A Christmas Carol

by Malvina G. Vogel (Adapted by), Charles Dickens

From the bustling, snowy streets of nineteenth-century London to the ghostly apparitions of Christmases past and future, award-winning artist Roberto Innocenti vividly renders the authentic detail and emotional impact of Charles Dickens's Christmas tale.

Genres: Classics, Christmas, Fiction, Childrens, Holiday, Fantasy, Literature

239 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Labai graži ir pamokanti istorija apie Skrudžą kuris nemėgo Kalėdų ir vengė žmonių, nenorėjo jiems padėti.

[Charity (Booktrovert Reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this! Great way to get a Christmasy classic in an illustrated way. This is basically a summary of the whole story, and it was a super quick read.

[Daiva Boleišienė · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kokia pamokanti istorija, puikus skaitinys kalediniu laikotarpiu. Skaitesi lengvai, nuo pirmuju puslapiu istorija itrauke, nesinorejosi knygos paleisti is ranku.

[Bekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's just not Christmas Eve without reading this. While I enjoyed the illustrations in this edition, I was less than thrilled with the rephrasing of certain passages. It took away the impact, in my view. But still well done and I'm glad to have read it.

[Nadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very good classic book!

[Brandon O'Neill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved looking though Great Illustrated Classics when I was little and the time was right for this story. Good reminder each December.

[Meg Rich · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is as classic as classic can be. I love the story, the characters and the timelessness of the morals. I am just not a fan of Dickens writing and find reading his pages a chore. bah humbug 😉

[Anni · Rating 4 out of 5]

One simply can not go wrong with Charles Dickens.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn't ever read this so it was fun reading it aloud with the kids. We've all watched The Muppet Christmas Carol so we know the story but they really enjoyed seeing the differences between the two versions and trying to figure out why certain parts were different. They loved listening to it and looking at the pictures. It's a good story but certainly not something I would love if it wasn't already such a big part of our holiday traditions. It just isn't believable that someone would change so drastically literally overnight. But the message is one I want my kids to remember and it's a story we all enjoyed together and that makes it pretty good in my book! I think everyone should read this at least once.

[Mary Sheppard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Touching the heart as always. a reminder of kindness in the life we lead!

[Marty Monforte · Rating 3 out of 5]

"A Christmas Carol" is often read in the month of December. People of different ages read this book during this time period. It features memorable characters and a famous plot.

Within literature is the concept of the "person who changes." Sometimes during the course of a story a principal character changes. The events of the story change the character and in some cases make the character a better person. "Scrooge" is one of the most famous characters in all of literature who experiences a change during the story.

The Great Illustrated Classics are adapted versions of classics in literature. These versions are written at a 5th grade level. Every other page features an illustration that corresponds to the page before it. These books are good for students to read or have read to them during a read aloud by teachers or parents. These classics express the basic plots off these stories well.

At the beginning of the novel, the character of Scrooge is established. He has a negative attitude towards Christmas and does not like his employee, Bob Cratchit, to have a day off with pay. He also does not like the hopeful and optimistic attitude of his nephew Fred who has a positive view of Christmas. Both Bob Cratchit and Fred have views on Christmas that stand in stark contrast to Scrooge's pessimistic attitude towards Christmas.

The meetings between Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas past and Christmas present are well described. Scrooge gradually experiences a change in attitude in perspective because of the conversations with the ghosts. This helps to develop the plot of the story.

This version effectively expresses the plot of the story. The basic story is presented in an adapted manner for elementary and middle school students. This adapted version teaches young people the basic plot of a classic story.

I would recommend this book for parents who wanted to read a good story to their sons and daughters. I would also recommend the book to teachers who wanted to read a good book for a read aloud. Young and independent readers would also benefit from reading this book. I read this book to my students, and they seemed to benefit from the story.

[Sara Tiede · Rating 5 out of 5]

Especially for this series of abridgments, this is an excellent one! Longer books presented by this publisher have a tendency to get butchered inthei intent- no actions are cut if possible, so to keep them short, the dialog and or reactions and repercussions of the action are erased. Not a good trade off all the time.

Happily, A Christmas Carol is already pretty short, so the only real "cut" is that there is no description of the qastrel children with the Ghost of Christmas Present. He simply leaves with a final warning about "want and greed" who would destroy mankind. I got to read this with my seven year old for the first time this year, so I didn't miss the change too much.

(Spoilers for those who haven't read the unabridged original start here)

And reading with a first grader, modern language was what I was mostly looking for, and exactly what I got! We still got to actually see all the memories with the first Ghost, the sprinkling of Christmas spirit and all the visitations of the second, miner home and lighthouse and all, and we still saw Scrooge's body under the sheet with the final Ghost. All the finer details of the full novel were still there!

I was very grateful for this lovely rendition of one of my favorites to share with my young child!

[Sami · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Why should you decide who shall live and who shall die?”

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, narrates how the miserly and cold Ebenezer Scrooge is visited the day of Christmas eve by three spirits. These beings show him the past, present and future Christmases to demonstrate him how his selfish actions will torment him after death. This is surely one of the most famous and beloved Christmas stories.

I decide to read this book after watching the Netflix adaption of it. The emotions, the memories and the suffering in the story really made me feel the spirit of this season. This book helped me to reflect on the meaning of Christmas, the magic of love and how humans created their own happiness. Family is also a crucial topic in the story. The Spirits show Scrooge the importance of sharing with your loved ones in the present and enjoy the love you exchange.

This was a beautiful book to read in this time of the year. Even though I read a very simple adaptation of the classic, it was easy to find the meaning of it. I would recommend the book to anyone who wants to read a light Christmas story.


“I shall love you as long as I live.”

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love all these great illustrated classics. I know that A Christmas Carol is a relatively short book, and probably didn't need this treatment, but the illustrations are fun, and I always forget because I've seen different versions of the film so many times that there's more to this story than are in the films. There's more social commentary and more commentary about the girl he rejected. It's more well rounded than most of the films; it's such an amazingly relevant story for our time. One of my favorite and most memorable lines is when he basically says to his nephew, "I don't know why you're so happy, you're poor enough!” And his nephew says right back to him, "I don't know why you're so miserable, you're rich enough!” That's it right there -- no amount of money protects you from the slings and arrows of life, and isolating yourself from people is about the best way to be miserable that I can imagine. It's a timeless tale for a reason. Dickens is so great!

[Aimée · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review is probably heavily biased and if I am being completely honest if I did not study this book in school I might of actually enjoyed it and parts of it is actually very interesting but sadly this book gave me nightmares and I could not annotate Dickens for the life of me 😭 and so with that I will never even be able to watch the Christmas Carol the same way again

[John Lear · Rating 5 out of 5]

After all the film adaptations and other media viewings (such as The Muppets), I don't believe I have ever read the book before.

It is a wonderful tale Dickens wrote with powerful words. The characters are ever so relatable to modern society, and the book represents how we need to cherish who and what we have.

[J.B. Mathias · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to be honest and say I enjoyed this version more than the original by Dickens. The adaptation is faithful, tells the whole story without the anachronistic and wordy prose of Dickens, I enjoyed reading both and will read more Dickens in the future however when you're looking for a cozy Christmas read this does the job better even without the illustrations.

[Arwen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a children's version that has pictures on every other page. But it was timely to read it before Christmas. I also want to say that I've read all of my YA books before my kids (someday) will be able to read them.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scrooge, an unpleasant old man, scorns Christmas and the Christmas spirit. But Scrooge has a lesson in store for him. Ghosts of Christmas past, present and future pay him a visit on Christmas Eve and changed his life forever. Some parts of the story was sad. I will re_read this book again!!

[Lucie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found out I owned this book back in June and I told myself I would read it this Christmas. Fast forward 6 months and here I am :) It was so sweet and cozy and comforting reading this on Christmas Day
🤍🎄🎅🏻🎁

[Johnnysbookreviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a classic. A story of a man who needed to stop being a dick and to change. After seeing ghosts of hist past, present, and future, this changes his life moving forward. We need to stop being selfish and help other people.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love A Christmas Carol. I have watched different versions of the movie. I think A Christmas Carol is a great example of how people deserve second chances. A Christmas Carol teaches us how to show kindness to our family, friends, coworkers, employees, neighbors, and strangers.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great version for elementary age students.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to my two younger boys a little at a time each night. I'm not sure if they enjoyed it, but I did :-) I like the Great Illustrated Classics versions of books for reading to younger kids.

[Sam Weigert]

Same as the other Great Illustrated Classics.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book to my second grade class during the Christmas season. It is a beautiful classic that my students and I greatly enjoyed!

[LC Yü · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unpredictable for me. A must-read book. Impressive! Suites for all ages :)

[Marcus Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son enjoys the illustrations that go along with the story. It's a nice way to introduce a child to some classics.

[beatrice · Rating 4 out of 5]

ykw this was cute and made me feel good by the end <3 very quick read but very lovely

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice abridged version to read with the boys. Not too scary and enough detail to get the point.