{"product_id":"2940013499652","title":"The Louisa Alcott Reader","description":"CONTENTS.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI. A CHRISTMAS DREAM\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eII. THE CANDY COUNTRY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIII. NAUGHTY JOCKO\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIV. THE SKIPPING SHOES\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eV. COCKYLOO\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVI. ROSY'S JOURNEY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVII. HOW THEY RAN AWAY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVIII. THE FAIRY BOX\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIX. A HOLE IN THE WALL\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eX. THE PIGGY GIRL\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e[Illustration: She actually stood in \"a grove of Christmas trees.\"]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA CHRISTMAS DREAM, AND HOW IT CAME TRUE.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I'm so tired of Christmas I wish there never would be another one!\"\u003cbr\u003eexclaimed a discontented-looking little girl, as she sat idly watching\u003cbr\u003eher mother arrange a pile of gifts two days before they were to be given.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Why, Effie, what a dreadful thing to say! You are as bad as old Scrooge;\u003cbr\u003eand I'm afraid something will happen to you, as it did to him, if you\u003cbr\u003edon't care for dear Christmas,\" answered mamma, almost dropping the silver\u003cbr\u003ehorn she was filling with delicious candies.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Who was Scrooge? What happened to him?\" asked Effie, with a glimmer of\u003cbr\u003einterest in her listless face, as she picked out the sourest lemon-drop\u003cbr\u003eshe could find; for nothing sweet suited her just then.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"He was one of Dickens's best people, and you can read the charming story\u003cbr\u003esome day. He hated Christmas until a strange dream showed him how dear and\u003cbr\u003ebeautiful it was, and made a better man of him.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I shall read it; for I like dreams, and have a great many curious ones\u003cbr\u003emyself. But they don't keep me from being tired of Christmas,\" said Effie,\u003cbr\u003epoking discontentedly among the sweeties for something worth eating.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Why are you tired of what should be the happiest time of all the year?\"\u003cbr\u003easked mamma, anxiously.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Perhaps I shouldn't be if I had something new. But it is always the same,\u003cbr\u003eand there isn't any more surprise about it. I always find heaps of goodies\u003cbr\u003ein my stocking. Don't like some of them, and soon get tired of those I do\u003cbr\u003elike. We always have a great dinner, and I eat too much, and feel ill next\u003cbr\u003eday. Then there is a Christmas tree somewhere, with a doll on top, or a\u003cbr\u003estupid old Santa Claus, and children dancing and screaming over bonbons\u003cbr\u003eand toys that break, and shiny things that are of no use. Really, mamma,\u003cbr\u003eI've had so many Christmases all alike that I don't think I _can_\u003cbr\u003ebear another one.\" And Effie laid herself flat on the sofa, as if the mere\u003cbr\u003eidea was too much for her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHer mother laughed at her despair, but was sorry to see her little girl so\u003cbr\u003ediscontented, when she had everything to make her happy, and had known but\u003cbr\u003eten Christmas days.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47079507132656,"sku":"2940013499652","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013499652_p0.jpg?v=1763581672","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013499652","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}