Christmas is here, which means it’s time to page though those old favourites that remind us of the real spirit of Christmas. From Dickens to Dr Seuss, Children’s Christmas stories are life long lessons about compassion, faith and of course, having a jolly sense of humour. Have a look through our favourite children’s Christmas tales; and let us know if we’ve left any out!
This is Dickens’ 1843 classic tale of grouchy, greedy Ebenezer Scrooge’s transformation after a visit from three ghosts: The Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-come. The three ghost’s, in turn, show Ebenezer various scenes in which they evoke a sense of kindness, generosity and compassion in him; The Ghost of Christmas Past reminds Ebenezer of his own childhood innocence and meekness, The Ghost of Christmas Present instigates a sense of moral duty to his fellow man, The Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-come cautions Ebenezer of a lonely, untended grave if he does not change his ways. On waking from the spectral apparitions, Ebenezer has learnt his lesson and lives on to embody the spirit of Christmas.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
This clever story by Dr Seuss tells about how the Grinch hates holidays and he hates the Whos too, so he decides to try to stop Christmas from coming by stealing all of the presents and the Who’s Christmas feast, even the Christmas trees and the logs for the fire. But this doesn’t stop the Who’s Christmas cheer; they don’t need presents or fancy feasts to make Christmas. The Grinch realises finally that Christmas is more than the things you buy at the store.
” ‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse”… The most well-known and most read of all Christmas literature, this Christmas poem is generally attributed to C.C Moore, although some controversy exists that perhaps it was written by Henry Livingston. It entrenched the jolly physical appearance of the Santa Clause image that we hold universally today, the number and names of his reindeer among other Christmas traditions.
A beautiful Christmas tale written by Chris Van Allsberg about a boy who boards a magical train on Christmas Eve, with other little children bound for the North Pole. There they meet Santa Clause, who chooses the boy to receive the first gift for Christmas. The boy asks Santa if he can have one of the sweet little bells that ring from the reindeer. Later on he finds out just how special this little gift really is.
