Free Christmas classics to listen to
Most of the Christmas stories people still retell were written in the 1800s or early 1900s, so they’re out of copyright and free. These are the five books on Aloud’s Christmas shelf, from a poem you can finish before the kettle boils to an evening with Dickens.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Ebenezer Scrooge, a miser who hates Christmas, is visited by the ghost of his old business partner and then by three spirits, who show him his past, his present and the lonely future he’s heading for. You know the plot. Hearing Dickens tell it is still a treat, because the narrator’s voice is half the fun.
Allow around three hours. The book comes in five staves, which work well as five evenings in the week before Christmas. The full title on Project Gutenberg is A Christmas Carol in Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, book 46.
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
A young couple in New York, Della and Jim, have almost no money and one prized possession each. Both secretly sell the thing they love most to buy the other a present. It’s one of the most famous twist endings in short fiction, and it takes about a quarter of an hour.
That length makes it a good listen while wrapping presents or cooking. Gutenberg book 7256.
A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore
Better known by its first line, “’Twas the night before Christmas”. This poem gave us much of the modern picture of Santa Claus, from the sleigh and the named reindeer to the trip down the chimney. It was first published in 1823 and is traditionally credited to Moore, though the authorship has been argued over since.
It takes a few minutes, so it’s the natural pick for a bedtime on Christmas Eve. Gutenberg book 17135, under the title Twas the Night before Christmas.
The Little Colonel’s Christmas Vacation by Annie Fellows Johnston
One of Johnston’s Little Colonel books, a children’s series about Lloyd Sherman, a girl growing up in Kentucky. This one is set over a Christmas holiday. It’s gentle and old-fashioned, and some of its attitudes have dated, so listen to a chapter first if you’re choosing it for a child.
It’s a full-length book, so treat it as a December read rather than a single sitting. Gutenberg book 26215.
A Budget of Christmas Tales by Charles Dickens and Others
An anthology of Christmas stories, with Dickens leading a set of other writers. It’s the one to dip into. Pick a story, listen to it while you do something else, and come back for another night. Gutenberg book 28198.
Where to find them free
All five are free public-domain books on Project Gutenberg, which offers EPUB and plain text downloads. Public-domain rules follow United States copyright, so check your own country’s law if you live elsewhere. LibriVox, a volunteer project, records public-domain books read by people, and it’s worth searching there if you’d rather hear a human reader. How to get a Gutenberg book onto your iPhone.
Listening to them in Aloud
Aloud is an audiobook reader for iPhone and iPad. I make it, so weigh that. From 1 December, its Christmas shelf leads the Browse tab with these five books, and Aloud offers them as a gift you can add to your library in one tap. Opening any book from its search is free, and the search covers more than 125,000 public-domain books.
The voice is generated on the device. Nothing is uploaded, there’s no account, and once a book and a voice are downloaded it plays offline, which helps on a long drive or a flight home for the holidays.
From 24 December to 2 January, every Lifelike voice is free to use. Lifelike is Aloud’s most natural-sounding set of voices and normally comes with Aloud Unlimited. It needs iOS 17 and an iPhone 12 or later. On an older phone, the Swift voices still read every book on this list.
A few listening tips
- Match the book to the time you have. A Visit from St. Nicholas fits a bedtime and A Christmas Carol fits a week of evenings.
- Slow Dickens down a little. His sentences are long and full of jokes that are easy to miss at speed.
- Listen together. On a speaker, a short story is a good thing to put on while the family is doing the dishes.
Aloud for iPhone and iPad
Import a DRM-free EPUB, PDF or text file and listen to it in chapters. The voice is generated on your iPhone, and your first import is free.
Common questions
Is A Christmas Carol free to listen to?
Yes. Dickens published it in 1843 and it has long been in the public domain, so the text is free on Project Gutenberg and any app that narrates public-domain books can read it to you.
How long is A Christmas Carol as an audiobook?
Around three hours at normal speed. It's split into five short parts, which Dickens called staves, so it breaks up easily over a few evenings.
What's a good Christmas story to listen to with children?
A Visit from St. Nicholas takes a few minutes and suits the youngest listeners. The Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation is a longer children's book for an older child.
Are Aloud's Lifelike voices free at Christmas?
Yes, from 24 December to 2 January every Lifelike voice can be used without paying. They need iOS 17 and an iPhone 12 or later.
Forge
Aloud
Moat