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Christmas every day, and other stories told for children
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This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
150 pages, Hardcover
First published December 5, 2012
About the author
William Dean Howells
1,293 books104 followersWillam Dean Howells (1837-1920) was a novelist, short story writer, magazine editor, and mentor who wrote for various magazines, including the Atlantic Monthly and Harper's Magazine.
In January 1866 James Fields offered him the assistant editor role at the Atlantic Monthly. Howells accepted after successfully negotiating for a higher salary, but was frustrated by Fields's close supervision. Howells was made editor in 1871, remaining in the position until 1881.
In 1869 he first met Mark Twain, which began a longtime friendship. Even more important for the development of his literary style — his advocacy of Realism — was his relationship with the journalist Jonathan Baxter Harrison, who during the 1870s wrote a series of articles for the Atlantic Monthly on the lives of ordinary Americans.
He wrote his first novel, Their Wedding Journey, in 1872, but his literary reputation took off with the realist novel A Modern Instance, published in 1882, which described the decay of a marriage. His 1885 novel The Rise of Silas Lapham is perhaps his best known, describing the rise and fall of an American entrepreneur of the paint business. His social views were also strongly represented in the novels Annie Kilburn (1888), A Hazard of New Fortunes (1890), and An Imperative Duty (1892). He was particularly outraged by the trials resulting from the Haymarket Riot.
His poems were collected during 1873 and 1886, and a volume under the title Stops of Various Quills was published during 1895. He was the initiator of the school of American realists who derived, through the Russians, from Balzac and had little sympathy with any other type of fiction, although he frequently encouraged new writers in whom he discovered new ideas.
Howells also wrote plays, criticism, and essays about contemporary literary figures such as Henrik Ibsen, Émile Zola, Giovanni Verga, Benito Pérez Galdós, and, especially, Leo Tolstoy, which helped establish their reputations in the United States. He also wrote critically in support of American writers Hamlin Garland, Stephen Crane, Emily Dickinson, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Sarah Orne Jewett, Charles W. Chesnutt, Abraham Cahan, Madison Cawein,and Frank Norris. It is perhaps in this role that he had his greatest influence. In his "Editor's Study" column at the Atlantic Monthly and, later, at Harper's, he formulated and disseminated his theories of "realism" in literature.
In 1904 he was one of the first seven people chosen for membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, of which he became president.
Howells died in Manhattan on May 11, 1920. He was buried in Cambridge Cemetery in Massachusetts.
Noting the "documentary" and truthful value of Howells' work, Henry James wrote: "Stroke by stroke and book by book your work was to become, for this exquisite notation of our whole democratic light and shade and give and take, in the highest degree documentary."
In January 1866 James Fields offered him the assistant editor role at the Atlantic Monthly. Howells accepted after successfully negotiating for a higher salary, but was frustrated by Fields's close supervision. Howells was made editor in 1871, remaining in the position until 1881.
In 1869 he first met Mark Twain, which began a longtime friendship. Even more important for the development of his literary style — his advocacy of Realism — was his relationship with the journalist Jonathan Baxter Harrison, who during the 1870s wrote a series of articles for the Atlantic Monthly on the lives of ordinary Americans.
He wrote his first novel, Their Wedding Journey, in 1872, but his literary reputation took off with the realist novel A Modern Instance, published in 1882, which described the decay of a marriage. His 1885 novel The Rise of Silas Lapham is perhaps his best known, describing the rise and fall of an American entrepreneur of the paint business. His social views were also strongly represented in the novels Annie Kilburn (1888), A Hazard of New Fortunes (1890), and An Imperative Duty (1892). He was particularly outraged by the trials resulting from the Haymarket Riot.
His poems were collected during 1873 and 1886, and a volume under the title Stops of Various Quills was published during 1895. He was the initiator of the school of American realists who derived, through the Russians, from Balzac and had little sympathy with any other type of fiction, although he frequently encouraged new writers in whom he discovered new ideas.
Howells also wrote plays, criticism, and essays about contemporary literary figures such as Henrik Ibsen, Émile Zola, Giovanni Verga, Benito Pérez Galdós, and, especially, Leo Tolstoy, which helped establish their reputations in the United States. He also wrote critically in support of American writers Hamlin Garland, Stephen Crane, Emily Dickinson, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Sarah Orne Jewett, Charles W. Chesnutt, Abraham Cahan, Madison Cawein,and Frank Norris. It is perhaps in this role that he had his greatest influence. In his "Editor's Study" column at the Atlantic Monthly and, later, at Harper's, he formulated and disseminated his theories of "realism" in literature.
In 1904 he was one of the first seven people chosen for membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, of which he became president.
Howells died in Manhattan on May 11, 1920. He was buried in Cambridge Cemetery in Massachusetts.
Noting the "documentary" and truthful value of Howells' work, Henry James wrote: "Stroke by stroke and book by book your work was to become, for this exquisite notation of our whole democratic light and shade and give and take, in the highest degree documentary."
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 22, 2016
3.5 Stars
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December 17, 2018Curious to learn that, 80 years before Roy Wood wished it could be Christmas every day, the popular theme of pointing out all the drawbacks to that scheme already existed. Some of Howells' objections are still staples of the genre, like turkeys become scarcer than rocs, but others were new to me, like the idea of people trying to enact the year's other celebrations only to find that, for instance, on the Fourth of July all the pyrotechnics have turned to candy. The second story is in a similar apocalyptic vein, with turkeys turning the tables on the humans, and the rest of the tales are not without moments of peril, not least when threats are made to stop telling them. The narrator is surely not unreliable – being a papa – but his listeners do occasionally doubt the veracity of his accounts, a framing device which I found adorable but others might find insufferable.
Also: checking for basic information on Howells, I learned that his other work includes the utopian novel A Traveler from Altruria, in which the eponymous visitor from a better land is one Mr Homos. 10/10 for gay agenda.
Also: checking for basic information on Howells, I learned that his other work includes the utopian novel A Traveler from Altruria, in which the eponymous visitor from a better land is one Mr Homos. 10/10 for gay agenda.
December 9, 2018
Christmas Every Day and Other Stories is an antique collection of Christmas stories told for children from the works of W.D. Howells. Published in 1892, it includes: Christmas Every Day, Turkeys Turning the Tables, The Pony Engine and the Pacific Express, The Pumpkin-Glory, and Butterflyflutterby and Flutterbybutterfly.
I really enjoyed this charming and witty book. These are super funny and imaginative stories with fun interaction between Papa and the children. I caught a neat mention in one story of "postal cards" as being different from letters. I always like reading about Victorian letter writing practices. I'm sure this will become a yearly Christmas favorite.
I really enjoyed this charming and witty book. These are super funny and imaginative stories with fun interaction between Papa and the children. I caught a neat mention in one story of "postal cards" as being different from letters. I always like reading about Victorian letter writing practices. I'm sure this will become a yearly Christmas favorite.
November 18, 2013
I'll admit the first story was kind of cute. I've heard it before, but not quite that way. The story of what would happen if every day was Christmas.
The other three stories were pretty dull , bordering on dreadful. It was moralistic tales being interrupted by the children they were being told to.
The other three stories were pretty dull , bordering on dreadful. It was moralistic tales being interrupted by the children they were being told to.
December 20, 2022
The last story wasn’t seasonal, but the others were pretty cute!
January 27, 2019
A book written about a father telling stories to his children and other children. It was a quick but entertaining read.
August 6, 2019
Very charmingly written. Will be rereading with the other half and the sprog.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews