It focuses on the secular aspects of a family Christmas: spending time with loved ones, exchanging gifts, anticipating the arrival of Santa Claus, decorating the tree and home, cooking and feasting, carolling, and all the other delights that we associate with the magic of the season. Included are excerpts from such classics as Dickens s A Christmas Carol and E.T.A. Hoffmann s The Nutcracker, as well as selections including those from John Donne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and L. Frank Baum that appear in their entirety. Christmas stories by major contemporary writers such as Maeve Binchy and Anna Quindlen provide a balance of old and new. Whether the family faithfully returns to such well-known classics as William Dean Howell s Christmas Every Day or whether they eagerly devour lesser-known gems such as Theodore Roosevelt s The Tree in the White House Closet, they are sure to find tales that fill their hearts with cheer. Accompanying these texts is a collection of exquisite art in full-page, full-colour format. Ranging from classic to modern, this collection includes the imaginative creations of such esteemed artists as Norman Rockwell, Thomas Nast, N. C. Wyeth, Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, and many others.