The Second St. Nicholas Anthology

by Henry Steele Commager (Editor), Miriam A. de Forde (Contributor), Lucretia P. Hale (Contributor)

The Second St. Nicholas Anthology

586 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Henry Steele Commager was an American historian who helped define Modern liberalism in the United States for two generations through his 40 books and 700 essays and reviews.

Reviews

[Avid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: this is not a christmas book. It is a collection of stories that were printed in a monthly magazine in the 1940s and earlier.

My two observations: 1) we have really dumbed down children’s literature between when these stories were written and now. The vocabulary alone is beyond what many adults today can even recognize. And 2) almost every story in this collection contains a racist and demeaning reference (or more) to “indians”. It was like an obsession of that era to write about “indians” and the threat “they” posed to fine, upstanding little white boys of the day.

[Vanessa Dargain · Rating 5 out of 5]

An anthology of children's stories excerpted from St. Nicholas magazine by authors who were popular at the time of printing .
Includes stories submitted by their readers in the final
10 pages . This is a very thick and heavy book . Not like the lightweight
paperbacks I am accustomed to reading . And I also didn't care for
every story in the text .
So choosing to read 20 selections in two sittings worked best for me .
In 2021 I read :
When I was a boy on the Ranch by Frank Dobie p.278
The latest News About the Three Wishes by Rupert Hughes p.151
Plantation Stories by Grace McGowan p.367
The Floating Prince p.101
How the Aristocrats Sailed Away Frank Stockton p.111
The Creature with Claws Joel Chandler Harris p.209
Barrel of Tacks by Foster Rhea Dulles p.227
The Origin of a Proverb by Ralph Henry Barbour p.406
The Time Shop by John Kendricks Bangs p.371
On the Mountain Trail by Harry Perry Robinson p.446
Fritz and the Master Fiddler by John Bennett p. 87
Will choose another 10 to read in 2022 .

[Evergreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's only two short stories that talks about Christmas. The other short stories talk about traveling, fighting wars, etc. The short stories are worth reading, but title and description are highly misleading. That's why I at least gave it a 3 instead of a 2 star rating.