Off The Bookshelf: Treasury of Christmas Tales

by Naomi L. | December 17, 2014 | Blog, Creative Writing, Off The Bookshelf | 0 comments

Remember when you were a kid, how you enjoyed reading or listening to holiday stories with your family at the end of the year? That was a good part of my childhood, as we had several Christmas-themed books sitting on our shelves when I was growing up. So to celebrate the season, here’s a brief review of a Christmas book we had when I was a kid: Treasury of Christmas Tales. Enjoy!

Treasury of Christmas Tales, by Carolyn Quattrocki

Summary

Treasury of Christmas Tales is a children’s book published around 1994 and consisting of a collection of classic Christmas stories. The book was put together by author Carolyn Quattrocki, and includes colorful illustrations by Susan Spellman and adaptions of works by writers such as Charles Dickens (“A Christmas Carol”), Clement C. Moore (“‘Twas The Night Before Christmas”), the Brothers Grimm (“The Elves and the Shoemaker”) and Hans Christian Andersen (“The Little Match Girl”). Written in simple text, Treasury of Christmas Tales contains 19 stories, all themed around Christmas and the winter holiday season:

1. A Christmas Carol
2. The Wishing Star
3. The Little Match Girl
4. The Christmas Mouse
5. Jingle Bells
6. The Magic Toy Shop
7. The Littlest Angel
8. The Twelve Days of Christmas
9. The Christmas Bear
10. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
11. The Nutcracker
12. Santa Claus is Coming to Town
13. The Tiny Elf
14. O Christmas Tree
15. The Elves and the Shoemaker
16. The Little Drummer Boy
17. Christmas Carols
18. The Happy Snowman
19. Rudolph’s Adventure

Review

I remember I enjoyed reading this book with my mother and sisters when I was a child. Around the end of the year, my mom would read some of these tales to us while we followed along with the pictures, which really made for a fun family experience.

The 1994 edition of Treasury of Christmas Tales from my childhood

What I especially enjoyed about this book was how accessible the text was for us at our young age. Originally complex tales like “A Christmas Carol” were adapted into language that we as children could easily understand, but that didn’t lose the Christmas spirit of the story. Even sad tales like “The Little Match Girl” were told in a way that was uplifting and heartwarming. I also liked the colorful illustrations on every other page of the book, which made the stories even more comprehensible and memorable. It isn’t a broad collection for sure, but it does have good stories and illustrations that made it a joy for us to read every holiday season.

Inspiration

Though I hadn’t read this book since I was a kid, recently rediscovering it among my childhood belongings brought back pleasant memories of enjoying the holiday season with my family. It’s always fun to revisit stories from a happy time in your life, and the tales I enjoyed as a kid usually have a way of inspiring me to create stories of my own as an adult. So if you have some good holiday stories from your childhood, I encourage you to read them again this season. You may find just what you need to write your own cheerful Christmas tale!