This is a sweet collection of Christmas stories suitable for all ages. These are mostly traditional classics but worth reading and re-reading when the holiday season arrives. It will make an excellent gift.

This lovely edition is such a fun book to add to a Christmas collection. It includes holiday favorites (Christmas Carol, Gift of the Magi, Babes in Toyland, and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas), but there are lesser-known treats as well. The Santa Claus stories by L. Frank Baum and the History of the Nutcrackers by Alexander Dumas! With 600+ pages you can pace yourself and enjoy the stories throughout December. The only thing that would have made it even better would be a few illustrations. ( )

This 605-page volume is a collection of 16 Christmas-related stories (and one poem) originally published between 1823 and 1926 - in other words, works that are all now out of copyright.

Some were quite familiar to me, such as Clement Moore's "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" (the one poem, which serves as a preface, originally published as "Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas" in 1823), and O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi" (1905). Others, such as Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" (1843) and "The Velveteen Rabbit" by Margery Williams Bianco (1922), were familiar from their shorter forms in children's picture books (and of course, the 1962 cartoon version of Dickens' work featuring Mr. Magoo, which was my first introduction to that story).

Other stories include works that were new to me by well-known authors such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, Washington Irving, L. Frank Baum, and Alexandre Dumas. But the tale I liked best was "Christmas: A Story" (1912), by Zona Gale, about a small town that decides to skip Christmas - until they learn an orphan is coming to live with one of the townspeople on Christmas Eve. I also enjoyed "A Reversible Santa Claus" (1917) by Meredith Nicholson, a funny and exciting tale about a burglar who reforms on Christmas.

This really isn't a children's book, but some of the stories could be read aloud, particularly to older children. In general, the longer stories are towards the end of the book.

Although the authors' names are given in the table of contents, they aren't repeated at the beginning of each story.  I would have appreciated that as well as including the year of original publication.  I also found numerous errors in spelling, punctuation, and word spacing in "Babes in Toyland" (1904) by Glen MacDonough and Anna Alice Chapin (another favorite movie from childhood).  The book is nicely bound and has an attractive cover with an abstract patchwork design in shades of red and green. ( )

As the Christmas season approaches, and readers look for stories embodying the holiday spirit, an excellent book is available. Vintage Christmas Tales is a holiday anthology of stories. Some are old favorites that are read every year like Dickens Christmas Carol and O. Henry’s Gift of the Magi.
But there are also new stories that seldom are seen in Christmas anthologies.
L.Frank Baum gives us The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, perfect for story time during the month of December. Enjoy the entire story of the Nutcracker in Dumas’s The History of the Nutcracker. Kids will love Tommy Trot’s Visit to Santa Claus by Thomas Nelson Page .
Also included is Margery Williams Bianco’s, Velveteen Rabbit, a perfect feel good book for all seasons. Readers will return to this book year after year to read new stories and share some of the old ones again.
Read as an ARC from LibraryThing. ( )

A wonderful collection of 17 Christmas tales, including "The Gift of the Magi," "The Velveteen Rabbit," and "A Christmas Carol." While it can be read aloud to young children, there aren't any pictures. ( )