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Very Merry Christmas Tales
Wally's First Christmas by Barbara Seuling
Jigsaw Jones: The Case of the Santa Claus Mystery by James Preller
Midnight Gets a Star by Sue Wright
Take a Penny, Leave a Penny by Stephanie Calmenson
The Nutcracker Retold by Sue Wright
Holiday Disaster by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones
Christmas on the Prairie by Sue Wright
The Rocking Chair: A Classroom Play by Suzy Kline
A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore
Jigsaw Jones: The Case of the Santa Claus Mystery by James Preller
Midnight Gets a Star by Sue Wright
Take a Penny, Leave a Penny by Stephanie Calmenson
The Nutcracker Retold by Sue Wright
Holiday Disaster by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones
Christmas on the Prairie by Sue Wright
The Rocking Chair: A Classroom Play by Suzy Kline
A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore
- GenresChristmasChapter Books
83 pages, paperback
First published January 1, 2004
1 person is currently reading
47 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 27, 2018
Jane and read this book together. It had 6 or 7 short stories about Christmas and we could usually read a whole story in one night. The last story was a play that we acted out together, which was kind of fun. The stories weren't amazing, but we enjoyed them.
July 9, 2017
It was nice to read about Christmas in July.
January 29, 2018
Fun short stories for children. Some I certainly liked better than others especially the ones that had a type of lesson or moral to them.
December 1, 2019
A nice little collection of stories but nothing outstanding.
December 16, 2021
Found this book on my shelf. Thought I'd read it for fun. It wasn't fun.
January 4, 2024
Fun short stories for Christmas!
January 12, 2019
3 Stars = I liked the book.
One of the books in my daughter's Christmas collection.
One of the books in my daughter's Christmas collection.
November 28, 2014
I liked this book because it told christmas stories:) There were 8 all-new short holiday tales plus a classic. The first story called "Wally's First Christmas" is about a dog who just got adopted from a safe haven shelter. Wally gets into a lot of trouble because of a cat and he gets nervous because he had never experienced what Christmas is liked. The boxes under the tree scared him because it reminded him of what happened when his previous owners had boxes everywhere because they were moving.
The second tale called " Jigsaw Jones: The Case of Santa Clause Mystery " was about a kid named Sally Ann who wanted to meet Santa so she made a deal Jigsaw and Mila to help her. So they set a trap. Will it work? Read to find out.
The third story was about a cat who was in the stable when Jesus was born. The cast name was Midnight. Midnight never liked when people or animals came into the stable. But when Mary and Joseph entered
Take a Penny, Leave a Penny was the 4th tale. It was about how a little girl named Dawn who didn't have much money went into Pop's to buy a snack before dance class. But she was two pennies short so the person at the counter named Jenny gave Dawn two pennies plus a shiny one for luck. Dawn didn't have much money, but 10 years later Dawn went back to Pop's to give them 3 pennies. She was now a famous TV star.
The fifth tale called "The Nutcracker Retold" is basically like Nutcracker.
The sixth tale, "Holiday Disaster" is about a girl named Angelia. She was messing everything in the holiday play preparations. She has the head elf role and she is very nervous that she will mess up. Her dad came all the way from New York to see her, her parents are divorced. When she stands in the middl elf the stag eon the big day she says her lines perfectly. But her very last line of the play might now be said as written. She was about to cry until everyone started Clapping.
The 7th story "Christmas on the Prairie" was about a family who moved from St.Louis to Nebraska. They moved onto a sod house . A girl named Katy was very sad to not have Christmas in Nebraska . The whole family missed Nebraska. So they made their sod house as christmasy as possible. They had a party on Christmas eve and invited all there neighbors. It turned out to be a Christmas Katy will never forget.
The last tale was a classroom play called "The Rocking Chair" and it was about a teacher name Mrs. Mackle who was reading A Visit From St.Nick to her class. This ties into the very last story in the book. It is a favorite classic called "A visit from St. Nicholas".
The second tale called " Jigsaw Jones: The Case of Santa Clause Mystery " was about a kid named Sally Ann who wanted to meet Santa so she made a deal Jigsaw and Mila to help her. So they set a trap. Will it work? Read to find out.
The third story was about a cat who was in the stable when Jesus was born. The cast name was Midnight. Midnight never liked when people or animals came into the stable. But when Mary and Joseph entered
Take a Penny, Leave a Penny was the 4th tale. It was about how a little girl named Dawn who didn't have much money went into Pop's to buy a snack before dance class. But she was two pennies short so the person at the counter named Jenny gave Dawn two pennies plus a shiny one for luck. Dawn didn't have much money, but 10 years later Dawn went back to Pop's to give them 3 pennies. She was now a famous TV star.
The fifth tale called "The Nutcracker Retold" is basically like Nutcracker.
The sixth tale, "Holiday Disaster" is about a girl named Angelia. She was messing everything in the holiday play preparations. She has the head elf role and she is very nervous that she will mess up. Her dad came all the way from New York to see her, her parents are divorced. When she stands in the middl elf the stag eon the big day she says her lines perfectly. But her very last line of the play might now be said as written. She was about to cry until everyone started Clapping.
The 7th story "Christmas on the Prairie" was about a family who moved from St.Louis to Nebraska. They moved onto a sod house . A girl named Katy was very sad to not have Christmas in Nebraska . The whole family missed Nebraska. So they made their sod house as christmasy as possible. They had a party on Christmas eve and invited all there neighbors. It turned out to be a Christmas Katy will never forget.
The last tale was a classroom play called "The Rocking Chair" and it was about a teacher name Mrs. Mackle who was reading A Visit From St.Nick to her class. This ties into the very last story in the book. It is a favorite classic called "A visit from St. Nicholas".
did-not-finish
October 15, 2016Read Christmas on the Prairie on 12/3/12.
It is 1873 and Katy Billings, who has grown up in her grandparents’ fancy house in St. Louis, is disappointed by the new sod house her family has built in Nebraska. Though her sister Stella has big plans for decorating the house for the holiday, Katy is convinced the house will be ugly. Her parents believe in Christmas miracles, however, and sure enough, paper snowflakes, bits of greenery, and a Christmas tree with ornaments hand-carved by Mr. Billings make the new house a perfectly festive place for the Billings family and their neighbors to celebrate.
"Christmas on the Prairie" is only ten pages long, but there is lots to be taken away from it. 1873, we learn in the story, is the first year that the state of Nebraska has recognized Christmas as a state holiday. For 21st Century Americans who kick off Christmas in November and listen to Christmas music 24/7, it’s hard to imagine a time when Christmas wasn’t a major national holiday. I think it’s also hard for many kids to imagine living in a sod house and decorating for Christmas with only the few items available to them. Without being preachy, "Christmas on the Prairie" drives home that lesson adults are always interested in teaching kids - that Christmas is not about things, but about appreciating one another.
Also present in the story are three Pawnee boys who are drawn to Katy’s house by the family’s organ music. Though this story is essentially about a white family celebrating Christmas on the prairie, the author adds to the authenticity of the time period by mentioning the American Indians who also lived in the same area. It is especially nice to see the gift exchange between the Billingses and the three boys, which is part of what makes this Katy’s favorite Christmas, even after she grows up.
This story shares a lot of nice similarities with Laura Ingalls Wilder’s accounts of Christmas in her own prairie home, but with a slightly different perspective. I enjoyed the story, and felt like I learned something from it, too. While I probably can’t use it at too many library programs, because it is solely about Christmas, and it comes from a collection my library does not own, I am considering writing it up as a reader’s theater script for a Catholic school class I work with, where I know all the kids celebrate Christmas, both at home and in school.
It is 1873 and Katy Billings, who has grown up in her grandparents’ fancy house in St. Louis, is disappointed by the new sod house her family has built in Nebraska. Though her sister Stella has big plans for decorating the house for the holiday, Katy is convinced the house will be ugly. Her parents believe in Christmas miracles, however, and sure enough, paper snowflakes, bits of greenery, and a Christmas tree with ornaments hand-carved by Mr. Billings make the new house a perfectly festive place for the Billings family and their neighbors to celebrate.
"Christmas on the Prairie" is only ten pages long, but there is lots to be taken away from it. 1873, we learn in the story, is the first year that the state of Nebraska has recognized Christmas as a state holiday. For 21st Century Americans who kick off Christmas in November and listen to Christmas music 24/7, it’s hard to imagine a time when Christmas wasn’t a major national holiday. I think it’s also hard for many kids to imagine living in a sod house and decorating for Christmas with only the few items available to them. Without being preachy, "Christmas on the Prairie" drives home that lesson adults are always interested in teaching kids - that Christmas is not about things, but about appreciating one another.
Also present in the story are three Pawnee boys who are drawn to Katy’s house by the family’s organ music. Though this story is essentially about a white family celebrating Christmas on the prairie, the author adds to the authenticity of the time period by mentioning the American Indians who also lived in the same area. It is especially nice to see the gift exchange between the Billingses and the three boys, which is part of what makes this Katy’s favorite Christmas, even after she grows up.
This story shares a lot of nice similarities with Laura Ingalls Wilder’s accounts of Christmas in her own prairie home, but with a slightly different perspective. I enjoyed the story, and felt like I learned something from it, too. While I probably can’t use it at too many library programs, because it is solely about Christmas, and it comes from a collection my library does not own, I am considering writing it up as a reader’s theater script for a Catholic school class I work with, where I know all the kids celebrate Christmas, both at home and in school.
December 16, 2010
I bought this book from my local library not too long ago for only 50 cents. The book has 8 Christmas related stories and although not all of the stories were amazing, it was a nice book with cute Christmas stories. But, there were a few stories in the book that stood out and that I loved. Midnight Gets a Star and Take a Penny, Leave a Penny, in my opinion were both wonderful stories.
And it also includes the classic story, A Visit From St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore. Who doesn't love that one?
If you can find this for cheap, or borrow from the library, I do recommend it. Even if for those few stand out stories. But the other stories were nice and worth a read.
And it also includes the classic story, A Visit From St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore. Who doesn't love that one?
If you can find this for cheap, or borrow from the library, I do recommend it. Even if for those few stand out stories. But the other stories were nice and worth a read.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews