The Birds' Christmas Carol

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Pages: 42

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About this book

Snow is falling when the Bird family welcomes its first daughter on Christmas morning. A choir singing next door gives her mother the name Carol, while three older brothers react in their own ways to the new arrival. Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin's children's story follows a girl whose birthdays are filled with Christmas customs and whose first instinct is to share her food, presents and pleasures.

The family warmth sits alongside the bustle of the Ruggles household, where nine children must be washed, dressed and coached in manners before a holiday dinner. Their mother plans an outfit from a shawl and searches for matching stockings, making limited means a source of practical problems and comic exchanges. Childhood illness gives the story a serious note alongside its domestic comedy. Readers can find an account of generosity expressed through small, familiar acts.

About the author

Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin

Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856-1923) was an American educator and novelist who opened one of the first free kindergartens on the West Coast, in San Francisco, and wrote fiction partly to fund her teacher training work. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm carried her name well beyond it.