A magical train ride on Christmas Eve takes a boy to the North Pole to receive a special gift from Santa Claus.

Brother and Sister Bear are excited about the coming of Christmas, when they will perform in a pageant and receive presents, but they also learn an important lesson about giving to others.

The Grinch tries to stop Christmas from arriving by stealing all the presents and food from the village, but much to his surprise it comes anyway.

When Stella gets the sudden idea to go caroling, she has a little trouble getting someone to join her. Her brother, Frank, is not good at spontaneity. The Watsons are very involved in a precarious fruitcake attempt (but happy to send their pig, Mercy, out for the occasion). Eugenia Lincoln declines, a bit rudely, to accompany on her accordion, and Horace Broom is too busy studying planetary movement. Will Stella need to sing by herself--with enthusiastic...

Accountant Luther Krank is a Scrooge for the new millennium. He calculates that he and his wife, Nora, can take a Caribbean cruise during Christmas for much less money than they spent during the previous year's Christmas season. But Luther doesn't just want to take a vacation during Christmas; he wants to take a vacation from Christmas and skip it altogether. This means that the Kranks will not buy a Christmas tree or calendar, put up any decorations,...

Illustrations and simple text explore the quiet moments of Christmas, such as searching for hidden presents, forgetting a line during a Christmas pageant, and listing for Santa's sleigh bells.

Daddy Bear tries to show his son how to use the sled, skates, and skis Santa brought for Christmas.

Barbie and her sisters celebrate the holidays together and share a few surprises.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's family celebrates Christmas in 1860 during the country's grave political unrest and in present day Boston, Sophia, a dedicated teacher in the public school system, sets a Christmas concert to Longfellow's Christmas poem at her local church.

The widow McDowell and her seven-year-old son Thomas ask the gruff Jonathan Toomey, the best wood-carver in the valley, to carve the figures for a Christmas creche.