Christmas Stories

Happy Holidays from the Children's Literature Web Guide

What better way to celebrate the holidays than to gather the family around the computer and read a story? I'm only kidding. Really. However, there are a lot of Christmas stories available online. Here is a selection of what I have found.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find many stories of Hannukah, or Divali, or Kwanzaa, or other festivals that occur at the same time of year. However, some of the Festivals of Light links at the bottom of this page may lead you to worhtwhile resources. And now, on to the stories.

The Last Christmas Tree, an original Christmas story from dads.com

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, by L. Frank Baum (1902)

A Kidnapped Santa Claus, by L. Frank Baum (1904)

Sally Saves Christmas, a story published only on the web, by Alexander Cima.

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens.

Dulce Domum, the Christmas chapter from The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame.

The Gift of the Magi, by O.Henry.

Selections from Good Stories for Great Holidays, by Frances Olcott Jenkins (1914)

Little Piccola, after Celia Thaxter
The Stranger Child: A Legend, by Count Franz Pocci [Translated]
The Christmas Rose: An Old Legend, by Lizzie Deas [Adapted]
The Wooden Shoes of Little Wolff, by François Coppée [Adapted]
The Pine Tree, by Hans Christian Andersen [Translated]
The Christmas Cuckoo, by Frances Browne [Adapted]
The Christmas Fairy of Strasburg: A German Folk-Tale, by J. Stirling Coyne [Adapted]
The Three Purses: A Legend, by William S. Walsh [Adapted]
The Thunder Oak: A Scandinavian Legend, Willaim S. Walsh and other sources
The Christmas Thorn of Glastonbury: A Legend of Ancient Britain, adapted from William of Malmesbury and other sources
The Three Kings of Cologne: A Legend of the Middle Ages, by John of Hildesheim; modernized by H.S. Morris [Adapted]
Why the Evergreen Trees Never Lose Their Leaves: An Old Legend, by Florence Holbrook

The Night Before Christmas (A Visit from Saint Nicholas), by Clement Clarke Moore.

The Little Girl Santa Claus Didn't Know, by Martin Nygaard.

The Last Christmas, the beginning of a screenplay for an animated film. From the Realist Wonder Society site.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas, by Dr. Seuss. Complete with illustrations.

The Baker's Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale. A readers' theatre script suggested for grades 3-7. Adapted from the book by Aaron Shepard (Atheneum, New York, 1995).

The Selfish Giant, by Oscar Wilde.

Festivals of Light

There are a lot of Christmas Web pages out there! These look like good starting points for information about Christmas, Hanukkah, and other Festivals of Light.

Christmas 'round the World (Wide Web).

Christmas Around the World

Kwanzaa Information Center