For more than thirty years Lois Lenski has brought to life in her many books children from all ways of life all over the United States. In this book she has gathered together the Christmas stories from nine of her books and has added two new stories and a Christmas play with appropriate introductions to each story.

One of the new stories, "The Christmas Fake," is a story about a backwoods Christmas and the joys of family reunion. The other one, "Christmas on MacDonald Street," has a modern-day setting in New York City and reminds the reader of the real spirit of Christmas.

Christmas in America has taken many forms. It has been colored by contributions from national European groups and by our many forms of religion; climate and occupations of people controlled by their environment have resulted in a variety of Christmases. Many of the time-proven favorites are included in this anthology; for instance, "Day of Work and No Cheer," a story of the repressed Puritan life in early colonial days, and "The Uninvited Guest," the story of a sparse but happy Christmas in an Arkansas cotton-picking family.

This is a gift to treasure by an author popular and loved by children for many years. New illustrations have been done by the author throughout the collection.

From the dust jacket