The House With Sixty Closets: A Christmas Story for Young Folks and Old Children

Child, Frank Samuel, 1854-1922Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.0
Word count
168K words
Chapters
17

Tags

English Originals Children's Literature Christmas TaleFamily BondsMysterious HouseComing of AgeImaginationGrowing UpHeartwarming NarrativeHoliday SpiritParent-Child ReadingYouth Reading

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The House With Sixty Closets: A Christmas Story for Young Folks and Old ChildrenAuthor: Child, Frank Samuel, 1854-1922,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Jun 16, 2013

Editor's review

This is an English Christmas story; the subtitle identifies it as intended for "young folks and old children"—that is, children and adults who retain a childlike spirit. The author, Frank Samuel Child (1854–1922), is classified under juvenile literature, and the book is released as a public-domain e-book by Project Gutenberg. The title's "house with sixty closets" is itself a premise full of suspense and imaginative possibility, well suited to family reading around the Christmas season. Its value lies not in a complex plot structure but in the warmth and nostalgia of holiday storytelling, making it suitable for reading aloud or shared reading in winter or around Christmas. Being a public-domain text, it has no modern illustrations or annotations, so the reading experience is rather plain. For readers seeking to collect English Christmas-themed books or to find a short holiday story for children, this is a light option; readers expecting strong dramatic conflict may find it flat.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read one chapter each night around Christmas as family bedtime reading material.
  2. During parent-child shared reading, first let the child guess what might be inside the "sixty closets," then read the text to verify.
  3. English learners can first read through once for the gist, then a second time to look up new words and sentence structures.
  4. After finishing, talk with family about holiday stories from your own memory to extend the reading experience.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17

FAQ

What age of child is this book suitable for? The materials classify it as juvenile literature, and the subtitle states it is intended for young people and "old children." The original is in English, so the specific suitable age depends on the child's English level. Native English-speaking children can read it independently; non-native children are better suited to having a parent read aloud or read together.
Is the story long or short? The materials do not provide specific length or chapter information, only stating that it is a long Christmas story intended for children and adult readers. Readers are advised to check the table of contents or total word count after opening the e-book, then plan their reading schedule.
Does this edition have illustrations? As a Project Gutenberg public-domain e-book, it is usually text-only, and the materials do not state that it includes illustrations. If you want a version with both pictures and text, you can look for an illustrated paper or e-book edition to read alongside.
Why does the subtitle say "old children"? "Old children" refers to adults who retain a childlike spirit and are still willing to read fairy tales and holiday stories. The subtitle indicates that the book is not only for children but also welcomes adult readers to revisit simple warmth and imagination in the Christmas atmosphere.

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About the author

Child, Frank Samuel, 1854-1922 Author · 1854–1922

Frank Samuel Child (1854–1922) was an author about whom limited biographical information is publicly available; his birth and death years are among the few relatively certain records. Among the works held in this collection is The House With Sixty Closets: A Christmas Story for Young Folks and Old Children, a Christmas-themed story intended for young readers as well as for "old children." Judging from the title and subtitle, his writing leans toward holiday subjects and family reading, with a light and imaginative tone suitable for sharing across ages. Because the available materials are limited, it is difficult to describe his education, career, or the full scope of his writing; only a brief outline based on the existing work and dates can be given. More research is needed to establish the extent and influence of his literary output.