This book is designed to last the whole family throughout the season of Christmas. The contents range from the old rhyme of The Twelve Days of Christmas to Thomas Hardy's The Oxen and Langston Hughes's tender Carol of the Brown King and from Kenneth Grahame's animal story Bertie's Escapade to the poignancy of Hans Christian Andersen's Little Match Girl. At the heart of this book is the story of the nativity, told in the words of the King James Bible, but there is also fun and laughter to be found in folktales such as the Norwegian The Cat on the Doverfell. Memories of Christmas past shape Alison Uttley's Christmas Day while Elizabeth Enright's A Christmas Tree for Lydia and O'Henry's The Gift of the Magi explore the deeper meaning of the season in two classic Christmas stories.