Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856-1923) was an American educator and author of children's stories, best known for Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. The Birds' Christmas Carol is about the Christmas-born Carol Bird who is very sweet-tempered but bedridden by age 10 and not expected to live much longer. However, she is busy making plans for a Christmas celebration for the nine Ruggles children, a poor, working-class family living nearby. This wistful moral tale about a saintly child is enlivened by many humorous scenes, particularly those concerning the home life of the Ruggles family