6 Classic Christmas Stories & Poems the Whole Family Will Love
The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter
Author Beatrix Potter is famous for her Peter Rabbit children’s book series, which she beautifully illustrated herself. Her illustrations are a big part of what made her stories famous, along with the cute and relatable characters and their adventures.
Also written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, The Tailor of Gloucester is a cute story about a tailor who was commissioned by the mayor to make a waistcoat for his wedding. However, when the tailor gets very sick and is unable to finish the work, he becomes very worries. However, at an earlier time, the tailor had rescued some mice from being eaten by his cat. These little mice, grateful to the tailor, saw his predicament and finished the waistcoat for him. To the Tailor’s great surprise, on Christmas morning, the day of the mayor’s wedding the waistcoat was found, completed. You can read it online here. In addition, you can watch a beautiful adaptation on YouTube
A Christmas Inspiration by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Author Lucy Maud Montgomery is a famous author from Canada, best known for her Anne of Green Gables novels. A Christmas Inspiration is a story about five girls who discover that it’s more blessed to give a gift than to receive one, while staying at a boarding-house during Christmas. While these girls talk about the many Christmas gifts they had received, they get to know another girl at the boarding-house who was far less fortunate, and didn’t seem to have a friend in the world. You can read A Christmas Inspiration, here or listen to it on Youtube
A Letter From Santa Claus by Mark Twain
Famous author Mark Twain, had four children whom he dearly loved. In 1875, Twain wrote and sent a letter, as if from Santa Claus, to his three-year-old daughter, Susie Clemens. You can read this cute and heartwarming letter here. Listen to it on Youtube
A Country Christmas by Louisa May Alcott
Famous author Louisa May Alcott, (author of Little Women) also wrote several Christmas short stories and poems. One of those, A Country Christmas, is about a big city girl named Sophie who is being pressured to marry. Unsure about what she should do, decides to go visit her Aunt Plumy and her two causin’s, Saul and Ruth for Christmas. Aunt Plumy lives in the country side of Vermont on a small farm, and lives a far more simple and humble life than Sophie is use to in the city. Sophie also invites two of her friends to show them life in the country side. A cute and heartwarming experience that none of them expect ensues. You can read A Country Christmasonline here.
On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity by John Milton
John Milton, famous English poet, best known for his poem Paradise Lost. His poem On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity, written in 1629, is one of four poems by Milton that are required reading of The Harvard Classics on day 2 of class. Milton wrote the poem as a young man when he was a student at Cambridge. Read On the Morning of Christ’s Nativityonline here, or listen to it on Youtube
The Three Kings by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, an American poet and educator who wrote Paul Revere's Ride, The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. His Christmas poem, The Three Kings, is a beautiful classic telling of the three wise men’s visit to the newborn King. Listen to The Three Kings on Youtube:
