The Christmas Tree · Library
Stories by the Fire
Twelve heirloom Christmas tales, pulled from the shelf beside the hearth. Choose a book, settle in, and read.
A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens · 1843
A miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by four ghosts on Christmas Eve and taught the meaning of the season.
'Twas the Night Before Christmas
Clement Clarke Moore · 1823
The classic poem of Christmas Eve, a house all silent, and St. Nicholas himself alighting on the roof.
The Nutcracker and the King of Mice
E. T. A. Hoffmann · 1816
On Christmas Eve, little Marie is given a wooden nutcracker who leads her into a midnight battle with the seven-headed King of Mice — and into a kingdom of sweets.
The Gift of the Magi
O. Henry · 1905
A young couple with barely a penny to their names each sell their most treasured possession to buy the other a Christmas gift.
The Tailor of Gloucester
Beatrix Potter · 1903
A poor tailor in old Gloucester must finish a Mayor's embroidered coat by Christmas morning — but who has stitched the buttonholes in the night?
A Kidnapped Santa Claus
L. Frank Baum · 1904
Five daemons of the Caves plot to kidnap Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. The fairies, ryls, knooks and pixies must save him.
The Little Match Girl
Hans Christian Andersen · 1845
A barefoot little girl selling matches on the coldest night of the year finds warmth and wonder in the flare of each match she strikes.
The Fir Tree
Hans Christian Andersen · 1844
A young fir tree in the forest longs to grow up and see the world — and finally does, but not at all in the way he dreamed.
The Elves and the Shoemaker
Brothers Grimm · 1812
A poor shoemaker and his wife discover tiny elves finishing his work in the dead of night — and think of a way to thank them.
The Goblins Who Stole a Sexton
Charles Dickens · 1836
A dour gravedigger, drinking alone in a churchyard on Christmas Eve, is seized by a company of goblins — and taught a lesson he will never forget.
The Peterkins' Christmas-Tree
Lucretia P. Hale · 1876
The well-meaning Peterkin family choose a Christmas tree so tall they must saw a hole in the parlor ceiling to make it fit.
Christmas Every Day
William Dean Howells · 1892
A little girl wishes for Christmas every single day of the year. Her wish is granted — with consequences no one expected.