Christmas--the very word conjures up memories of the most wondrous childhood holiday of all--filled with the glitter of colorfully-wrapped presents, family visits, carols, photographs, decorating the tree, attendance at church to celebrate the birth of the Christ child, and tummy-stuffing dinners tucked with treats seen at no other time of the year.

But the yule holiday has been celebrated for at least two centuries in North America, and our writers have been producing memorable stories about this unique day for almost as long. Here are 29 Christmas stories old and new, tales to delight, to entrance, to beguile, and even to sadden a whole new generation of readers. From C. C. MacApp's view of a Christmas future to Jacob A. Riis's gut-wrenching portraits of the holiday in the 1890s slums of New York to William J. Locke's reenactment of the tale of the Three Wise Men, we experience every possible facet of this most precious day of the year. So sit back and relive your memories once again, as recreated through the eyes of some of the finest writers of their time!

Included in this volume:

INTRODUCTION, by Robert Reginald
THE BLOSSOMING ROD, by Mary Stewart Cutting
AND ALL THE EARTH A GRAVE, by C.C. MacApp
A REVERSIBLE SANTA CLAUS, by Meredith Nicholson
BEASLEY’S CHRISTMAS PARTY, by Booth Tarkington
A CHRISTMAS MYSTERY: THE STORY OF THREE WISE MEN, by William John Locke
BETTY’S BRIGHT IDEA, by Harriet Beecher Stowe
THE FIRST CHRISTMAS OF NEW ENGLAND, by Harriet Beecher Stowe
THE LADY ERMETTA; or, The Sleeping Secret
MR. KRIS KRINGLE: A CHRISTMAS TALE, by S. Weir Mitchell
ROSEMARY: A CHRISTMAS STORY, by C. N. & A. M. Williamson
THE CHRISTMAS CHILD, by Hesba Stretton
THE LITTLE GRAY LADY, by F. Hopkinson Smith
THE ROMANCE OF A CHRISTMAS CARD, by Kate Douglas Wiggin
MR. BAMBOO AND THE HONORABLE LITTLE GOD, by Fannie C. MacAulay
MRS. BUDLONG’S CHRISTMAS PRESENTS, by Rupert Hughes
THE OAK TREE’S CHRISTMAS GIFT, by Julian...