And that's an unwrap

A diamond-encrusted tortoise, a humble pencil case and a cursed jewel: Felicity Day unwraps some of the best and worst presents given in literature

- Felicity Day

I'LL send it to Bob Cratchit's!' decides a very merry Scrooge on Christmas morning, rubbing his hands with glee at the thought of the 'prize turkey'-'twice the size of Tiny Tim'-that will soon be gracing the table of his long-suffering employee and his family. A heart-warming sign of his redemption, it must be one of the most famous gift-giving scenes in literature, in one of the world's best-loved Christmas books. But shop around (as we must at this time of year) and you can gather a whole stocking-full of fictional presents: memorable, comical and relatable gifts that go on giving, every time we unwrap them anew.

In literature, as in life, the most appreciated presents are sometimes the most thoughtful ones, no matter how humble. "Tes mine?' says aged and underappreciated farmhand Adam Lambsbreath, staring at the neat little washingup mop Flora Poste assures him will better 'cletter the dishes' than the thorn-spiked twig she finds him using at the eponymous Cold Comfort Farm. So enamoured of the handsome gift is he (although, perhaps, determined not to be swayed from a habit of 'fifty years and more') that he hangs it reverentially 'above t' gurt old greasy washin'-up water' -much to his benefactor's annoyance.

Occasionally, the wrapping alone is enough to excite: we probably all know a Winnie-thePooh, who, when given a 'Special Pencil Case' by Christopher Robin to thank him for effecting the brave rescue of Piglet from the flood, opened it 'as quickly as ever he could, but without cutting the string, because you never know when a bit of string might be Useful'.