A reading guide
Classic Christmas stories
Classic Christmas stories bring together seasonal kindness, family gatherings, and ghostly encounters. Start with A Christmas Carol for Scrooge’s Christmas visions. Read or listen here: eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and paperback, hardcover or large print, printed at cost, free to start.
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Where to start
Start hereA Christmas CarolCharles DickensStart with Scrooge’s ghostly Christmas visions if you want a clear seasonal focus and a central character to follow.
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Another way inThe Children's Book of Christmas StoriesAsa Don Dickinson and Ada M. Skinner (editor)Choose this collection for reading together, with Christmas stories and poems about giving, waiting, and kindness easing hardship.
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Or tryThe Haunted Man and the Ghost's BargainCharles DickensTry this for a darker Christmas Eve, following one lonely teacher and a spirit’s offer to erase painful memories.
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The books
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| # | First published | Book | Kind | Listening time | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1836 | The Pickwick PapersCharles Dickens Christmas at Dingley Dell brings festive hospitality and games into Pickwick’s travels through southern England. | Novel | 34 h 32 min | Free to startRead free |
| 2 | 1843 | A Christmas CarolCharles Dickens Scrooge’s resentment of Christmas meets ghostly visions in a story rooted in the season’s happiness and generosity. | Novel | 3 h 23 min | FreeRead free · no sign-up |
| 3 | 1844 | The ChimesCharles Dickens Supernatural bells at the turn of the year challenge a poor messenger’s doubts about ordinary people. | Novel | 3 h 30 min | Free to startRead free |
| 4 | 1845 | The Cricket on the HearthCharles Dickens One of Dickens’s Christmas books, this household tale follows a husband whose suspicions threaten trust at home. | Novel | 3 h 37 min | FreeRead free · no sign-up |
| 5 | 1848 | The Haunted Man and the Ghost's BargainCharles Dickens A spirit visits a lonely teacher on Christmas Eve, offering escape from his painful memories. | Novel | 3 h 51 min | Free to startRead free |
| 6 | 1851 | The Snow-Image, and Other Twice-Told TalesNathaniel Hawthorne Children making a girl out of snow give this collection a concrete link to winter’s imaginative possibilities. | Stories | 8 h 18 min | Free to startRead free |
| 7 | 1868 | Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and AmyLouisa May Alcott The March sisters begin their story at Christmas, sharing their breakfast with a poorer family. | Novel | 21 h 57 min | Free to startRead free |
| 8 | 1897 | Solomon Crow's Christmas Pockets and Other TalesRuth McEnery Stuart Christmas brings generosity, forgiveness, and second chances to the Southern communities portrayed in these stories. | Stories | 4 h 24 min | Free to startRead free |
| 9 | 1904 | Ghost Stories of an AntiquaryM. R. James For the season’s long nights, these tales turn old books, churches, and collected objects into sources of supernatural danger. | Stories | 5 h 10 min | Free to startRead free |
| 10 | 1906 | The Little Colonel's Christmas VacationAnnie F. Johnston Lloyd Sherman’s Christmas holiday in Kentucky brings lessons in friendship, kindness, and duty to others. | Novel | 8 h 23 min | Free to startRead free |
| 11 | · | The Children's Book of Christmas StoriesAsa Don Dickinson and Ada M. Skinner (editor) Christmas stories and poems bring children tales of giving, waiting, and hardship eased by kindness. | Stories | 8 h 57 min | Free to startRead free |
| 12 | · | Christmas LightEthel Calvert Phillips A young girl’s experience in Bethlehem places the first Christmas night at the heart of this story. | Short story | 2 h 8 min | Free to startRead free |
| 13 | · | Stories from Hans AndersenH. C. Andersen The Snow Queen brings winter enchantment to this collection through a girl’s quest to save her friend. | Stories | 4 h 10 min | Free to startRead free |
| 14 | · | Three Ghost StoriesCharles Dickens For a darker seasonal choice, Dickens brings apparitions and unsettling events into otherwise familiar Victorian surroundings. | Stories | 2 h 23 min | Free to startRead free |
Questions
What classic Christmas stories should I start with?
Start with A Christmas Carol for a story centered on Christmas and Scrooge’s ghostly visions. For a collection instead, choose The Children's Book of Christmas Stories, with its tales and poems about giving, hardship, and kindness.
Which classic Christmas stories are good for children?
The Children's Book of Christmas Stories is the clearest starting point for children here. Its seasonal stories and poems focus on giving, waiting, and kindness. Christmas Light offers another choice through a young girl’s experience of the first Christmas night in Bethlehem.
Which Dickens books should I read at Christmas?
Choose A Christmas Carol for Scrooge’s visions, or The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain for a spirit’s Christmas Eve visit. The Chimes follows a poor messenger at the turn of the year, making it another seasonal choice.
Are there ghost stories for Christmas reading?
Yes, this selection includes both Christmas Eve hauntings and ghost stories for long nights. The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain has an explicitly seasonal setting. Ghost Stories of an Antiquary offers supernatural dangers involving scholars, old books, and objects from the past.
Are all these classic Christmas stories set at Christmas?
No, the selection also includes winter tales and ghost stories for seasonal reading. The Chimes takes place at the turn of the year, while The Snow-Image, and Other Twice-Told Tales includes children making a girl out of snow.
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Read and hear all of them
Every book on this page, and 200,000+ more, as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, in 25 languages, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Household access for the whole family.
