Essential Facts about Christmas - a Question-and-Answer Guide with 700 B+W illustrations: Christmas and War; Christmas and the Movies; the forgotten Seasons of Christmas - the 40 days, the 20 days, the 12 (or is it 13?) days; Christmas and Religion - when and where was Christmas banned?; Christmas and the Industrial Revolution - a force that almost killed it; Christmas food and drink - from Brawn to the Tom and Jerry.

Is redemption possible for Ebenezer Scrooge? Pastor and author Matt Rawle believes so as he discovers the teachings of Jesus in the words of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. Rawle dives deep into the dark, sad, greedy world of Scrooge and discovers a man in dire need of a second chance. Along with Scrooge, we meet the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future and in the process learn about living with and for others in a world blessed by Jesus. Rediscover and reinvigorate your Christian faith this Advent and Christmas season and look at this familiar classic through the lens of faith. Chapters include: Bah! Humbug! The Remembrance of Christmas Past The Life of Christmas Present The Hope of Christmas Future

A FRESH LOOK ATA TIMELESS CLASSIC A redeeming mixture of old and new, How to Keep Christmas Well refreshes the oft trodden path of Scrooge from miser to mercy by gifting the reader a peek under Dickens' renowned wrapping. Weighed down by the hustle and bustle of the modern Christmas season, it has become harder than ever to keep Christmas well. This, added to the tattering repetition of an old tale of redemption, has caused the jovial flavor of A Christmas Carol to lose its haunting spark. Catchings' reflections and poetry dust off the original 1843 text and present it, with revived ghostliness, to the modern reader. Page by page, the reader is drawn back into the slippers of Scrooge so that they can, again for the first time, learn How to Keep Christmas Well.

This book brings home the stories and origins of the treasured customs which Norwegians use to celebrate the Christmas season. Norwegian immigrants carried with them centuries-old folk tradition, which they held especially dear at Christmas time, remembering family members left behind. But the US, the immigrants and their descendants met the newly evolving traditions of the commercial American Christmas, a powerful homogenising force in a nation of immigrants. Stokker describes and traces the development of folkways on both side of the ocean, from their origins to their practice today. With fascinating details, with scores of accounts of ancient and modern Christmases, with recipes and photographs, this book reminds Norwegians and Norwegian Americans of their connections to each other and explains how their celebrations differ on this joyous family holiday.

Dylan loves his family's yearly vacation to Holiday and wishes it could last all year. When he finds a flyer asking if he'd like to keep Holiday, he encounters a bigger and better Holiday than the one his family has always visited; he also learns that entering it requires the Founder's authorization. Thus begins Dylan's quest to meet the one of whom people keep saying: "You can't find the Founder; he finds you./He's not just the Founder, he's the Finder too." As Dylan reads of Holiday's origins, he experiences a number of adventures and meets characters who represent the sights and sounds he always finds in Holiday-characters who explain how each of these familiarities points to the Founder's previous rescue of the city's inhabitants. And the more Dylan learns, the more he longs to personally know the one who holds the key to entering the "real Holiday." Writing for elementary-age children and older, author, teacher, and grandmother Starr Meade offers a book that families can read together, discovering along with Dylan how God brings a person to faith. Keeping Holiday is also a charming, insightful way to help children grasp the meaning of the Incarnation.

Jesus Calling® The Story of Christmas shares the Christmas story with your children by starting at creation and showing that Jesus has always been present and that God has always had a plan for Christmas. Each page features Bible verses and Jesus Calling devotions as it explores the true meaning of the nativity story. This faith-focused picture book is perfect for children ages 4 to 8 years old; features a beautifully embellished dust jacket with foil and glitter; makes a great Christmas, Advent, or holiday gift; is the perfect introduction to the story of Jesus for young children; and is written by New York Times bestselling author Sarah Young. From the beginning of time, God had a plan to save his children. That plan was Jesus! Curl up with your family around the Christmas tree and experience God’s great gift with Jesus Calling® The Story of Christmas.

For the first time since their children were born, empty nesters Judith and Stan Winters spent Thanksgiving without the kids, and it's looking like Christmas will be the same. Judith can't bring herself to even start decorating for the holiday; her kids always hung the first ornaments on the tree, ornaments they had made each year since they were toddlers. Sure they were strange-looking--some could be called downright ugly--but they were tradition. A tradition she's heartbroken to miss this year. With Judith refusing to decorate the bare spruce tree in their living room, Stan knows something must be done. And his only hope for saving the holiday is found in a box of handmade ornaments. Fan-favorite Dan Walsh invites readers to enjoy this nostalgic Christmas story that celebrates all of our most cherished seasonal traditions, especially the importance of family. Readers will join in remembering the things that make their own Christmas season so special.

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year--or at least we want it to be. Too often our celebration of Jesus' birthday is overwhelmed by bright lights and tinsel, overspending and overeating, plus constant chatter about a "war on Christmas." Can't we do better than this? There are two Christmases. One is sacred. One is secular. The two have clashed in one "culture war" or another for 1,700 years. Christmas is not (as some falsely claim) a pagan holiday, but pagan-influenced traditions are part of the seasonal clutter. Keeping Christmas is about helping you find joy in a season of excess and strife. Part survival guide, part history, part cultural commentary, and all laced with spiritual reflection, this book is about how you can celebrate in ways that are most meaningful to you and your family. It's not easy to thread your way through the Christmas maze. But if Ebenezer Scrooge could learn to keep Christmas well, so can you. Maybe it's time to reinvent Christmas. Maybe we can get it right this time.

A reminiscence of a Christmas shared by a seven-year-old boy and a sixtyish childlike woman, with enormous love and friendship between them.