Product Description

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Edition includes a glossary and reader’s notes to help the reader fully appreciate the beauty and humor of Dickens’s work.

In his "Ghostly little book," Charles Dickens invents the modern concept of Christmas Spirit and offers one of the world’s most adapted and imitated stories. We know Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, not only as fictional characters, but also as icons of the true meaning of Christmas in a world still plagued with avarice and cynicism.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #263314 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 86 pages

From Publishers Weekly
A well-loved holiday story, Dickens's slim tale has been opened up on the oversize pages of this new version, similar in format to Zwerger's treatment of The Gift of the Magi. Expanses of white space around and between lines of text give the volume a clean-looking design, which sets off the artist's charm-filled, airy watercolors. And that design is of key importance to the unabridged text, for the book appears accessible to readers just out of the picture book age. This is a fine collector's edition as well; Zwerger has chosen not to represent the three spirits of Christmas, but merely hints at their presence in her pictures. That grounds the story of Scrooge's night firmly in the realm of the almost-real and the possible, and renders his transformation a fully believable phenomenon. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 5 Up–Over the years, Dickens's holiday classic has been embellished by some of the finest artists around. Michael Foreman, Trina Schart Hyman, Greg Hildebrandt, and Lisbeth Zwerger are just a few of the luminaries who have taken on the challenge originally set by Arthur Rackham in 1915. Joining the list is Lynch, whose watercolor-and-gouache illustrations lavishly enhance this handsome edition, which includes the complete text. Ranging from spot art to full spreads, with something to savor on almost every page, they offer a real flavor of Victorian England and make the most of the inherent drama of the story. The gold-embossed spine and thick, textured paper contribute to the appeal of the package.–Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 4^-8. Blake's familiar scraggly cartoon-type illustrations done in line and watercolor lend their own decided sense of character and wit to Dickens' classic Christmas tale. Whether of a dour Scrooge crouched over piles of coins, the suffering specter of Jacob Marley rattling his chains, or the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, the pictures are a perfect match for the story. A good selection for collections wanting another version. Sally Estes

Customer Reviews

Possibly the best "Christmas Carol" ever
Many versions of Dickins' classic "A Christmas Carol" are actually abridgements (done more or less smoothly) but this version is complete and unabridged. Even if you think you are familiar with the book you may find upon reading this one that you previously had read a shortened version! The completeness of this volume would be reason enough to add it to your library, but the quality of the pages, typeface, and above all the lovely illustrations scattered throughout further commend it. I have bought copies for all 3 of my grown children--because every family deserves to own a complete version of this classic story and this one is the best I have ever seen.

Read the book the way Dickens wrote it..........
I hope all readers take time to read A CHRISTMAS CAROL in the original language Dickens used in the 1840's. Dickens' language remains humorous, descriptive and insightful and not inaccessible to most modern readers especially with the use of a good glossary. This is a great read aloud for families at Christmas time and also a great introduction to Dickens and other Victorian writers. Don't settle for an abridged version. Read this masterpiece the way it was intended

Beautiful Volume
I collect "A Christmas Carol" and this is a particularly lovely volume. The illustrations are wonderful and the overall quality, printing, binding and paper, is terrific. This is definitely in my top three favorites of all the different versions I own.