Old Dingledorf Square and Other Christmas Tales: Old-Fasioned Christmas Poems for the Whole Family!

By James Bixby

Christian in tone, relaying good morals and virtues, and told in delightful verse and meter, these old-fashioned Christmas poems will be enjoyed by the whole family!

"Old Dingledorf Square" is a Christmas allegory set in Victorian times that has enormous relevance to today's modern audience. What happens to this little town, famed around the world for their handmade Christmas bells, when a deafening silence overtakes the Christmas joy? Why have the residents lost their religious faith? Come and see how Terwilliger Mugs, a beggar seeking a hot meal and respite from the bitterly cold night, teaches the townsfolk the true meaning of Christmas.

"Cruthers Smuthers and the Green Ghost of Christmas" studies the materialistic theme with a young tyke who becomes the consummate brat through his greedy consumption of Christmas-until he meets a green ghost that scares him to his wit's end!

"The Light of the Beggar" focuses on two urban beggars who view their lack of wealth differently-one with derision, the other, with Christlike optimism.

These allegorical and spiritual poems will captivate the mind through sonorous and memorable rhyme set to match the music of Christmas.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Sep 3, 2007
• ISBN: 9780595838219

James Bixby

James F. Bixby holds two degrees in classical languages and has taught in both elementary and secondary education. He has spent most of his life in Michigan, where he still lives today.

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Copyright © 2007 by James Bixby

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ISBN: 978-0-595-39425-8 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-0-5958-3821-9 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Introduction

Old Dingledorf Square

Cruthers Smuthers and

the Green Ghost of Christmas

The Light of the Beggar

Chuck Salty’s drawings give birth to entertaining characters, both plucky and petulant, who highlight the playfulness of everyday life. In Old Dingledorf Square Salty’s pen will show you how Terwilliger Mugs and ol’ Klinkel the town crier hop and skip to the Christmas bells ringing in their hearts. Along with Terwilliger and ol’ Klinkel, you’ll meet Mr. Wassel and his family, the distinguished Sir and Dame of Dingledorf who enjoy all the affluence of Christmas, the Christmas Witch and her children, Grandma and Grandpa Christmas, and the Creep who lives in Old North Church’s bell tower. All these characters will leap into your world through Salty’s dexterous and delightful drawings.

Next, Chuck’s characterizations come to life more vividly than ever, as Cruthers Smuthers revels through a menagerie of mischievous fun in the poem Cruthers Smuthers and the Green Ghost of Christmas. And, finally, please join in Chuck’s pictorial meanderings through the big city where beggars, Bobo and Mo, stroll down Main Street on Christmas Eve. Amidst the last minute rush of those fortunates who can enjoy the holiday’s opulence, Bobo and Mo experience firsthand the distinction between those who have and those who have not in The Light of the Beggar.

Enjoy the rhythm, rhyme, and rich diction of James Bixby’s poetry, and listen as his characters tell you many of the deeper Christian and philosophical meanings of Christmas. Visit Old Dingledorf, a Victorian town where great bells are made, but where they have fallen silent because the spirit of Christmas has suddenly and inexplicably vanished. Join young Terwilliger Mugs on his quest for food and shelter, and learn along with him as his search reveals the diverse meanings of this great Christian feast. Cruthers Smuthers, too, will tell you what Christmas is really after his frightening experiences with the Green Ghost of Christmas. And Bobo and Mo provide a glimpse into what Christmas really and truly means to the homeless who live in the destitute poverty of an urban slum. James Bixby, an educator and Michigan resident, takes you back in these Christmas narrative poems to those warm Christmases of yesteryear where Christian morals and family values reigned supreme, values which still have great relevance today, especially at Christmastime.

Illustrator Chuck Salty, also a Michigan resident and an esteemed member of the medical profession, will