The Top 10 Christmas Books - Guest Post by Irene Martin

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Irene Martin, of www.privatewriting.com, is a copywriter working on building and improving her online presence. Interested in education, literature and writing she asked if she to do some guest writing on this blog. 

Since the holidays are upon us I told her, " I'd be interested in a piece on Christmas themed literature (its history, a "best of" list, etc...)."  She responded it the following piece listing her picks for the 10 best Christmas books of all time. 

Please note, paragraphs referring to some of the older works (A Christmas Carol, etc...) contain minor spoilers.  However, the only "spoiled" stories are pieces which 99% of us are extremely familiar with.
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The Top 10 Christmas Books, by Irene Martin

Though it comes just before the end of the year, Christmas, to many people, may be “the most wonderful time of the year.” The joyful energy in the air, the majestic medley of lights, the wondrous food, the boundless holiday cheer and heartfelt giving – and some folks even like the songs that play incessantly every holiday season.

But it’s also a great time for literature – not only because reading is one of the best, most natural things to do when it’s cold outside, but because some of history’s best literature is Christmas-themed.

Below are (quite possibly) the 10 best Christmas books of all time! Enjoy!
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THE LIST

10. The Christmas Train – by David Baldacci
OK, so it’s not exactly Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. That is quite a bit further down on the list. Internationally bestselling American author David Baldacci is one of today’s most engaging novelists. Even though The Christmas Train is not his usual thriller about Washington, D.C., it does, however, include a life-changing, cross-country train ride at Christmas; it’s got a bit of holiday magic too.

Like most good Christmas stories, it illustrates a person’s rediscovery of the essential goodness in people. Baldacci’s website says this “tale shows how we do get second chances to fulfill our deepest hopes and dreams, especially during the season of miracles.”

9. The Greatest Gift – by Philip Van Doren Stern
First published as a virtually unknown short story (then published as a book), The Greatest Gift is the story that would inspire the classic Christmas film It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), which has been named number 11 on the American Film Institute’s list of the best American movies ever made. It’s the story about a discontented, miserable and married man finding gratitude in realizing that life is a precious gift. It follows the same theme present in most Christmas-themed literature: there is a transforming magic in the air during the Christmas season, almost inexplicably touching everyone, whether they want to believe it or not.

8. The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus – by L. Frank Baum
The first Christmas children’s book on the list, but certainly not the last, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1902), written by L. Frank Baum who wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, tells the story of Santa’s origins, his giving of the first-ever toy, and explains the how the merry “old St. Nick” came to give gifts to children all over the world and how he was ultimately given immortality. It’s a touching tale reminding those who may have lost their imagination at one point or another that the end of the year, Christmastime, is the perfect time to get it back – at least a little of it.

7. The Father Christmas Letters – by J. R. R. Tolkien
The prolific author of The Lord of the Rings had a very gentle heart for his own children’s imagination at Christmastime. So much, in fact, that for over 20 years he gave each of his four children, beginning from the time that they were very young, letters from Santa himself (but truly written by Tolkien). Tolkien’s daughter-in-law would later gather the letters and edit them, having them published into a book by Houghton Mifflin in 1976, three years after the author’s death. Mainly about his (Santa’s) travels and adventures with his elves, The Father Christmas Letters has received positive praise for its influence on Children’s literature.

6. The Homecoming: A Novel About Spencer's Mountain – by Earl Hamner Jr.
Certainly more known for spawning the hit TV series The Waltons, The Homecoming: A Novel About Spencer’s Mountain is Earl Hamner Jr.’s story about a family in the mountains of Virginia during the Great Depression. It’s snowy, frigid Christmas Eve and, as the night emerges, the family grows increasingly concerned for their patriarch who has not yet returned home from work. The Homecoming, part adventure, part holiday drama, is a warm and wonderful classic of American literature that illuminates the triumph of the human spirit, a theme running in many of the holiday’s best literature.

5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas – by Dr. Seuss
In this Christmas classic for children (though some adults love it, too), the terrible Mr. Grinch tries to sabotage Christmas for the peaceful village of Whoville, home of the merry and warm-hearted Whos. With a heart “two sizes too small,” the bitter and grouchy, cave-dwelling creature, hearing the noisy Christmas festivities nearby in Whoville, suddenly decides to stop their Christmas and looks to steal their presents, trees and food for their holiday feast. But after doing so, he expects to hear their languished cries Christmas morning; instead, he hears them singing a joyous Christmas song.

What is so wonderful about this story is the Grinch realizing the holiday is so much more than gift giving and feasting; learning this, his small heart suddenly grows three sizes larger. He ends up returning all of the the presents and is warmly invited to spend the holidays with the Whos.

4. The Gift of the Magi – by O. Henry
O. Henry’s 1906 Christmas classic, originally a short story (but published in one of Henry’s anthologies), is one of the most touching stories of all time. It is the story of a selfless, enduring love shared between a young couple who want but can’t afford to buy each other Christmas gifts. Each sells their most precious possession to get the other a worthwhile gift.  The Gift of the Magi is an important reminder that love endures, that it is all people ever really need in life. It also reminds readers that giving something of one’s self is perhaps the greatest gift of all.

3. The Night Before Christmas – by Clement Clarke Moore
First a poem published anonymously in 1823, The Night Before Christmas, later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, has become a yearly tradition for many American families who read the book each year on Christmas Eve – just hours before Old St. Nick shows up with presents. The relatively short poem is about a sleeping father who, after being suddenly awakened when St. Nicholas lands on the roof, sees the “jolly, old elf” himself leaving his children presents, then flying away in his sleigh. The story tugs at the imagination of readers, especially young children, and truly captures the magic surrounding the wonderful holiday season. It rhymes, too, and is a lovely narrative.

2. The Polar Express – by Chris Van Allsburg

A generally short book adored by many – both children and adults – The Polar Express is the heartwarming story of a little boy who no longer takes joy in Christmas. On Christmas Eve he catches a train ride on the “Polar Express” to the North Pole and gets to see Santa Claus and his elves at work; he then wakes up the next morning, Christmas Day, with the same joy and sense of wonder that he had been missing for so long. It’s the perfect story illustrating how easily one’s imagination (and its corresponding joy) can potentially be lost forever; that is, unless they can return to the innocent mentality of a child … even if it is for a just a short while.

1. A Christmas Carol – by Charles Dickens
Certainly one of the best Christmas stories of all time, if not the best, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a holiday classic read and enjoyed by people all over the world. Like the Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Ebenezer Scrooge, a rather cold and miserly person, undergoes a life-altering experience at Christmas. On Christmas Eve, three different ghosts visit him during the night while he sleeps. It’s a series of dreams, but it all seems too real to him. Ultimately, in his dreams, he is showed how his existence could end if he goes on living with his bitter resentment toward life and with a general disdain for all the people in his own life. Thinking he has died a lonely, awful death (which comes after living a selfish, greedy, bitter and even lonelier life), Scrooge wakes up Christmas morning a renewed person, joyful, charming, full of positive energy and acts lovingly to literally every, single person he sees.

The story of A Christmas Carol is an engaging reminder to adults, those who may have been hardened by life, that it’s never too late to live with love and gratitude and with a general compassion for others, because it’s never too late to change for the better.
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Well, that's quite the list.  I might have included John Grisham's Skipping Christmas in there somewhere.  However, with multiple retellings of Dickens' classic book in existence, including; 1970's cinematic Scrooge (a musical film adaptation starring Albert Finney), 1979's An American Christmas Carol (starring Henry Winkler), 1998's The Passion of Scrooge (a chamber opera by Jon Deak for one baritone and chamber orchestra), and many more; nobody can dispute Irene's #1 pick.

What's your favorite Christmas story?  Leave your answer in the comment section below.
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Christmas Cinquains

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The American poet Adelaide Crapsey invented the modern form, known as American Cinquain.  Inspired by the Japanese poetry form, Haiku, Crapsey decided to make the criterion a stanza of five lines of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 2 syllables.

Below are three season appropriate Cinquains I've written lately.   Enjoy.

Title: Snowy moorland west of Crawberry Hill | Date: 12/28/2009 | Photographer: Mike Quinn | This image was taken from the Geograph project collection. See this photograph's page on the Geograph website for the photographer's contact details. The copyright on this image is owned by Mike Quinn and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license.

Snow & Ice
Snow falls...
On lonely hills,
As small children ice skate,
Upon the newly frozen lake,
Below.

Saint Nick's Night
Saint Nick...
Slides down chimneys,
Packing loads of wrapped joy,
For youngsters sleeping in warm beds,
Tonight.

Waiting For Christmas Dinner
Roast bird,
And sage dressing,
Populate the table,
While hungry eaters await the,
Blessing.

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Thoughts of Thanksgiving

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Even though America residing Spaniards were celebrating Thanksgiving as early as the 16th century, and residents of Jamestown adopted the holiday in

Title: The First Thanksgiving | Date: between circa 1912 and circa 1915 | Painter: Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1863–1930) | This media picture is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1923.

1607, Americans traditionally accredit the Pilgrims of the Plymouth Plantation, and their Wampanoag guests, with the first celebration of Thanksgiving in 1621.

According to legend, the Plymouth settlers invited their Native American friends of the Wampanoag Tribe to a harvest feast in celebration of, and thanks for, their first successful growing season.  This initial feast of waterfowl, venison, fish, lobster, clams, berries, fruit, pumpkin, and squash spawned the seedlings of the tradition Americans enjoy today.

However, the agrarian observance wouldn't be an official part of the American calendar for another two centuries.  Prior to 1863, citizens of New England and other Northern states scheduled their own Thanksgiving holidays, ranging anywhere from October to January.  Meanwhile, the Southern U.S. states didn't really acknowledge the observance at all.

Title: Sarah Josepha Hale (1788-1879) | Date: circa 1831 | Painter: James Reid Lambdin (1807-1889) | This picture is in the public domain. The copyright has expired prior to January 1, 1923.

Then along came Sarah Josepha Hale, the 74-year-old editor of Godey's  Lady's Book.  Hale spent 17 years writing letters to five Presidents of the United States: Zachary Taylor, Millard Filmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and Abraham Lincoln; urging them to designate a nationally recognized day of Thanksgiving.

Some say, Lincoln saw the holiday as a tool to unite the country during a bloody civil war.  Others claim, he capitulated simply to end the barrage of letters.  In any case, President Lincoln finally responded to Mrs. Hale's repeated requests by setting aside the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise.

The following proclamation was written by Secretary of State William Seward, to be read by President Abraham Lincoln on October 3rd, 1863. 
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"By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. 

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. 

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

 William H. Seward,
Secretary of State"
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Description: Tender, juicy roast turkey - the main attraction - with old-fashioned gravy, cranberry sauce, smashed potatoes, baked green beans, sweet and sour cod, steamed rice, pickled green papaya relish, flan, pigs in a blanket... | 
Date: 11/23/2005 | Photographer: Ms. Jones from California | This photo is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Around WWII, the date fluctuated between the fourth Thursday of November and the last Thursday of November, but for the most part the fourth Thursday of November has been known as Thanksgiving in the U.S. ever since President Lincoln  spoke those eloquent words.

What began as an acknowledgement of the harvest and our agrarian roots has morphed into an annual glorification of food and football.  Don't get me wrong, food is a fabulous way to bring people together to enjoy traditional dishes and one another's company.  It's when the gratitude, the day is named for, becomes buried beneath mounds of potatoes and stuffing that the spirit of the day is lost.

We live in the most technically advanced era the world has ever known.  Most of us have access to; food from around the world, medicines for almost any condition, ideas from everywhere (thanks to cable & the internet), and warm shelter.  These things have become such a part of everyday life, we forget how many people go without these things.

Therefore, on November 28th of this year, as we're passing the hot buttered biscuits, let's honor the day by expressing gratitude by all we have to be thankful for.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!
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Autum Musings

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Title: Herbstwald in Deutschland | Photographer: Martin Heiß | Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or
modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2.

"You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintery light." ~ Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

 Like most of us, "Papa" apparently saw autumn as a time of slumber, death, and endings.  Surely, there's something to such a view.  As leaves change to gold, crimson, and umber remnants of their former selves and skies darken with threats of algid rain, one can practically hear the Earth yawn.  Naked branches appear to stretch in preparation for a long planetary nap.

Fields of beets, pumpkins, cabbages, lettuce, radishes, carrots, scallions, spinach, chicory, turnips, squash, and collards are picked bare and allowed to rest, some beneath early blankets of ivory snow.  Meanwhile, epicurean longings turn from thoughts of ball park sausages, sundaes, and salads to dreams of rich stews, roasted fowl, and hearty venison dishes tailored to keep eaters full, warm, and content as we read on cozy evenings until we finally doze into pleasant sleep.

It occurs to me though, that as nature nestles drowsily down, society has refashioned the season into one of beginnings, rather than endings.  Our school year begins in the fall.  The market's busiest retail season kicks off in October.  Our TV entertainment renews itself every autumn.  We even elect our leaders in the fall, often reshaping the texture and tone of our government.

I have to wonder if the contrast between nature's cycle and civilization's schedule is purely a matter of happen stance, or if we timed things this way, however subconsciously, to provide ourselves with an annual sense of balance?

What do you think?  Leave your thoughts below.

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