Books like The Littlest Angel

This is my single most favorite story for Christmastime. (I just now realized I have a 1947 copy published by Ideals Publishing Corporation.) The story is very vivid and detailed. The sentiments are so universal to anyone who, at any age, pondered why anyone would look forward to Heaven when it sounded so dull and Earth was so much more interesting. Clearly, the lesson about the gift of the Littlest Angel is also timeless.I just read it tonight to my son and it occurs to me that this book is a clear example of the "dumbing down" of children and our/societies lowered expectations of young children. The vocabulary alone shows that the author knew children didn't have to know or be able to actually read every single word in a book. That a "children's book" could be written with the expectation that an adult would read it aloud. And that context clues were readily available to make those "above-level" words less distracting. Perhaps, children "back then" didn't get quite as frustrated and give up when encountering a big, unknown word. I don't know but it struck me strongly enough that I had to find the book on Goodreads and write about it. Vocabulary includes: precipitous, ornamental, loitering, ingenious, fastidious, lamentably, irreverent, blasphemous,consummate. I cannot think of a modern equivalent of a children's illustrated book with such verbal maturity. I am so glad I have kept this original story and not opted for the abbreviated or re-written version found in many a Christmas Story Collection