The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol

The Night Before Christmas brought forth some of our earliest Christmas traditions as passed down through folk tales. The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus created the origin story for the presiding spirit of Christmas as we know it. The holiday tales of Louisa May Alcott shaped the ideal of an American Christmas. The Yuletide yarns of Anthony Trollope popularized throughout the British Empire and around the world the trappings of Christmas in London. A Christmas Carol revived in Victorian England such Christmas hallmarks as the Christmas tree, holiday cards, and caroling. The six volumes in the series are not only our most beloved Christmas tales, they also have given us much of what we love about the holiday itself. Penguin Christmas Classics honor the power of literature to keep on giving through the ages.

Give the gift of literature this Christmas. Zany and mischievous, and drawing inspiration from the folk tales of Gogol’s far-flung village in Ukraine, The Night Before Christmas is the basis for many movie and opera adaptations, and is still read aloud to children on Christmas Eve in Ukraine and Russia. Vakula is determined to win her over the devil, equally determined, unleashes a snowstorm to thwart Vakula’s efforts. Both the devil and Vakula are in love with Oksana, the most beautiful girl in Dikanka. Written in 1831 by the father of Russian literature, this uproarious tale tells of the blacksmith Vakula’s battle with the devil, who has stolen the moon and hidden it in his pocket, allowing him to wreak havoc on the village of Dikanka. One of six beloved Christmas classics in collectible hardcover editions

The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol