We have taken some beautiful Victorian Christmas stories and bought them back to life in the form of Christmas tree decorations. In true Marvling Bros style we have created a charming miniature version of this heartwarming story. Here's the history of this wonderful book that epitomises the magic of Christmas.
The Robin’s Christmas Eve is a book that was originally written by Charlotte Elizabeth Bowen and later published in 1889. The book was published by the McLoughlin Brothers of New York. This book is sold as a bedtime story for children and even centuries later the book is still getting many sales every single year.
Who is Charlotte Elizabeth Bowen
Charlotte Elizabeth Bowen was an author that was born in 1817 and passed away in 1890. During that time she wrote a variety of books, this included Ben’s Boyhood, Jack the Conqueror and The Robin’s Christmas Eve. The Robin’s Christmas Eve was one of the first books that she wrote and it was one of her most well-known pieces of work. The book is now seen as a collectable item and you can find different issues of it released throughout the years online, although many are valuable and cost a lot to buy.
The Front Cover
The front cover of the book is extremely detailed, you can see the outlines of each colour used within the book and the front cover really sets the scene for the book itself. It features a picture of a robin standing on a bush of holly, this is a common occurrence that you see during Christmas time and red robins and holly are often associated with one another, due to their red colour. In the background of the picture, you can see the sun setting and a building in the background. This adds some scenery to the front cover, but your main focus is the robin. The title of the book is seen at the top of the page in eye-catching colours such as yellow, green and red. These are also colours associated with Christmas, yet again adding to the Christmas theme.
The Beginning Of A Christmas Story
The story starts by setting the scene of a winter night, they describe the weather as being dreary and snowy, which is what a lot of us associate as being the classical Christmas weather. It then starts to describe the characters within the story, we know that there are children within the households alongside a couple. So the first page overall gives you some insight into the people within the story and describes the surroundings to an extent. The page is also split up into columns, with a picture to help you imagine what you are reading.
The Artwork Within The Poem
Each page contains some artwork, the artwork is usually in black and white and is within the columns of the book. These pieces of art are extremely detailed and include sketches to showcase what is being described on that page, such as drawings of birds and people. That being said there are a lot of pictures in colour, some even taking up the whole page. Usually, if there is a picture with colour, there is less text on that page, to draw your attention to the picture. These pictures include choirs singing and characters acting out the text on the page. The colours used within the book are usually festive-themed, such as greens and reds. This adds to the Christmas theme and emphasises the fact that the book is set during Christmas.
What Is The Storyline Of The Poem?
The storyline features a family and a robin during Christmas time. It starts off with the father witnessing a robin sitting at his window sill, this is a wholesome moment because even through the stormy winter weather, the robin still came to greet the family. As the story reaches its climax the relationship between the father and the robin grows stronger as they frequently encounter one another. The father then performs an act of kindness as he realises that the robin is dying of starvation and brings the crumbs from his counter to the robin to feed it.
The next day is Christmas Day and while the family is at church they are singing a song while the robin sits on a piece of holly outside of the house. Once they are finished singing they hear some chirping from outside and before they know it the robin is humming the song they were previously singing. This is a learning moment for everyone and the lesson of the story is that God is always watching and he had given a beautiful voice to the robin. The story ends on a happy note as the robin is in good health and the family have a merry Christmas.
To check out our Robin's Christmas Eve miniature book tree decoration click here.
