8 h 57 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 57 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What makes Christmas bright when there is little to give?
The Children's Book of Christmas Stories gathers tales of giving, waiting, and hardship eased by kindness. Asa Don Dickinson and Ada M. Skinner bring many writers together in a collection meant for sharing. Stories of the Nativity sit beside lighter pieces that invite laughter, making room for both quiet reflection and holiday cheer.
Here, generosity matters more than wealth. The collection moves among different voices and traditions rather than following a single hero through one long plot. Its main strands—kindness, expectation, religious storytelling, and humor—offer families and classrooms a choice of moods. Read a story aloud, leave room for a pause, and let its Christmas spirit unfold.
What you’ll discover
- Kindness in hard times Meet stories where hardship finds relief through the care and generosity of others.
- The pleasure of giving Explore a holiday idea that places a generous heart above material wealth.
- Nativity and holiday laughter Find Nativity tales alongside lighter pieces, with space for reflection as well as laughter.
- Many voices to share Move between writers and traditions, discovering different ways to tell a Christmas story.
- A story read aloud Enjoy short tales meant for children's ears, shared around a fire or in a classroom.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy short tales for reading aloud, Santa Claus and fairies, and old legends of the Christ Child. It suits parents, grandparents, and teachers.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Joy begins with what is here
- Christmas unsettles the usual social order
- Small sacrifices carry real weight
- Magic reveals what people overlook
- A stranger tests the welcome inside
- The helpers need to be seen
- Belief becomes kindness through action
- Children live inside history too
- Notice the person beyond the window
Who’s who
- ToinetteA quick-tempered girl who pulls a thorn from an elf and is given fern seed to make her invisible.
- TeigA miser who barred his door on St. Stephen's night and finds himself borrowing a fairy's red cap to fly across Europe.
- Betty LutherA schoolgirl stuck at school over Christmas who finds ways to help everyone around her.
- Peggy BrowerA fifteen-year-old who cooks, cleans, and minds her niece and nephew while the grown-up family enjoys the holiday.
- Ann the washerwomanA poor washerwoman who feeds her lodgers and cares for a grumbling husband and a small daughter.
- Mr. CarterA rich old philanthropist who has lost his little dog Skiddles and keeps a rule against personal appeals.
- Little WolffA seven-year-old orphan with a stingy aunt and thin socks who has a loving heart and wooden shoes.
- Jimmy ScarecrowA young scarecrow who longs to be useful in winter and hopes Santa will remember him.
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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The Children's Book of Christmas Stories
by Asa Don Dickinson; Ada M. Skinner (editor)
Thirty-five Christmas tales send a fir tree, a washerwoman, and a miser in a fairy cap into the winter night.
Medium level5–10 hours to readEnglish
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
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In short
What does it take to turn a cold Christmas Eve into a warm one? In this book the answer is rarely money.
The Children's Book of Christmas Stories at a glance
- Reading time
- About 5 h 10 min4 h 5 min fast, 6 h 10 min slow
- Length
- 73,800 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A party and a restless tree set the question
The collection begins with a party and a warning. Old Fezziwig tells his young clerks to put up the shutters on Christmas Eve. Within a minute the warehouse floor is swept, the lamps are trimmed, and a fiddler climbs the high desk to play.
The room fills fast. Twenty couples dance at once, and Fezziwig and his wife lead the old dance called Sir Roger de Coverley. At eleven the ball ends, and the two hosts shake every hand at the door. The pleasure costs little and everyone shares it.
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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
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Dickinson, Asa Don. The Children's Book of Christmas Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-childrens-book-of-christmas-stories.
Dickinson, A. D. (2026). The children's book of Christmas stories. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-childrens-book-of-christmas-stories
Dickinson, Asa Don. The Children's Book of Christmas Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-childrens-book-of-christmas-stories.
@book{dickinson2026childrens,
author = {Dickinson, Asa Don},
title = {The Children's Book of Christmas Stories},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-childrens-book-of-christmas-stories}
}
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What is The Children's Book of Christmas Stories about?
It is a collection of thirty-five Christmas tales, legends, and sketches. They include Dickens, fairy stories, legends of the Christ Child, and tales of kindness, with a shared message of generosity toward strangers and neighbors.
Who wrote The Children's Book of Christmas Stories?
Asa Don Dickinson and Ada M. Skinner edited it. The pieces come from many writers, including Charles Dickens, Olive Thorne Miller, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, and Elia W. Peattie, plus older folk tales.
What are the best-known stories in the book?
Readers often point to the Fezziwig party and the Cratchit dinner from Dickens, The Fir-Tree, Why the Chimes Rang, Little Wolff's Wooden Shoes, Babouscka, and Jimmy Scarecrow's Christmas, which each leave a clear picture.
The author
Asa Don Dickinson
1876–1960 · American librarian and writer
Asa Don Dickinson (1876–1960) was an American librarian and editor. He worked at the University of the Punjab in Lahore, then in British India, in 1915 and 1916. With Ada M. Skinner, he edited The Children's Book of Christmas Stories, published in 1913.
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