A Classic Christmas short story set in medieval times with a courageous young girl who affects the peace the world so badly needs. This book was written during the era of Rinehart’s serious writing. It is a medieval Christmas fairy tale about Lord Charles the Fair and his young daughter, Clotilde, who longs for something more than her gender allows at that period in time. This is not such an unusual wish as between the 5th C. and the 15th C. there are no less than 105 women recorded as taking up arms to fight alongside their male counterparts. However this was not as easily achieved as one might think, if only because of the differences in a women’s upper-body shape to men which made the shaping of armour more difficult, not to mention more cumbersome in battle. =============== Mary Roberts Rinehart (August 12, 1876-September 22, 1958) was a prolific author often called the American Agatha Christie. She is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it", although she did not actually use the phrase herself, and also considered to have invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing. Rinehart wrote hundreds of short stories, poems, travelogues and special articles. Many of her books and plays were adapted for movies, such as The Bat (1926), The Bat Whispers (1930), and The Bat (1959). While many of her books were best-sellers, critics were most appreciative of her murder mysteries.

What would a child do if they found their childhood toys lying in the street? Act selfishly? Miss Terry had tossed each toy one by one to the snowy sidewalk in front of her house. But her heart is moved when she sees the Christmas Angel kicked aside. Remembering all the years it graced her family mantel, she rushes to rescue it. Back inside, the Christmas Angel comes to life, and reveals the actual destiny for each toy, and for Miss Terry, something she could have never imagined. "The Christmas Angel," part of the Focus on the Family Great Stories collection, includes an in-depth introduction and discussion questions by Joe Wheeler. It is a stirring reminder of what really matters at Christmas and throughout the year. ============== TAGS/KEYWORDS: Christmas Angel, Miss, Terry, Christmas, Angel, little, Mary, eyes, doll, Angelina, street, Tom, Miranda, Norah, child, girl, believe, fire, window, children, Eve, drew, draw, poor, spirit, ark, make, mother, candles, Flanton, package, happy, snow, Terry, to-night, toys, pretty, Beautiful, singing, Dog, heartfelt, hung, Ornaments, Sam, Fiddlestick, Joe, block, Cooper, Johnnie, library, rose, tears, told, silk, wicked, angel, Aunt, Bob, bonnet, Sammy, ashamed, baby, Santa Claus, Play Box, Jack-in-the-Box, Flanton Dog, Noah's Ark, Jack, Christmas Candle, Abbie Farwell Brown,

Herein are five short Christmas stories written by that master of English literature, Charles Dickens. The stories in this volume are: A CHRISTMAS TREE WHAT CHRISTMAS IS AS WE GROW OLDER THE POOR RELATION’S STORY THE CHILD’S STORY THE SCHOOLBOY’S STORY NOBODY’S STORY So, get yourself a hot Christmas toddy, find a comfy high-backed chair, sit back and enjoy these five, relatively unknown, Christmas stories from Charles Dickens. 10% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charity. =========== KEYWORDS/TAGS: Five short Christmas stories, Charles Dickens, , account, air, bear, beautiful, bed, beef, beginning, Bigwig, black, breakfast, bright, business, carriage, Castle, cheerful, Cheeseman, children, Christiana, Christmas, dark, dead, desk, died, earth, eyes, fall, Fanny, fire, Frank, gentleman, great, happy, heart, Heaven, holidays, Jane, John, journey, kind, Lady, Little, live, looking, lost, love, marry, Master, Michael, Old, particular, play, poor, President, pretty, respect, Reverend, shadow, Society, Spatter, sun, tears, traveller, Tree, true, uncle, understand, voice, windows, woman, wood, word, world, worth, young, A Christmas Tree, What Christmas Is As We Grow Older, The Poor Relation’s Story, The Child’s Story, The Schoolboy’s Story, Nobody’s Story

Herein are 15 Christmas stories translated from French and Spanish writers like Armando Palacio Valdés, André Theuriet, Antonio Maré, François Coppée, Alphonse Daudet and many more. Compiled and translated by Antoinette Ogden they represent a variety of genres. They are written in the style of the late nineteenth century holiday story, so think Dickens and H. C. Andersen. This work of fables and stories will help set an appropriate Christmassy mood for the holidays. The stories in this volume are: A Bird in the Snow A Christmas in the Forest The Louis-d'or A Christmas Supper in the Marais The Princess and the Ragamuffin A Tragedy The Three Low Masses The Poet's Christmas Eve I take Supper with my Wife The Yule Log The Mule and the Ox Solange, the Wolf-Girl Salvette and Bernadou Maese Pérez, the Organist The Torn Cloak Even though they were translated and originally published in the early 1890’s these stories have long been forgotten and are now seldom told or read in English homes which makes this a welcome addition to any modern collection of Christmas stories. 10% of the publisher’s profit from the sale of this book will be donated to UNICEF. ======= KEYWORDS/TAGS: Christmas, folklore, fairy tales, myths. Legends, childrens stories, children’s book, bedtime stories, fire side, winter, fable, parable, little, great, Christmas, Mass, people, eyes, heart, home, church, white, cold, children, snow, soul, Migajas, love, God, Pacorrito, Juan, far-away, Jacques, organ, Madrid, music, happy, dead, midnight, thousand, black, blind, lady, cloak, rose, fire, beautiful, Celinina, forest, Eve, to-night, Maese, altar, Solange, Pérez, boy, doubt, Bethlehem, wings, angel, Laurent, Gabrielle, heaven, shepherdess, mountain, princess, prince, turkeys, French, Spanish, , laughter, , bells, kiss, Marguerite, Santiago, ragamuffin, wooden, Lucien, Marion, country, Majesté, Majesty, King, Queen, , chapel, surprise, chimes, clock, , frozen, piano, mantel-piece, celebration, cathedral, Garrigou, Monsieur, laughter, Salvette, service, Christ, child, Lord, torches, wolves, Madame, choir, Holy, Yule, Pacorrito, chancellor, archbishop, Balaguère, Brévelay, Bernadou, Robinson, granite, temple, Jean, Trinquelague, Celinina, celestial, fireplace, Juanillo, stairway, chaplain, memories, portico, Seville, lovers, Virgin, breast

The closing paragraphs of this book were written in the late summer of 1914, when the armies of every great power in Europe called upon their citizens, and the citizens of their colonies, to mobilised for savage, unsparing, barbarous warfare against one another, against small and unaggressive nations, against helpless women and children, and against civilisation itself. How mild, by comparison with the despatches in the daily newspapers, will seem this chronicle of women's militant struggle against political and social injustice in one small corner of Europe. Yet, let it stand as it was written, with peace—so-called, and civilisation, and orderly government as the background for heroism such as the world has seldom witnessed. The militancy of men, through all the centuries, has drenched the world with blood, and for these deeds of horror and destruction men have been rewarded with monuments, with great songs and epics. Yet, the militancy of women has harmed no human life save the lives of those who fought the battle of righteousness. Time alone has revealed what reward has been allotted to the women. In the black hour that struck in Europe, the men, indeed Governments, turned to their women and called on them to take up the work of keeping civilisation alive. Through all the harvest fields, in orchards and vineyards, women garnered food to send to the front, as well as for the children left fatherless by war. In the cities the women kept open the shops, drove trucks and trams, and operated machines in the factories which made clothing and the munitions for the impending battle ahead and altogether attended to a multitude of tasks to keep the wheels of commerce turning. At the first alarm of war, the militants proclaimed a truce, which was answered half-heartedly by Reginald McKenna, the Home Secretary’s announcement that all suffrage prisoners would be released who gave an undertaking "not to commit further crimes or outrages." A few days later, no doubt influenced by representations made to the Government by men and women of every political persuasion, Mr. McKenna announced in the House of Commons that it was the intention of the Government, to release unconditionally, all suffrage prisoners. So ended, for a short time, the war of women against men – until the clash of arms ceases. Then once more women will take up the arms they so generously laid down. “There can be no real peace in the world until woman, the mother half of the human family, are given liberty in the councils of the world” – Emmeline Pankhurst. YESTERDAY’S BOOKS FOR TODAY’S CHARITIES 10% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charity. ============= KEYWORDS-TAGS: My Own Story, Emmeline Pankhurst, , 1914, Act of Parliament, agitate, Annie, arrest, authorities, Bill, Cabinet, case, Christabel Pankhurst, committee, Conciliation, court, daughter, declare, demands, deputation, doctor, education, Edward, election, England, facilities, Fight, franchise, freedom, friends, girls, Gladstone, Government, Great War, Hall, Herbert Asquith, Holloway, House of Commons, hundred, hunger, imprisonment, justice, King, law, Lawrence, leaders, letters, Liberal, life long, Lloyd George, London, Lord, magistrate, majority, Manchester, meetings, members, men, militancy, Minister, movement, Parliament, party, Pethick, petition, place, pledge, police, policy, political, power, Prime Minister, prison, prisoners, property, protest, public, punishment, question, refuse, release, school, Secretary, sentence, session, Social Movement, speech, Street, suffrage, Suffragettes, suffragists, trial, Union, vote, Winston Churchill, woman, women, Women’s rights, world, World War One, WWI

Christmas Tales of Flanders is a profusely illustrated volume containing 23 illustrated Fables and legends from Flanders and Brabant. Even today these tales are still loved by children of all ages throughout Belgium. Many of the tales are found in different guises in the folklore of many nations, but here they are presented with a Flemish twist, taking the place of the more commonly told nursery stories familiar in the UK and in other Western nations. The first relates the tale of a rich woman who turns a beggar away from her door at Christmas, who is then welcomed by her poor neighbour, who provides food and shelter freely given. She is of course rewarded for her actions, whilst the rich neighbour pays a price for her meanness of spirit, a tale retold with variations in most cultures. Then the tale of Seppy presents a man who complains that he works hard in the fields while his wife idles her time away at home, so they decide to swap jobs for a day. After his catastrophic day looking after the house and the ensuing chaos, Seppy learns not to complain about others and realises he is not the only one who works hard. There are tales to make you take care for what you wish for (Tintelentyn and The Wonderful Fish) and others showing how bad acts can rebound and repay with interest. All the tales use humour to demonstrate life's lessons to the young, and young at heart. The tales themselves are delightfully enhanced by the illustrations by Jean de Bosschere, a Belgian artist and writer (1878-1953) associated with the Golden Age of Illustration. This volume contains 12 lovely colour illustrations and more than 120 monotone and two colour images (ranging in size from full-page to vignettes). De Bosschere’s work is considered to be in same league as Harry Clarke or Willy Pogany. Whomever his work is compared to, the work of Jean de Bosschere - like that of other great illustrators - is unique, so much so that many of his illustrated books were published as limited editions. 10% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charity.

Santa Claus’ Sweetheart is a short children’s book by Imogen Clark written and published in 1906. At Terry O’ Connor’s birth it was believed he was blessed by the fairies. But so too had the wicked fairy visited the new-born’s cradle where she wreaked her evil will so that the little child grew to be a man with a happy-go-lucky demeanour but who was known through the countryside as a good-for-naught. On his way home from the tavern one Christmas eve, Terry shivered momentarily under his furs, even though he was so well wrapped up that the cold should have been powerless to reach him. “Hi, there, me byes!” he shouted at his team as he drove his sleigh towards home and warmth and breaking into song. Suddenly he broke off in his song, and his fingers closed tightly over the slack reins; the horses felt the authoritative touch and came to an instant standstill. There in the road in front of him stood a child who levelled her gaze at him. He stared into a child’s eager face. Then she spoke and said, “Are you Santa Claus?” she demanded with bated breath. Before he had time to answer Terry’s life had been changed without him knowing it. But just how had the life of this wastrel been changed this cold Christmas eve? Well you’ll have to download and read this book to find out how! The ideal book for a young reader about to embark on their reading adventure. 10% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charities. =============== Keywords/Tags: Santa Claus Sweetheart, Christmas, children’s book, Imogen Clark, magic, wonder, children’s story, Christmas story, sleigh, horses, cold, Santa Claus, Enter, Ride Together, Exit, Christmas Eve, Thornby’s, Peace of God, Christmas Day, sleigh bells, forest, Narcisse, Vélin, Wistar’s tavern, shantymen, shacks, Baptiste, famous, story-teller, Danny, Whitefoot, glee, happiness, joy, Pierre, doctor, Mr. Higgins,

Herein are 3 richly illustrated tales for children to read especially at Christmas time. Compiled and illustrated by one of the master illustrators of the late Victorian era – Walter Crane. It is uncertain if Walter Crane authored these stories, but sources seem to believe he did. The stories in this short, but extremely well-illustrated volume, are: The Man In The Moon, And How He Got There Cat And Dog Stories A Fortune In An Empty Wallet These stories are unlike the traditional Disney / Victorian fare, so will make for an interesting read. We invite you to download a copy, get yourself a “hot toddy”, then sit back and enjoy these stories. Who knows, you may enjoy reading them as well. =========== KEYWORDS/TAGS: Children’s stories, Children’s Books, Folklore, Fairy, Folk, Tales, bedtime story, legends, storyteller, fables, moral tales, myths, happiness, laughter, , adventure, animal, ball, barking, beggar, belong, Bertram, big, bird, books, brothers, brutal, buzz, carriage, castle, Charles, Charlie, children, claws, companions, concert, courtyard, crooked, Curs, Darkness, dog, earth, empty, enemy, escape, extraordinary, farmyard, first born, forest, forgive, forget-me-not, forget me not, Fusticus, godmother, good-bye, great-grandfather, great grandfather, beseech, sorrow, helter skelter, Henceforth, hide and seek, horse, indescribable, jewels, Jews, joy, King, kitten, lamb, mischief makers, Moon, mousie, Nelly, owl, Perkie, repent, Meow, temper, screeching, spider, Spirit, sword, table, Tim, uncomfortable, vanish, wicked, wizard

During WWI, one Christmas, a young boy finds himself stranded in a snowed-in hill community in upstate New York, and finds himself experiencing a Christmas he is not accustomed to. He meets a "locked-out fairy" who introduces him to equally lonely neighbours, all of whom were also spending the winter far from home, and each tells him a personal story of the Christmas season. Some stories the neighbours heard in their native homelands long ago. A final celebration brings all the neighbours of different nationalities together, forging relationships that will outlast the holiday season and sending a message of hope to a war-torn world. Suitable for reading to children aged up to 8 or as a gift to young readers aged 9 and up. 10% of the publisher’s profit is donated to charities. =============== Ruth Sawyer (August 5, 1880 – June 3, 1970) was an American storyteller and a writer of fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. She may be best known as the author of Roller Skates, which won the 1937 Newbery Medal. She also received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award (she who wrote Little House on the Prairie) in 1965 for her lifetime achievement in children's literature. =============== KEYWORDS/TAGS: This Way to Christmas, winter, USA, Snowed in, mountain community, upstate New York, share, stories, story, locked out fairy, home, immigrants, togetherness, adventure, storytelling, Barney, Bethlehem, born, Bridget, bring, children, Chris’mus, Christ-child, Christmas, Claus, clock-maker, clock, creatures, David, Dona, Eve, fairies, fairy, fiddle, roaring fire, flagman, friend, gather, gipsies, gray, great, happen, heart, Hermann, hill, holy, honey, Joab, Johanna, Josefa, King, lad, locked-out, lodge, Manuel, Mary, neighbours, neighbours, Nicholas, Peter, poor, reindeer, saint, Santa, Santy, squirrel, Teig, Uncle, window, world, ruth sawyer,

Millions of people recognize the religious painting know as Head of Christ, of which an estimated five hundred million prints have been sold. Very few, however, know the artist, Warner E. Sallmann. Sallman's lack of notoriety in professional art circles can be explained by the fact that he made little or no attempt to put himself forward as a Chicago or even a Swedish American artist. He had no exhibitions of his works, and his public life consisted largely of appearances before church and community groups to do chalk drawings. More important was his attitude regarding personal fame. Sallman let the Christ he painted be in the foreground, while the artist remained in the background. "The time has come," argues Jack Lundbom, "for a broader public to know the man who stands behind the painting and the other artwork bearing the Sallman signature." Master Painter is a fascinating story of a gifted man with humble beginnings who overcame disappointment, ill health, and personal limitations in order to live out a vision: that his art serve not only for the enjoyment of humankind, but the practical end of instructing persons in the ways of God. Readers who know the art can now know the artist. It is a story eminently worth telling and one a broad public will be interested to know.