Christmas Anthology #1

Four classic Christmas short stories from the pens of some of the best authors ever. Sure to delight readers young and old alike :#1: Christmas Eve as Swamp's End: from a collection about life in the Northwest. A young woman desperately wants a baby. Unfortunately, she isn't married, and her prospects of finding a husband in this VERY small community aren't good. She cares for other's children whenever she can -- adopts them, at least in her mind. But it isn't the same; she wants a baby of her own.#2: Christmas, A Happy Time: a charming tale about two sisters who look forward to having their older brothers back home from school for Christmas. The setting is the countryside in Great Britain. As you read it to your children, remember that it was written in 1832, so, they may not be familiar with some of the words, and the writing style may seem a bit dated. Despite a sad moment when the family dog falls through thin ice and drowns, which is used as a lesson for the children to stay off the ice, this is an upbeat bedtime story.#3: The Blossoming Rod: A Christmas Story: all about a certain happy little family and their plot to give the head of the house just exactly the gift he wanted for Christmas -- a thing which is apt to happen more frequently in books than elsewhere. Sub-titled A Christmas Story, it is permeated with the spirit of the day and enveloped in a happy mood.#4: The Christmas Banquet: a VERY funny short story; every year, the ten most miserable people in town are invited to a Christmas banquet. Their misery is shared alongside the holiday feast, and every year, an increasingly wretched Gervayse Hastings makes his appearance. Over time, all the other guests seem to have grown in character and risen above their sad condition, except of course, Mr. Hastings.