Mafield Christmas - Chicken soup for the soul : Christmas magic : 101 holiday tales of inspiration, love, and wonder

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Christmas Magic
101 Holiday Tales of Inspiration, Love, and Wonder
Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Amy Newmark

Published by Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, sLLC www.chickensoup.com

Copyright 2010 by Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

CSS, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and its Logo and Marks are trademarks of
Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing LLC.

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the many publishers and individuals who
granted Chicken Soup for the Soul permission to reprint the cited material.

Front and back cover, and interior illustration courtesy of iStockphoto.com/Dirtydog_Creative
( Paul Bartlett). Back cover illustration courtesy of iStockphoto.com/Toonhead

Cover and Interior Design & Layout by Pneuma Books, LLC
For more info on Pneuma Books, visit www.pneumabooks.com

Distributed to the booktrade by Simon & Schuster. SAN: 200-2442

Publishers Cataloging-in-Publication Data
(Prepared by The Donohue Group)

Chicken soup for the soul: Christmas magic: 101 holiday tales of inspiration,
love, and wonder / [compiled by] Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, [and] Amy
Newmark.

p. ; cm.

Summary: A collection of 101 true personal stories from regular people about
Christmas and the holiday season.

ISBN: 978-1-935096-54-2

eISBN: 978-1-6115-9135-4

1. Christmas--Literary collections. 2. Christmas--Anecdotes. 3. Holidays--Literary
collections. 4. Holidays--Anecdotes. I. Canfield, Jack, 1944- II. Hansen, Mark Victor.
III. Newmark, Amy. IV. Title: Christmas magic

PN6071.C6 C45 2010
808.8/02/03942663

2010931537

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
on acidfree paper
19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

www.chickensoup.com

1
~Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas~

2
~Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas~

3
~Away in a Manger~

4
~Deck the Halls~

5
~Theres No Place Like Home for the Holidays~

6
~Joy to the World~

7
~Holly Jolly Christmas~

8
~O Christmas Tree~

9
~All I Want for Christmas~

10
~Santa Claus Is Coming to Town~

11
~Its the Most Wonderful Time of the Year~

Foreword

T he elves at Chicken Soup for the Soul have done it again! Im writing this foreword during my less-busy season, the summer, and I must say that these stories are making me look forward so much to the Christmas season. Mrs. Claus and I have been passing this manuscript back and forth and commenting to each other on our favorite stories.

By the time you read this, the Mrs. and I and the whole gang up at the North Pole will be in full production modethe factory will be running 24/7, the lists will have been triple-checked, and the reindeer will be practicing their flying maneuvers. Those satellite dishes have complicated matters for us a bit in recent years.

And we know that you will all be rushing about too. Mrs. Claus and I are not alone in loving the Christmas holiday season. We watch as you reunite scattered family members, enjoy the wonder on the face of a child, feel the joy of gift giving, and remember the true meaning of Christmas. The rituals of the holiday season give a rhythm to the years and create a foundation for your family lives. We watch you gather with your communities at church, at school, and even at the mall, to share the special spirit of the season, brightening those long winter days.

As I write this foreword, I know that many of you are sweltering in above-average heat and humidity. It has been a hot summer up here at the North Pole too. But despite the heat, the Christmas spirit lives in all of us year-round. Wouldnt it be nice if it were Christmas all the time? How about leaving a couple of those decorations up all year?

I hope you will find the time this busy holiday season to curl up in front of the fire and have a good read. And remember that Chicken Soup for the Souls Christmas books are always appropriate for young readers or listenerstheir editors work closely with Mrs. Claus and me to keep the magic alive.

I hope you will enjoy Chicken Soup for the Soul: Christmas Magic as much we are enjoying our advance copy. Have a wonderful Christmas season and keep those cookies coming!

~Santa Claus

P.S. Please do not listen to Mrs. Claus about the cookies. My cholesterol is fine. And I get plenty of exercise on Christmas Eve. I like the cookies. I depend on you for the cookies. She wont let me have any cookies the rest of the year....

Angels can fly directly into the heart of the matter.

~Author Unknown

T wo days before her school program, my youngest announced, Im singing Silent Night. Having raised two daughters ahead of her, I knew nine-year-olds arent particularly great on details. I delved deeper.

Right now? I asked.

Nope, in the play. Im singing solo, she proudly proclaimed.

What is solo?doing a vocab check to see if she knew what she was saying. Turns out she did. And that puzzled me. Charlotte loved to sing. She sang in the shower and the car and just about everywhere else. But, my baby had been partially tone deaf since she first opened her mouth. She could carry a tune a bit better now than last year or even the year before. Actually, I fully expected her musical ear to reach a level very close to normalcy as she grew older, but I didnt think shed improved enough yet to sing a solo. Not wanting to voice any lack of confidence in her abilities and reminding myself that all things are indeed possible, especially in grade school, I stopped questioning.

Even though our oldest had already moved away from home, I still housed two teenagers. We picked up an extra one along the way. Due to her familys sudden and unavoidable job relocation, my middle daughters best friend was living with us until the end of the school year. Forty-eight hours after Charlottes announcement, the proverbial plot thickened. I temporarily forgot teenagers can be worse than nine-year-olds when it comes to details. Both Monica, my daughter, and Corina, our temporary daughter, admitted that they also were to take part in a Christmas program on the same night as Charlotte. Corina was to sing a solo as well. Monica was to play a piano piece. The new question formed: how was I to be in two places at one time? My break came when I found out the older girls would be performing an hour later than the younger. I could try for both!