Round the Christmas Tree

by Sara Corrin (Editor), Stephen Corrin (Editor), Jill Bennett (Illustrator)

A collection of traditional and modern Christmas stories by a variety of authors.

CONTENTS
The Big White Pussy-cat - Leila Berg
Father Christmas and the Carpenter - Alf Prøysen; translated by Marianne Helweg
The Fairy Ship - Alison Uttley
The Christmas Train - Ivan Gantschev; translated by Stephen Corrin
Father Christmas's Clothes - Paul Biegel; translated by Patricia Crampton
Schnitzle, Schnotzle and Schnootzle - Ruth Sawyer
Another mince pie - H.E. Todd
The Naughtiest Story of All - Dorothy Edwards
The Voyage of the Wee Red Cap - Ruth Sawyer
Mrs. Pepperpot's Christmas - Alf Prøysen; translated by Marianne Helweg
Winkle and the Christmas tree - Ruth Ainsworth
The Way of Wishes - Jean Chapman
Lotta's Christmas Surprise - Astrid Lindgren
The Little Fir Tree - Alison Uttley
Miss Anna Truly and the Christmas lights - V.H. Drummond
Way-by-Wall - Beatrix Potter

Genres: Christmas

134 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1983

About the author

Sara Corrin is a published author, editor, and a translator of children's books. Some of the published credits of Sara Corrin include Tales from Hans Andersen: Fourteen Classic Tales, Shocking Accident, A Shocking Accident, and Faber Book of Golden Fairytales.

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet and cosy children's stories with a Christmas theme, with lovely illustrations.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that’s been on my bookshelves since my children were small (many years ago). I was drawn to it after reading a short story in The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories. I knew I had read a similar story before.

The story in that collection was The Cat on the Dovrefjell by Peter Christen Asbjornson and Jorgen Moe, a story about a white bear and some trolls. The story in this collection is The Big White Pussycat by Leile Berg. They are basically the same story told in different ways and I realised they are both based on an old Danish folk tale.

Of course having read that I had to read the next story, and the next until I ended up reading the whole book.

It’s a charming collection, I am not sure if it’s still in print and to be honest the stories may seem a bit old fashioned compared to modern children’s books. Some stories hold up better than others. But I enjoyed them from a purely nostalgic point of view, they too me back to a time when I sat by the Christmas Tree reading them to my children.

[Maria Chef · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not thrilled with this book. The vocabulary in some stories was a bit difficult. Some stories were good and some others not.