Christmas Every Day (And Other Stories)

There is rare fun and freshness in Mr. W. D. Howells's. 'Christmas Every Day, and Other Stories', a little volume charming for New Year or Thanksgiving. It is redolent, indeed, of all these, especially of November sweets, when turkey and cranberry sauce crown the board and pumpkin-pies smile saucily from its end. Mr. Howells shows in these tales an unexpected tenderness lurking in a corner of his capacious heart –a tenderness for children under a veil of humor that is particularly attractive and also a grotesque yet merry fancy which cannot fail to delight them. What a delightful world is the child's world and how few there be that enter it! Mr. Howells ' touch is so light, so playful, so understanding, that it is a shame not to tickle childhood with it as this book does. The art of being-grand-père is as rare as the true moonstone. We won't spoil the feast by describing the bill-of fare, but happy infant that gets 'Christmas Every Day' like this.