Little Merry Christmas

“Little Merry Christmas” by Winifred Arnold is a holiday novella written in the early 20th century. The tale centers on Mary “Merry Christmas” Christie, a spirited thirteen-year-old missionary’s daughter who arrives as a surprise at her gruff great-uncle Lemuel Perkins’s home in snowy Oatka Centre and, through cheer, courage, and kitchen magic, warms his heart and unites the village around the true spirit of the season.

The opening of the story shows Merry arriving at the train depot as the “brown package with a red label,” bursting into Uncle Lem’s chilly kitchen to flip pancakes and, soon after, to learn pie-making from his former housekeeper, Mrs. Em Caldwell. Her good-natured meddling spreads quickly: she brings a turnover to the schoolteacher, learns that a “big taxpayer” has quashed the children’s Christmas party, and persuades her uncle—unwittingly the very “Old Grouchy Gruff”—to host it in his own kitchen instead. As Em and the townsfolk rally, Lem softens, praises Merry’s first pies, and opens his doors to a village-wide celebration complete with carols, a tree, and a double-helping of Santa Claus. On Christmas morning a letter arrives announcing her family’s return to America, and Lem writes to invite them to make their home with him—prompting Merry to crown herself his “Merry Christmas” and him her “Happy New Year.”