The Greatest Christmas Novels of All Time (Illustrated Edition)

This edition includes: Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (L. Frank Baum) Christmas-Tree Land (Mary Louisa Molesworth) The Little City of Hope (F. Marion Crawford) Peter Pan and Wendy (J. M. Barrie) Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) The Wonderful Wizard of OZ (L. Frank Baum) A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens) Little Lord Fauntleroy (Frances Hodgson Burnett) Christmas with Grandma Elsie (Martha Finley) Anne of Green Gables (Lucy Maud Montgomery) The Christmas Angel (Abbie Farwell Brown) At the Back of the North Wind (George MacDonald) Black Beauty (Anna Sewell) The Christmas Child (Hesba Stretton) Granny's Wonderful Chair (Frances Browne) The Romance of a Christmas Card (Kate Douglas Wiggin) Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame) The Birds' Christmas Carol (Kate Douglas Wiggin) The Wonderful Life - Story of the life and death of our Lord (Hesba Stretton)

Johanna Spyri (1827–1901) was a Swiss author of novels and best known for her children's stories. Born Johanna Louise Heusser in the rural area of Hirzel, Switzerland, she grew up amidst a landscape that she later immortalized in her writings. Spyri moved to Zurich after her marriage to Bernhard Spyri, where she began her writing career in earnest. Her stories were fundamentally rooted in her love for the Swiss countryside and were characterized by a deep sympathy and concern for the welfare of children, which resonated within the pedagogical and social aspects of her works.

Spyri's writing is marked by its vivid depictions of nature, the use of Christian themes, and its focus on the innocent and redemptive perspective of children. Her literary style often intertwines the beauty of the natural world with the inner emotional world of her characters, which is particularly palpable in her most famous work, 'Heidi'. Though 'The Greatest Christmas Novels of All Time (Illustrated Edition)' features a collection that may not be her own singular writings, her legacy of heartfelt storytelling has influenced the portrayal of pastoral life and childhood in literature. The impact of her writing has left an indelible mark on not only Swiss literature but also on the children's literary genre worldwide, enduring through adaptations and translations across multiple languages and generations.