A Family Christmas Sampler

Christmas doesn't seem quite right without stories and carols around the tree, with remembrances of years past. It's the perfect time for stories, since it's already a time so full of magic, winter snow, and everything that reminds us that belief is still possible.

As an audio collection of Christmas stories, "A Family Christmas Sampler" provides the complete readings of "A Christmas Carol," "The Gift of the Magi," "Is There A Santa Claus," "A Visit From Saint Nicholas," "A Winter Walk," "The Seven Poor Travelers," "The Fir Tree," "Santa Claus at Simpson's Bar," and "What Christmas Is As We Grow Older."

The Stories of Christmas

"A Christmas Carol" has become quite famous since the time of Charles Dickens. Read by Tom Casaletto, the work takes up quite a bit of the collection, but it's well worth the time and space to listen to the tale of Scrooge and his complete transformation on the night before Christmas. It all ends with Tiny Tim's famous line, as it should.

The next work on the tapes is O. Henry's famous work, "The Gift of the Magi." It's always fun to listen to the tales of O. Henry, but this work is especially appropriate for the time of year. It's the tale of Della and Jim, who each give up what is most precious to give the other a gift. In so doing, they are likened to the magi of Biblical acclaim.

Probably everyone is familiar with "Is there A Santa Claus," which is answered by "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus." This piece and "A Visit From Saint Nicholas" (also known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas") are old favorites. These works, along with Hans Christian Anderson's story "The Fir Tree," are often read to children.

For the next story, Robert Lawrence reads "Santa Claus at Simpson's Bar," which was written by Bret Harte in 1870. The story ends with the line: "The Christmas dawn came slowly after, touching the remoter peaks with the rosy warmth of ineffable love. And it looked so tenderly on Simpson's Bar that the whole mountain, as if caught in a generous action, blushed to the skies."

As Michael Page reads "The Seven Poor Travelers," you'll hear a tale told on Christmas Eve to seven travelers. It's about a young man who gains his humanity and forgiveness through his friendship with Captain Taunton.

Ending the Collection

The collection ends with Buck Schirmer reading "What Christmas Is As We Grow Older," by Charles Dickens. The piece says, in part, "On this day we shut out nothing." Comrades, mothers, and others who have died gather round the fire. In some way, we are "entertaining angels unawares" as the ghosts "hold a cherished place."

Christmas is the "season of immortal hope," a time to remember all that has passed and to believe in what one day may still be. Dickens writes, "The winter sun goes down... a few more moments and it sinks... remembrances are cut in stone." All around, we see "joyful faces." He says, "Be those remembrances admitted with tender encouragement," as the past, the present and the future come together in the magic of Christmas.