Millions of copies of this award-winning story have sold since its first publication in 1947, delighting readers of all ages. A facsimile edition of the book is now faithfully re-created, offering a new generation--and fans of the original--the beauty of the classic 1940s design. Details of how the book came to be written, and made into a beloved film, are included in a brief historical note.

    Based on a true story, this book tells the tale of a 12-year-old boy who, after the death of his parents, gives his five younger brothers and sisters away to carefully chosen families on Christmas Day.

    Countless thousands who have heard this beautiful story over the radio will find in it the perfect remembrance.

    All three Greaves children came home for the holidays. Each brought a new triumph, but each triumph presented a frustrating problem, and the problems outlasted a festivity which had in some way lost something of its radiance. When everyone had left, Margaret Greaves turned for comfort to the carefully treasured Christmas trappings of the past - the 'baubles' as her elder daughter disdainfully called them - Cecily's angel, Penny's favourite golden peach, Hank's silver trumpet. Another tree rose in the living-room. And as Mrs. Greaves lovingly recreated the happy past, its magic reached out to another generation, and each found his own second chance in the celebration of Twelfth Night's 'Little Christmas.'