My Favorite Christmas Stories for Children

"The Magic Letter"  by Dean Kiser

A TRUE STORY

By the age of four, Roger Dean Kiser had been abandoned, first by his parents and then his grandparents and placed in a Florida orphanage. Unable to adapt to the difficult, often cruel and abusive environment of the orphanage, and stigmatized by his repeated attempts to run away, he was transferred to a Florida reform school at age twelve. Roger's poignant recollections of his painful childhood experiences will take you into the heart of a child abandoned by his family and abused by the system responsible for his care.

Now an adult, Roger Dean Kiser writes about his childhood along with his current day tales. A real-life Tom Sawyer, Roger's stories find a common ground in each of us. Roger Dean Kiser is a simple man with only a sixth grade education yet he possesses a wonderful ability, storytelling.

See this Christmas Angel Story here

The story of a little boy named David

Written by: Charles Ernest Knowles
Illustrations by: Theresa Knowles Collins

Many years ago there lived on the top of a very high hill, in a large marble house that overlooked the village nestled below, a most miserable little boy named David. He had no brothers nor sisters. He was rude to his parents. He played mean tricks on the household servants and, as you might well imagine, he had no little friends of his own. David's parents didn't know what to make of their son. "Why?", they often asked. "We have given him everything he has ever asked for, yet he has never shown the least bit of love nor happiness, not even as a very small child." He had never cried either and his parents wondered if he had any feelings at all in his heart.

It was on a particular Christmas Eve when David was nearly ten years old that something very unusual happened to him, something so unusual that I'd like to tell it here. 

December 24, 2012 By: Joel J. Miller

Luke tells us that on the night Jesus was born, shepherds near Bethlehem were watching their sheep. Suddenly, an angel appeared before them — radiant, shockingly luminescent, and bright. Awash in the otherworldly light, the glory of God pooling around them, the shepherds were terrified.

“Do not be afraid,” said the angel, “for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” .

After telling them how they would recognize the infant Christ, the angel was joined by “a multitude of the heavenly host” (v. 13). If one angel was bright, how about a multitude? The initial flash must have been like an explosion, but the sound of the glorious blast was song:

Glory to God in the highest,

And on earth peace, goodwill toward men! 

We focus for obvious reasons on what the news meant and means for people. But we should know that the glad tidings were good for angels too. They weren’t just praising God for the benefit of the shepherds or even us. As I discovered while researching my book Lifted by Angels, they were also praising God for reasons of their own.

"The Gift of the Magi"

written by William Sydney Porter
Under the pen name O. Henry

The story was initially published in The New York Sunday World with the title "Gifts of the Magi" on December 10, 1905. It was allegedly written in a booth at "Pete's Tavern" on Irving Place in  New York city.

This is a sentimental story with a surprise ending that demonstrates a moral lesson about gift-giving, 

It is a Christmas Story about love. How a young married couple, so in love,  are able to give each other a most Precious Christmas Gift when they both are so very broke.  Penniless!

They do discover the perfect gift for each other. 

(Read the Story)

These legends come from Eastern European  folktale which explains the origin of tinsel on Christmas trees. It is most prevalent in Ukraine  where small ornaments in the shape of a spider are traditionally a part of the Christmas tree decorations.

In addition, there are many different folk legends dealing with Christmas Spiders that come from the Ukraine and/or Germany.

In Germany, it seems there are many variations on the tale depending on the religious preference of the person telling the story. However, in all cases the association with spider webs and Christmas/Yule tree tinsels seems apparent.

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