British Novels about Christmas – Brit karácsonyi olvasmányok

Christmas time is a perfect season for reading.  With the cold weather, a good fire, and a mug of cocoa (or warming beverage of your choice), you can just curl up with a blanket and a good book.  Plenty of works have been written about the Christmas season, and while some of the most influential, such as ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and The Grinch, were written by Americans, British authors have also put their indelible stamp on the holiday.  Charles Dickens, through five different works essentially brought the holiday back to life and turned it into the celebration we know today.

THE SNOWMAN – RAYMOND BRIGGS

Unusual amongst the other works on this list in that this book doesn’t have any words, The Snowman was published in 1978 as an illustrated children’s book about a Snowman that comes to life.  The Snowman and the boy who built him then have a magical adventure through the countryside before the Snowman melts in the morning.  It was adapted into a cartoon and the song “Walking in the Air” from the special is constantly on stores’ Christmas playlists.

A STAR OVER BETHLEHEM – AGATHA CHRISTIE

While largely known for her mysteries and characters such as Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, Agatha Christie was also a very religious person.  Her religious beliefs come out largely in this collection of poems and short stories published as Agatha Christie Mallowan (her title, Lady Mallowan, earned from her second husband).   The short stories vary from a donkey that witnesses the birth of Jesus to a London widow who encounters Jesus on a water taxi and has a profound experience.  It’s certainly worth reading for a better understanding of her abilities as a writer.

LETTERS FROM FATHER CHRISTMAS – J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Another author essentially known for one genre is J.R.R. Tolkien.  Very different from his stories involving elves and hobbits, Letters from Father Christmas takes a page from his contemporary C.S. Lewis and imagines letters written from the supernatural spirit himself.  Tolkien actually wrote the letters for his children between 1920 and 1942 as if they were from Father Christmas (or his chief elf secretary) to add to the holiday magic for them by relating stories that happened to Father Christmas.  The letters were amongst Tolkien’s posthumous works and show not only the full range of his writing but also the lengths he would go to for his family.

THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE – ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

Not really about Christmas, this Sherlock Holmes story by Arthur Conan Doyle is the only one of the great detective’s cases that takes place during the holiday.  In the days following Christmas, Watson visits Holmes, and the two become embroiled in the search for a missing jewel.  After catching the villain in the story’s conclusion, Holmes indulges in the holiday spirit to grant mercy on the thief.  As with many Holmes stories, it’s been adapted multiple times and might even be shown on TV around the season.

DICKENS AT CHRISTMAS – CHARLES DICKENS

We couldn’t get through this list without including at least one Dickens work, and if you can find this edition in print or on an e-reader, Dickens at Christmas is the book you need.  Containing all five of his Christmas novels from A Christmas Carol to The Cricket on the Hearth, it also features several short stories (including “The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton” from The Pickwick Papers) that have helped to define the holiday for every generation since.  It really is the most comprehensive collection of Dickens Christmas stories around and totally worth your money whether you get it at a discount or pay full price.

source: anglotopia

Listen to the song in the video and fill in the gaps in the lyrics.

Walking In The Air                   

We’re walking in the air

We’re floating in the 1. …… sky

The people far below are sleeping as we 2. ……

I’m holding very 3. ……

I’m riding in the 4. …… blue

I’m finding I can fly so high above with you

Far across the 5. ……

The 6. …… go by like trees

The rivers and the hills

The forests and the 7. ……

Children gaze open mouth

Taken by 8. ……

Nobody down below believes their eyes

We’re surfing in the air

We’re swimming in the 9. ….. sky

We’re drifting over icy

10. …… floating by

Suddenly swooping low on an ocean deep

Arousing of a mighty 11. ……  from its sleep

We’re walking in the air

We’re floating in the midnight sky

And everyone who sees us 12. …… us as we fly

I’m holding very tight

I’m riding in the midnight blue

I’m finding I can fly so high above with you

Key:

1. moonlit

2. fly

3. tight

4. midnight

5. world

6. villages

7. streams

8. surprise

9. frozen

10. mountains

11. monster

12. greets