Christmas Cricket

Oliver, the wise old owl, narrates this delightful holiday story and takes the listener to the bears' den, the birds' dwelling, the squirrels' tree, and the cougars' cave as each family rehearses for the annual Christmas song contest. Who will win? Christmas time is upon us, and all the animals in the North Woods are hurrying and scurrying getting ready for this festive holiday. You see, they celebrate Christmas, too. Perhaps not the same way you do, but take it from me, they celebrate.

The Cricket on the Heart is a novella by Charles Dickens, published by Bradbury and Evans, and released 20 December 1845. Dickens began writing the book in October 1845 and finished it by December. Like all of Dickens’s Christmas books, it was published in book form, not as a serial. Dickens described the novel as “quiet and domestic innocent and pretty.” It is subdivided into chapters called “Chirps”, similar to the “Quarters” of The Chimes or the “Staves” of A Christmas Carol.