Synopses & Reviews
One of five beloved Christmas classics in collectible hardcover editions
A Merry Christmas collects the treasured holiday tales of Louisa May Alcott, from the dearly familiar Yuletide benevolence of Marmee and her little women” to the timeless What Love Can Do,” wherein the residents of a boarding house come together to make a lovely Christmas for two poor girls. Wildly popular at the time of their publicationreaders deluged Alcott with letters demanding sequelsand drawing on Alcotts family and experiences in the abolitionist and womens suffrage movements, these stories have the authentic texture and detail of Christmas in nineteenth-century America, while their emphasis on generosity and charity make them timeless embodiments of the Christmas spirit.
Penguin Christmas Classics
Give the gift of literature this Christmas.
Penguin Christmas Classics honor the power of literature to keep on giving through the ages. The five volumes in the series are not only our most beloved Christmas tales, they also have given us much of what we love about the holiday itself. A Christmas Carol revived in Victorian England such Christmas hallmarks as the Christmas tree, holiday cards, and caroling. The Yuletide yarns of Anthony Trollope popularized throughout the British Empire and around the world the trappings of Christmas in London. The holiday tales of Louisa May Alcott shaped the ideal of an American Christmas. The Night Before Christmas brought forth some of our earliest Christmas traditions as passed down through folk tales. And The Nutcracker inspired the most famous ballet in history, one seen by millions in the twilight of every year.
Beautifully designedwith foil-stamped jackets, decorative endpapers, and nameplates for personalizationand printed in a small trim size that makes them perfect stocking stuffers, Penguin Christmas Classics embody the spirit of giving that is at the heart of our most time-honored stories about the holiday.
Collect all five Penguin Christmas Classics:
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Christmas at Thompson Hall: And Other Christmas Stories by Anthony Trollope
A Merry Christmas: And Other Christmas Stories by Louisa May Alcott
The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol
The Nutcracker by E. T. A. Hoffmann
Review
ACCLAIM FOR THE PENGUIN CHRISTMAS CLASSICS
“For lit nerds and loved ones who are notoriously hard to shop for, you cant go wrong with these festively bound classics. . . . Their size makes them perfectly stocking-stuffable.” —Entertainment Weekly, “The Must List”
“Leave it to the folks at Penguin—who gave us Gothed-out editions of horror classics for Halloween—to package these . . . slim Yuletide-themed volumes.” —Newsday, “Best Books to Give as Holiday Gifts”
“Remember how Christmas was celebrated before Black Friday with these 19th-century authors, in small uniform volumes wrapped in pretty jackets.” —USA Today, “Holiday Gift Books So Pretty, No Need to Wrap”
“Beautifully designed.” —The Washington Post
Synopsis
An irresistible new collectible hardcover in the beloved series of six Penguin Christmas Classics
L. Frank Baum s TheLife and Adventures of Santa Claus was first published in 1902, two years after his Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Drawing on the attributes of Santa Claus from Clement Moore s 1822 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas ( The Night Before Christmas ), Baum chronicles Santa s life from his childhood in an enchanted forest the same forest that is the source of all magic in the land of Oz to his destiny of sharing gifts and spreading love to his fellow man. Along the way we witness him making his first toys, learn the origins of the Christmas tree and Christmas stockings, and discover the stories behind many Christmas secrets, like why Santa slides down chimneys, how he picks his reindeer, and how he delivers all his toys in one night. Later adapted into multiple animated films, and published here with the original illustrations from the first edition, The Life and Adventures of Santa Clausevinces the charm, warmth, and fantasy that made L. Frank Baum s Oz stories American classics.
Penguin Christmas Classics
Give the gift of literature this Christmas.
Penguin Christmas Classics honor the power of literature to keep on giving through the ages. The six volumes in the series are not only our most beloved Christmas tales, they also have given us much of what we love about the holiday itself.A Christmas Carolrevived in Victorian England such Christmas hallmarks as the Christmas tree, holiday cards, and caroling. The Yuletide yarns of Anthony Trollope popularized throughout the British Empire and around the world the trappings of Christmas in London. The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus created the origin story for the presiding spirit of Christmas as we know it.The holiday tales of Louisa May Alcott shaped the ideal of an American Christmas.The Night Before Christmasbrought forth some of our earliest Christmas traditions as passed down through folk tales. AndThe Nutcrackerinspired the most famous ballet in history, one seen by millions in the twilight of every year.
Beautifully designed hardcovers with foil-stamped jackets, decorative endpapers, and nameplates for personalization in a small trim size that makes them perfect stocking stuffers, Penguin Christmas Classics embody the spirit of giving that is at the heart of our most time-honored stories about the holiday.
Collect all six Penguin Christmas Classics:
A Christmas Carolby Charles Dickens
Christmas at Thompson Hall: And Other Christmas Storiesby Anthony Trollope
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum
A Merry Christmas: And Other Christmas Storiesby Louisa May Alcott
The Night Before Christmasby Nikolai Gogol
The Nutcrackerby E. T. A. Hoffmann
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators."
Synopsis
One of six beloved Christmas classics in collectible hardcover editions L. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus was first published in 1902, two years after his Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Drawing on the attributes of Santa Claus from Clement Moore's 1822 poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" ("The Night Before Christmas"), Baum chronicles Santa's life from his childhood in an enchanted forest--the same forest that is the source of all magic in the land of Oz--to his destiny of sharing gifts and spreading love to his fellow man. Along the way we witness him making his first toys, learn the origins of the Christmas tree and Christmas stockings, and discover the stories behind many Christmas secrets, like why Santa slides down chimneys, how he picks his reindeer, and how he delivers all his toys in one night. Later adapted into multiple animated films, and published here with the original illustrations from the first edition, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus evinces the charm, warmth, and fantasy that made L. Frank Baum's Oz stories American classics.
Penguin Christmas Classics
Give the gift of literature this Christmas.
Penguin Christmas Classics honor the power of literature to keep on giving through the ages. The six volumes in the series are not only our most beloved Christmas tales, they also have given us much of what we love about the holiday itself. A Christmas Carol revived in Victorian England such Christmas hallmarks as the Christmas tree, holiday cards, and caroling. The Yuletide yarns of Anthony Trollope popularized throughout the British Empire and around the world the trappings of Christmas in London. The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus created the origin story for the presiding spirit of Christmas as we know it. The holiday tales of Louisa May Alcott shaped the ideal of an American Christmas. The Night Before Christmas brought forth some of our earliest Christmas traditions as passed down through folk tales. And The Nutcracker inspired the most famous ballet in history, one seen by millions in the twilight of every year.
Beautifully designed hardcovers--with foil-stamped jackets, decorative endpapers, and nameplates for personalization--in a small trim size that makes them perfect stocking stuffers, Penguin Christmas Classics embody the spirit of giving that is at the heart of our most time-honored stories about the holiday.
Collect all six Penguin Christmas Classics:
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Christmas at Thompson Hall: And Other Christmas Stories by Anthony Trollope
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum
A Merry Christmas: And Other Christmas Stories by Louisa May Alcott
The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol
The Nutcracker by E. T. A. Hoffmann
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Synopsis
An irresistible new collectible hardcover in the successful series of Penguin Christmas Classics: the story of Santa Claus, from boy to jolly old fellow, as imagined by the creator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
A magical Christmas story by the author of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus answers the enigmatic Christmas questions: Why does Santa travel via Reindeer? How does he fit through the chimney, and how does he deliver all those toys in one wintry night?
First published in 1902, the tale begins as a wood nymph discovers a baby abandoned in a forest. Raised among mythical forest creatures, the child learns to outwit evil as he grows towards adulthood and must discover how to re-enter the human world, which leaves him determined to share gifts and spread love to his fellow man.
L. Frank Baum creates a world full of charm and whimsy, delightfully imagined with a cast of memorable and loveable characters.
Synopsis
Taking the beloved symbol of merriment out of his conventional trappings and into the world of imaginative folklore, Baum gives Santa Claus an exciting life that evokes all the charm, warmth, and fantasy that made his Oz stories American classics.
Synopsis
An irresistible new collectible hardcover in the successful Penguin Christmas Classics series: the story of Santa Claus, from boy to jolly old fellow, as imagined by the creator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Here is the story of Santa Claus, as imagined by the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. First published in 1902, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus takes us from Santas childhood in an enchanted forest with a whole cast of mythical creatures to his destiny of sharing gifts and spreading love to his fellow man. Along the way we witness him making his first toys, discover the origins of the Christmas tree and Christmas stockings, and learn the answers to many Christmas secrets, like why Santa slides down chimneys, how he picks his reindeer, and how he delivers all of his toys in one night. Later adapted into multiple animated films, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus evinces the charm, warmth, and fantasy that made L. Frank Baums Oz stories American classics.
Penguin Christmas Classics honor the power of literature to keep on giving through the ages. Beautifully designedwith foil-stamped jackets, decorative endpapers, and nameplates for personalizationand printed in a small trim size that makes them perfect stocking stuffers, they embody the spirit of giving that is at the heart of our most time-honored stories about the holiday.
About the Author
Nikolai Gogol (18091852) was the son of a Ukrainian gentleman farmer who was the author of several folk comedies. He attended a variety of boarding schools, where he proved an indifferent student but was admired for his theatrical abilities. In 1828 he moved to St. Petersburg and began to publish stories, and by the mid-1830s he had established himself in the literary world and been warmly praised by Pushkin. In 1836, his play
The Inspector-General was attacked as immoral, and he left Russia, remaining abroad for most of the next dozen years. During that time he wrote two of his best-known stories, The Nose” and The Overcoat,” and in 1842 he published the first section of his masterpiece
Dead Souls. Gogol became increasingly religious as the years passed, and in 1847 he became the disciple of an Orthodox priest who influenced him to burn the second part of
Dead Souls and then abandon writing altogether. After undertaking an extreme fast, he died at the age of forty-two.
Konstantin Makovsky (1839-1915) was one of the most celebrated artists in the Russian Empire in the nineteenth century.
Igor Grabar (1871-1960) was a student of Konstantin Makovskys, and a celebrated painter in his own right. He later became one of the premier art administrators in the Soviet Union, personally advising Joseph Stalin.
Aleksei Kivshenko (1851-1895) was a Russian painter acclaimed for his depictions of historical subjects, especially battles.