The Christmas Child

Stretton, Hesba, 1832-1911Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 53K words
Chapters: 6

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 Christmas Child by Hesba StrettonAuthor: Stretton, Hesba, 1832-1911,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Jan 27, 2007

Editor's review

The Christmas Child is a work of juvenile literature by Hesba Stretton, classified under juvenile belles lettres, short in length, with a warm tone and a moral-didactic colouring. Stretton was known in nineteenth-century British children's literature for her attention to poor children, and this work likewise turns its gaze on children in difficult circumstances, using a Christmas-season encounter and acts of kindness to discuss compassion, responsibility and family warmth. Its strength lies in plain storytelling and clear relationships between characters; it suits reading aloud and parent-child shared reading, and has textual value for readers studying Victorian children's literature, charitable ideas and Christmas stories. When reading, one need not look for strong dramatic conflict, but should note how the author shapes the child's sense of dignity through everyday detail, and the subtle relationship between giving and receiving. As a public-domain e-book, it is better suited as supplementary reading in classic children's literature than as a substitute for contemporary children's fiction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Young readers aged 10 and up, practising English short-narrative reading
Families reading together, looking for a classic short Christmas story
Researchers of children's literature, focused on Victorian narratives of poor children
English learners needing short, clearly plotted reading material

Not a good fit for

Young readers who prefer strong plots and fast-paced adventure
Readers seeking contemporary child psychology and diverse issues
Readers sensitive to religious exhortation and moralising

Reading tips

Read through once for the story, then revisit the dialogue to sense the self-respect and restraint in the child's voice.
When reading together, pause after each chapter and have the child retell the plot and name the detail that moved them most.
Place the story back in its nineteenth-century British context and look up the relationship between poor children and charities at the time before reading.
English learners can copy short sentences describing Christmas scenes and imitate their plain descriptive style in writing practice.

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.

FAQ

What age is this book suitable for?

Judging by its category and narrative difficulty, it suits young readers of about ten and up with some English reading ability. Younger children can have it read aloud by a parent, with the historical background explained. The book deals with the plight of poor children, so it is advisable to guide discussion during shared reading, helping children understand rather than merely pity.

Does the story contain obvious religious preaching?

Stretton's works often carry a colouring of Christian charity and moral exhortation, and this Christmas-themed work is no exception. It emphasises kindness, compassion and responsibility rather than complex doctrine. Readers sensitive to preaching can read it as a period text, attending to character relationships and emotional description.

Is the original English difficult to read?

The work is aimed at young readers and its sentences are generally not long, but it carries nineteenth-century English wording and syntax, at some distance from contemporary young-adult fiction. It is best to try one chapter first; when meeting unfamiliar words, guess before checking, and do not stop at every word. It is short and suits a first attempt at classic English reading.

Why read an old Christmas story?

Its value lies in offering a window onto Victorian views of childhood and charity, while the Christmas setting gives the story a warmth that crosses eras. For writers, it also shows how to establish a character's circumstances through everyday detail within a short space, without relying on strong dramatic conflict.

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About the author

Stretton, Hesba, 1832-1911 Author

Hesba Stretton (1832–1911) was a nineteenth-century British author of children's literature and popular fiction, though relatively little is documented about her life in publicly available sources, and she generally wrote under her pen name. Ten of her works are held in this collection, including Jessica's First Prayer and, Jessica's Mother, Fern's Hollow, Alone in London, The Christmas Child, Cobwebs and Cables, Little Meg's Children, and Half Brothers. These works show that her writing often centred on poor urban children, orphans, and lower-class families, frequently taking up themes of Christmas, prayer, family affection, and rescue, in a plain and warm style with a clear moral and improving purpose. Her stories found a wide readership in the later Victorian period, and those featuring street children and poor girls in particular circulated widely, leaving some influence on the later tradition of children's literature concerned with the vulnerable.