Since we are rapidly approaching Christmas, I thought a post about Frances Browne and her lovely Christmas story, "The Christmas Cuckoo" would be a wonderful addition to the group!

Frances Browne (1816-1879) was born at Stranorlar, in County Donegal, and was an Irish poet and novelist. She was the seventh of twelve children and became blind in infancy because of smallpox. Regardless of her blindness, Frances learned her school lessons by memorising what she heard, and she wrote her very first poem, which was a version of The Lord's Prayer, at the age of seven. 

While she did write many things in her lifetime, she is best known for her collection of short stories for children, entitled Granny's Wonderful Chair. It is within this collection that her lovely Christmas story, "The Christmas Cuckoo" can be found. This story tells the tale of two brothers, Scrub and Spare, and how riches don't always make you happier or more giving...of course this is the very condensed summary. You'll have to read it yourself for the whole story! 

My gift to all here this Christmas is this lovely story (as well as Browne's Granny's Wonderful Chair in its entirety. While we all have many traditions during the holiday season, why not make this lovely story one of those traditions? 

Happy Christmas to all!

The Christmas Cuckoo - text

The Christmas Cuckoo - audio