Christmas bedtime stories

Christmas bedtime stories for the last week of December: a boot that stayed empty, a crooked tree nobody wanted, and a door with no number on it.

7 stories

A Christmas Tree for the Forest Animals5-7 min read · 14 pagesA christmas bedtime story: a crooked spruce that nobody ever takes home, and the one who starts decorating it has nothing of her own.
Emma and the Christmas Star That Went Missing5-7 min read · 13 pagesIn a snug little town wrapped in evergreen woods, the Christmas star that warms every heart has vanished from the tall tree in the square.
Ruby and the Night the Bells Flew6-7 min read · 9 pagesIn a snug little village tucked among the snowy hills, Christmas was the most magical time of all — and a small deer named Ruby dreamed of nothing more than joining Santa's team.
The Little Match Girl5-7 min read · 14 pagesThe little match girl by Hans Christian Andersen, to read aloud. New Year's Eve, no shoes, and a box of matches nobody will buy.
The Night Santa Was Late5-7 min read · 14 pagesA christmas bedtime story: in one stairwell a boot stayed empty, and Santa only noticed once the sleigh was back in the barn.
The Nutcracker10-12 min read · 16 pagesThe nutcracker and the mouse king by E. T. A. Hoffmann, to read aloud. A Christmas present that fights a battle on the parlour floor.
The Twenty-Fifth Door5-7 min read · 14 pagesA christmas bedtime story: the calendar has twenty-four little doors, and Jonek is certain he saw one more at the bottom right.

These are stories for the evenings when the house is already quiet and the day has been long. None of them is about presents, although presents turn up in two of them. They are about waiting, and about somebody noticing somebody else — which is what the waiting is for.

Some were written for Marytale, some come from the app's Christmas shelf, and two are classics — the Nutcracker and Andersen's little match girl. If you are reading one a night through Advent, most take five to seven minutes and the Nutcracker about twelve; the reading time is printed under every title.

Frequently asked

When should we start reading these?

Any time in December. Two of them are set on a particular date — the sixth and the twenty-fifth — and they read better on or near the day, but nothing is spoiled by reading them early.

Is there anything sad in them?

One of them turns on a child who thinks she has been forgotten, and it is put right by the end of the same story. That is deliberate: being forgotten is the fear these stories are actually about. The little match girl is the exception — it is Andersen's, it ends sadly, and it is worth reading yourself first.

Want to know where the classic fairy tales come from? The articles are here

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Christmas bedtime stories

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