A Book for Christmas

An enchanting selection of Christmas tales by the Nobel Prize-winning Swedish national treasure-now available in English for the first time

A Penguin Classics Hardcover

A little girl receives a gift to treasure; the creatures of the forest gather to celebrate the New Year; an evil noblewoman schemes against her beautiful niece; a cantankerous gravedigger dines with an unexpected companion on Christmas Eve...In this enchanting selection of winter stories, now available in English for the first time, the beloved writer Selma Lagerlöf weaves together magic and miracles, Swedish folklore and timeless fables, darkness and light, heartfelt joy and festive wonder.

Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) was a teacher in a girls’ secondary school before she became a full-time writer. She is known around the world for her classic children’s book The Wonderful Adventure of Nils Holgersson and she was the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in 1909.