Christmas in literature

Many popular literary works have been inspired by or associated with the season of Christmas. How well do you know these famous Christmas stories? Test your knowledge of Yuletide tales old and new with our holiday quiz!

1. In A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by how many ghosts?a) Oneb) Threec) Four
2. The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry is a short story in which a husband and wife each sacrifice a prized possession to buy a gift for the other. What sacrifice does the wife make?a) She sells an heirloom ring.b) She sells her hair.c) She sells her silver combs.
3. In Henry Van Dyke’s The Story of the Other Wise Man, what is the name of the fourth wise man?a) Artabanb) Balthasarc) Gaspar
4. The Little Match Girl, a short story written by Hans Christian Andersen, takes place.a) on Christmas Eveb) on Christmas Dayc) on New Year’s Eve
5. In The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell, a little boy offers a gift to the infant Jesus on the first Christmas. What was the gift?a) a cradleb) a treasure boxc) a blanket of sheep’s wool
6. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, wrote a mystery set at Christmastime in which a stolen jewel is found in a Christmas goose. What is the title of the story?a) The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncleb) The Mystery of the Blue Sapphirec) The Tale of the Blue Topaz
7. In “The Christmas Cuckoo” by Frances Browne, what gift does the cuckoo bring the merry cobbler Spare every year?a) a gold leafb) a silver leafc) a green leaf
8. Who befriends and helps the Happy Prince in the tale of the same name by Oscar Wilde?a) a mouseb) a catc) a swallow
9. What is the name of the little girl who receives the nutcracker in the ballet by Tchaikovsky?a) Clarab) Annac) Louise
10. In which 19th-century tale does a young girl organize a Christmas celebration for a poor family by the name of Ruggles?a) Little Women, by Louisa May Alcottb) The Birds’ Christmas Carol, by Kate Douglas Wigginc) The Cricket on the Hearth, by Charles Dickens