Unable to sleep on Christmas eve, four children creep downstairs to see the tree, their stockings, their wrapped gifts, and to hear the singing of the carolers.

Determined to see Santa this year and experience Christmas magic, Tess McAlister eagerly awaits his arrival while hoping for the quick recovery of her best friend's father, in a magical tale filled with hope, dreams, and holiday spirit. Reprint.

The night before Christmas has never been so beautiful as in this luminous reillustration of Margaret Wise Brown's classic text of three children delighting in the splendor and magic of a traditional Christmas Eve. Nancy Edwards Calder's glorious paintings bring a glow to each page that captures the warmth and anticipation of this very special night. Full color.

A heartfelt gift for every family, sure to be shared over and over again each year. Eight-year-old Tess is convinced this is the year she will finally meet Santa and experience "the Christmas magic." She also wishes with all her heart that her best friend's ill father will recover. Tess's faith in the season results in a Christmas Eve so wondrous, so sparkling, readers won't help but feel transformed. Like trimming the tree and IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, baking cookies and WHITE CHRISTMAS, ON CHRISTMAS EVE is sure to bring new holiday magic to readers' lives.

In Cape Light a troubled marriage is healed by a runaway teenager and a divorced woman finds happiness with a struggling magazine writer who dresses up as Santa Claus.

After watching It’s a Wonderful Life for the first time, thirty-one-year-old Julie Shelly’s predictable small-town life turns anything but as she begins experiencing uncanny parallels between her life and the fictional George Bailey’s. Initially intrigued by the way her life seems to imitate the classic movie, Julie secretly hopes the strange similarities bear some kind of deeper existential significance. But real life soon brings her back down to earth and she dismisses the episodes as mere coincidence and the wishful thinking of her restless spirit. Julie decides to put the Wonderful Life foolishness behind her…until a tragedy puts her faith to the test and forces her to view the odd movie coincidences in a completely different light. Her epiphany ultimately spurs her toward an extraordinary, life-changing encounter with a vulnerable stranger on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve. While the world sleeps, snow falls gently from the sky, presents lie under the tree ... and murder is afoot. In this collection of ten classic murder mysteries by the best crime writers from the 1920s to today, death and mayhem take many festive forms, from the inventive to the unexpected. From a Santa Claus with a grudge to a cat who knows who killed its owner on Christmas Eve, these are stories to enjoy - and be mystified by - in front of a roaring fire, mince pie in hand.