stories are the perfect length – neither too short to disappoint the older members of the family nor too long to lose the attention of the younger ones. I am also fond of the illustrations which perfectly illustrate the classic stories in a contemporary style, and enthrall young listeners.
I would recommend this collection for any family Christmas gathering.
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I love curling up in my favourite armchair by the tree with a mug of hot chocolate to read this heavy, bumper-sized anthology.
It takes me back to Christmas Days spent lying on the rug in front of the fire reading festive annuals left under the tree by Father Christmas. Its twenty-eight stories are reassuringly familiar, ensuring satisfaction wherever I randomly choose to dip in. I really can’t imagine Christmas without it.
A heart-warming illustrated collection of Christmas stories, poems and newspaper articles collected from around the world. Spanning the years 1823-1920, A Treasury of Christmas Stories captures the spirit of the most joyous season of the year with timeless classics alongside less well-known festive writing. Containing many vintage illustrations, this enchanting anthology contains stories for every age and is ideal for families to read together.
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