46 Fun Facts About Christmas Book

Which London firm published A Christmas Carol in December 1843?

Chapman & Hall published it, but Dickens insisted on a lavish five-shilling edition, so the first edition earned him only a small profit.

When his nephew greets him cheerfully, what two-word retort does Scrooge give?

Bah! Humbug! is Scrooge's answer, and the exclamation passed into everyday English as a retort to anything too festive.

What did Dickens call the five sections of A Christmas Carol, in keeping with the musical title?

Staves divide the book, and in the fifth Scrooge learns he hasn't missed Christmas at all: the spirits did it all in one night.

Which two emaciated children does the Ghost of Christmas Present reveal beneath his robe?

Ignorance and Want crawl from the spirit's robe, and he warns Scrooge to beware them both, but most of all the boy, whose brow bears the word Doom.

Trotty Veck, an elderly ticket-porter visited by goblins, stars in which Dickens Christmas book?

The Chimes follows Trotty as he wonders whether the poor are born bad, until the goblins of the bells show him the lives of the people he loves.

What is the name of the Grinch's long-suffering dog, who pulls his sleigh disguised as a reindeer?

Max hauls the Grinch's overloaded sleigh, and in the 1966 TV special he is rewarded with the first slice of roast beast.

What is wrong with the Grinch's heart at the start?

Two sizes too small is the Grinch's heart, until the Whos sing on Christmas morning without their presents and it grows three sizes.

Which little Who catches the Grinch taking her family's Christmas tree in Dr. Seuss's book?

Cindy-Lou Who catches him, and the Grinch, still dressed as Santa, tells her a crafty lie about fixing the tree before sending her back to bed.

Who wrote and illustrated The Polar Express (1985)?

Chris Van Allsburg built the story from a picture in his mind of a child in foggy woods, seeing a train and wondering where it was going.

Which book won the creator of The Polar Express his first Caldecott Medal, before the 1986 one?

Jumanji took the 1982 medal, and the picture book went on to inspire the 1995 film Jumanji.

In The Polar Express, what does the boy ask Santa for as the first gift of Christmas?

A silver bell from a reindeer's harness is the gift, but it falls through a hole in his pocket, turns up behind the tree, and his parents can't hear it ring.

'A Visit from St. Nicholas' was first printed anonymously in 1823 in which New York town?

Troy's Sentinel printed it anonymously, and Moore is said to have written the poem for his own children.

Whose descendants have long claimed that their ancestor, not Clement Clarke Moore, wrote 'A Visit from St. Nicholas'?

Henry Livingston Jr.'s family learned of Moore's claim around 1860 but waited until after Moore died to argue that Livingston had written it first.

In the poem's 1823 printing, which Dutch-flavoured pair stood in for 'Donner and Blitzen'?

Dunder and Blixem echo the Dutch words for thunder and lightning, and Moore's own 1844 collection changed them to Donder and Blitzen.

By profession, Clement Clarke Moore was a professor of what?

Oriental and Greek literature was the scholar's field, and he waited more than a decade after the 1823 printing to claim the poem as his own.

Who wrote the 1816 tale 'The Nutcracker and the Mouse King'?

E. T. A. Hoffmann ends the tale with Marie promising to love the Nutcracker however ugly he is, which breaks the spell so Drosselmeier's nephew can marry her.

Tchaikovsky's 1892 Nutcracker ballet was based on which French author's retelling of the 1816 German tale?

Alexandre Dumas framed his retelling as a story he was made to tell a crowd of unruly children.

Which American writer published the short story 'The Gift of the Magi' in 1905?

O. Henry ends the story by calling the young couple, who looked so foolish in their sacrifices, the wisest of all givers: 'They are the magi.'

What does Della sell to buy Jim's Christmas present in 'The Gift of the Magi'?

Her hair fetches $20 for a platinum watch chain, while Jim has sold his prized watch to buy her a set of combs.

'The Gift of the Magi' was allegedly written in which New York City establishment?

Pete's Tavern kept its bar in business all through Prohibition by posing as a flower shop.

Raymond Briggs's 1978 picture book The Snowman is told entirely without what?

Words never appear in the book, and neither does Father Christmas: only the 1982 film sends the boy off to meet him.

John Grisham's 2001 novel Skipping Christmas became which 2004 Tim Allen film?

Christmas with the Kranks follows a couple who swap Christmas for a Caribbean cruise, until their daughter calls to say she's coming home.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created in 1939 as a giveaway booklet for which retailer?

Montgomery Ward had been buying Christmas colouring books to give away, so it had its own copywriter write a story instead, and 2.4 million copies went out in 1939.

Which two names did Robert L. May consider for his red-nosed reindeer before settling on Rudolph?

Rollo and Reginald lost out to Rudolph, and the nose came to May as fog from Lake Michigan swirled past his Chicago office window.

What did retail president Sewell Avery hand to Robert L. May in the 1940s, setting him up for life?

May had been deep in debt from his wife's medical bills; the transfer took effect on 1 January 1947 and the first commercial edition followed that Christmas.

In Little Women, Marmee asks the sisters to give their Christmas breakfast to which poor family?

The Hummels get the March girls' Christmas breakfast, and that evening their wealthy neighbour Mr Laurence rewards them with a surprise dinner.

Which accident-prone helper causes chaos in Tolkien's Letters from Father Christmas?

The North Polar Bear once went climbing and fell straight through the roof of Father Christmas's house.

In The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, which notorious sibling clan grabs all the lead pageant roles?

The Herdmans grab every lead role and the town expects disaster, but the six misfits end up showing everyone the true meaning of Christmas.

In Pratchett's Hogfather, which Discworld regular dons the red robe and false beard when the Hogfather vanishes?

Death dons the red robe on Hogswatchnight, the 32nd of December, buying time while his granddaughter Susan hunts for the real Hogfather.

In The Snow Queen, splinters of what lodge in Kai's eye and heart, turning him cruel?

A magic mirror, made by a troll or 'wicked sprite' depending on the translation, shatters as it is flown toward heaven, and its splinters lodge in people's eyes and hearts.

Which Andersen tale ends with its restless hero burned after a single night?

The Fir-Tree longs for something grander, has one glittering night as a Christmas tree, and ends up chopped for firewood and burned.

On which freezing night is Andersen's The Little Match Girl set?

New Year's Eve is the night, and in the glow of her last matches she sees her grandmother, who carries her away as she freezes.

According to The Elf on the Shelf, what must children never do to their scout elf?

Naming the elf is actually required, since that is what grants its magic; the 2005 book was self-published by a mother-and-daughter team from Georgia.

In the 1997 picture book Olive, the Other Reindeer, the title character is actually what kind of animal?

A dog named Olive mishears a line of the Rudolph song as her own name, and the 1999 TV special cast Drew Barrymore as her voice.

In Capote's A Christmas Memory, what do Buddy and his elderly cousin bake every year with bootleg whiskey?

Fruitcakes, made with whiskey from a bootlegger called Haha Jones, go not to family but to people the pair have barely met or never met at all.

Dylan Thomas's 1952 recording of A Child's Christmas in Wales helped launch which record label?

Caedmon Records got the story by chance: Thomas's poems filled only one side of the LP, so he offered this Christmas piece for the other.

What does the reformed Scrooge send to the Cratchits' house on Christmas morning in A Christmas Carol?

A prize turkey is Scrooge's first gift to the Cratchits, and the next morning he pretends to scold Bob for being late, then raises his salary.

Which of her own books did Beatrix Potter long declare to be her personal favourite?

The Tailor of Gloucester has grateful mice finish the Mayor's Christmas wedding coat overnight, leaving a tiny note: 'No more twist.'

In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, in what condition has the White Witch kept Narnia?

Perpetual winter grips Narnia, with Christmas never coming, until Father Christmas finally gets through, an early sign that the Witch's power is weakening.

Which author wrote The Christmas Pig, about a boy on a quest to find his lost toy pig?

J. K. Rowling's Jack loses his beloved toy DP on Christmas Eve, and its annoying replacement, the Christmas Pig, sets off with him to find it.

The Jolly Christmas Postman (1991) won illustrator Janet Ahlberg which British children's book prize?

Like the 1986 original, it hides real letters and cards inside envelope pages; the first Jolly Postman took five years to make.

Which short story by Philip Van Doren Stern became the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life?

The Greatest Gift found no publisher, so Stern printed 200 copies himself and sent them to friends as Christmas gifts.

Under which title was Agatha Christie's 1938 Poirot novel about a bloody family reunion published in the US?

A 1947 US paperback changed it again to A Holiday for Murder; Christie's foreword promised 'a good violent murder with lots of blood'.

John Masefield's Christmas fantasy The Box of Delights (1935) is a sequel to which of his novels?

The Midnight Folk came first; in this sequel Kay Harker guards a magic box from Abner Brown's gang, and the BBC made it a six-part series in 1984.

What is the name of the fourth wise man in Henry van Dyke's The Story of the Other Wise Man?

Artaban sells everything for a sapphire, a ruby and a pearl for the newborn king, but gives them away helping people, spending the pearl to free a young woman.

David Sedaris's 'SantaLand Diaries' recounts his stint as an elf at which store?

Macy's employed Sedaris as an elf, and his reading of the piece on NPR's Morning Edition was well received and gave him his first big break.