4 h 24 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 4 h 24 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if Christmas gives a closed heart a reason to open?
In Solomon Crow's Christmas Pockets and Other Tales, Ruth McEnery Stuart gathers gentle stories of giving, forgiveness, and second chances. Solomon Crow, the title figure of the opening tale, introduces the theme of generosity. Around him lies a Southern world where Christmas invites people to look again at their lives and at one another.
Stuart draws on the South she knows, especially Louisiana and its small towns. Her dialogue uses dialect to catch the sound of Southern speech, while the tales explore what happens when closed-off or careless people find a reason to change. These are affectionate portraits of community after the Civil War, shaped by the attitudes of their time.
What you’ll discover
- Solomon Crow's Christmas Meet the figure whose Christmas pockets give the opening story its name and theme of giving.
- A season for change Explore Christmas as a moment to reconsider a life and make room for others.
- The sound of Southern speech Hear how Stuart uses dialect to bring the speech of her communities onto the page.
- Room for second chances Follow gentle tales where generosity and forgiveness offer people a reason to begin again.
- Stories for a winter evening Enjoy short tales in a sitting, with warmth rooted in small-town Southern life.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy Christmas stories with a Southern accent, tales of kindness among poor families, comic animals, and short stories to read one evening at a time.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A boy's small thefts meet a gentle judge
- A grandfather and a grandson both fear the banjo
- Poor children plan a dinner for lonely neighbours
- A black duck sits on the wrong eggs
- A ragged candy seller is richer than she looks
- A lonely child tries to save a plantation
- A young writer and her old nurse sell the plantation life
- A small boy hunts a Christmas dinner for his grandfather
Who’s who
- Solomon CrowA quick, thin ten-year-old fig picker who wants to be honest but loves to be clever and to eat two fried eggs.
- Uncle TimAn old plantation banjo player who wants to give his grandson the banjo without frightening him with the thought of death.
- Meg FreyThe fourteen-year-old moving spirit of the Frey family, who wants to spend the Christmas money on dinner for lonely neighbours.
- QuackalinaA black wild duck on a farm who wants her cousin Sir Sooty and a nest of ducklings of her own.
- Old EasterA candy seller in rags who tells grand tales of the past and takes in every creature poorer than she is.
- IdylA thirteen-year-old orphan called Saint Idyl, who longs to be loved and to save the plantation from the guns.
- Evelyn BruceA young woman from a ruined plantation who moves to New Orleans to earn money by writing and care for her father.
- DukeA nine-year-old boy who works the streets and markets to feed himself and his rheumatic grandfather Mose.
Formats and delivery
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- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Solomon Crows Weihnachtstaschen und andere Erzählungen
by Ruth McEnery Stuart · 1897
A boy loses his pockets, a grandfather shares his banjo, and a duck hatches twenty wrong eggs.
Medium level2–5 hours to readDeutsch
Excellent
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In short
What does a ten-year-old boy do when he must cut out his pockets and a kind old woman promises to sew them back? Solomon Crow's Christmas Pockets and Other Tales is a collection by Ruth McEnery Stuart, who died in 1917.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A boy's small thefts meet a gentle judge
The opening story follows Solomon Crow, a ten-year-old boy whose mother, Tempest, has grown fat and lazy and has never been strict about honesty. Crow learned from her example.
He also fears his angel twin. His twin brother Grundy died a day after birth, and Tempest taunts the boy by asking how his angel twin feels about his behaviour. To Crow, God is only a terrible punisher who speaks in thunder.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1897
- Language
- Deutsch
- Reading time
- 2 h 50 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Stuart, Ruth McEnery. Solomon Crow's Christmas Pockets and Other Tales. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/solomon-crows-christmas-pockets-and-other-tales.
Stuart, R. M. (2026). Solomon Crow's Christmas pockets and other tales. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/solomon-crows-christmas-pockets-and-other-tales (Original work published 1897)
Stuart, Ruth McEnery. Solomon Crow's Christmas Pockets and Other Tales. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/solomon-crows-christmas-pockets-and-other-tales.
@book{stuart2026solomon,
author = {Stuart, Ruth McEnery},
title = {Solomon Crow's Christmas Pockets and Other Tales},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/solomon-crows-christmas-pockets-and-other-tales},
note = {First published 1897}
}
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What is Solomon Crow's Christmas Pockets and Other Tales about?
It is a collection of eight Southern Christmas and holiday tales plus two poems by Ruth McEnery Stuart. They follow poor children, old people, a duck and a young writer in Louisiana, each finding a way to give or receive kindness.
Where are the stories set?
Most are set in Louisiana. New Orleans appears in several tales, with its French Market, streetcars and old houses. Others take place on sugar plantations and river levees, including one during the Civil War in 1862.
What does the title mean by Christmas pockets?
After Solomon Crow is caught stealing eggs, Mrs. Cary gives him scissors to cut out his own pockets under her husband's conditions. She promises to sew them back when he proves honest, so the pockets stand for trust that has to be earned.
The author
Ruth McEnery Stuart
1849–1917 · American short story writer
Ruth McEnery Stuart (1849–1917) was an American writer born in Louisiana. She lived in New Orleans and later in New York City, where she died. She wrote short stories about the American South. Her books included A Golden Wedding and Other Stories (1893) and Solomon Crow’s Christmas Pockets and Other Tales (1897).
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