Advent Day 4: Yuletide Good Reads

In a world flooded with Christmas movies and TV specials, where have all the worthwhile seasonal stories gone? They're in the libraries and bookshelves right where we left them. Here are my top 5 Christmas tales worth revisiting this season.

1) How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

This classic has been adapted into two different movies (both worth watching). It never hurts to go back to the original though. Dr. Seuss introduces us to the story of quaint Whoville, the home of the Whos. Here Christmas is held in the highest esteem by the entire population...minus one. The Grinch lives just north of Whoville on Mount Crumpet absolutely hating his neighbors and their Christmas merriment. Loathing the entire holiday and tired of bearing his burden in silence, the Grinch decides to steal the whole thing. After stripping down the whole town of its festive trappings and setting his hull precariously on top of Mount Crumpet, the Grinch pauses before dumping the contents of his sleigh off the mountain in order to hear the weeping of the poor souls who no longer have a day to celebrate. Instead our villain hears the same triumphant song that is sung every Christmas day. This tune brings a revelation to the tiny-hearted Grinch. "'Maybe Christmas' he thought 'doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.'"

2) The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbra Robinson

This adorable story follows the Herdman children as they go from the 'worst kids in the world' to the stars of the local nativity play. Imogene, Claude, Ralph, Leroy, Ollie and Gladys are known around town as being dirty and no good. However, after they insert themselves into Sunday school and later into the church's Christmas play the townspeople start to see them in a different light. The riotous personalities of the children coupled with the real emotion the nativity play churns up makes this a Christmas story unlike any other.

3) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Again a classic that has been converted to TV and film. If you are going to go the movie route, I recommend the Muppet's Christmas Carol. Novel wise, I myself find Dickens to be a hard read but it is worth plodding through his heavy diction to follow his character development as well as the twist and turns of the plot line. The miserly Mr. Scrooge is known throughout London as "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner." In an attempt to save Scrooge's soul, his old business partner Marley comes back from the grave to herald the coming of three other spirits. Without these spectral visits, Scrooge cannot hope to avoid a most awful destination that awaits him on the other side of death. These three spirits, The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, walk Scrooge through the life that he missed in his youth, show him the good that he could be doing to those around him in the present and lay bear just how poorly the future will turn out if he does not deviate from his present course. Awakening on Christmas morning a changed man, Scrooge becomes a blessing to his community, and works to go above and beyond in his generosity to others.

4) The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

O. Henry's classic work is a short story that will take no time to read but its message is no less memorable. Jim and Della are young, married and poor. Their true love keeps them together and prompts them to want to buy each other something special for Christmas. Della's hair is her glory; beautiful and shinny it reaches down nearly to her knees. Jim's prized possession is his family heirloom: a gold watch. Wanting to get Jim a chain for his watch Della sells her hair. In order to buy Della some expensive accessories for her hair, Jim sells his watch. They both return home to realize they have procured a gift for the other that is now completely useless. In the end it is not the material gifts that they give each other, the ultimate gift given is the gift of love. 

5) The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore

If you do not read this story on Christmas Eve, you are doing it wrong. Embodying all the anticipation leading up to and the magic of the final arrival of Christmas, this story set to meter is one that stays with us as we grow up. Memorable and charming, The Night Before Christmas remains one of the central pieces of the Christmas literary repertoire.