Chalk One Up!

"A Christmas Carol" (2014)

Puffin Chalk Series

Cover Illustrator: Mary Kate McDevitt

Also not a kid version is this edition with a striking "chalk illustrated" cover!

And a really cool back cover too:

Either one would make an awesome poster!

More info at Mary Kate McDevitt's website. 

In the Family!

So, we just saw a kid-friendly adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" from Doubleday, which I understand is an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Perhaps neither here nor there, but I think this non-kid edition of "A Christmas Carol" from Penguin has a snappy cover:

Good to see a reformed Scrooge milling about!

Not sure who the artist is, but the image also appears on this edition (although I don't think it's as effective):

Fun!

Double Down!

"A Christmas Carol" (2015)
Doubleday Books for Young Readers
Text: Adam McKeown
Illustrations: Gerald Kelley

Here's another kid-friendly retelling of "A Christmas Carol" without any piano!

Sample pages:

I find these things to be interesting, mainly for the illustrations.

I can't help but notice that Marley's gravestone shows that he was born in 1781 and died in 1836.

That would mean he was 55 when he passed away and if that was seven years earlier from the setting of the story, the story is taking place in 1843, one year prior to the original publication of the book.

Interesting!

Easy Does It!

"A Christmas Carol Easy Piano Picture Book" (1998)

Faber and Faber

Text: Kenneth Lillingam

Illustations: Annabel Spenceley

Here's an interesting edition of "A Christmas Carol" that blends an illustrated kid-version of the story with "easy" piano versions of Christmas carols!

A sample of the story:

A sample carol:

Kind of fun!

"Charles Dickens Christmas Stories" - World Publishing (1946)

Here's an interesting edition from the "Rainbow Classic" imprint of World Publishing in 1946:

The art by Howard Simon seems like such a1940s Americanized interpretation of Victorian England!

And Bob Cratchit especially seems very off-model here:

I get kind of a caveman vibe!

But always interesting to see different takes on these familiar subjects! 

"What Is the Story of Ebenezer Scrooge?" (2022) - Penguin Random House

"What Is the Story of Ebenezer Scrooge?" (2022)

Penguin Random House

Author: Sheila Keenan

Illustrator: Andrew Thomson

New for the 2022 holiday season is this entry in the WhoHQ series aimed at middle school readers.

It seemed interesting, so I grabbed a copy and gave it a read.

It does a very good job of proving context for "A Christmas Carol" by exploring the life of Charles Dickens himself and the conditions of England at the time.

It also runs through the story of the book, basically translating it into modern English, if you will.

I guess this functions as something of a replacement of the original book for kids as it wouldn't really work in conjunction with reading "A Christmas Carol" at the same time as a regular study guide would.

You can find out more and read an excerpt at the Penguin Random House website.

I do have to say, however, that the cover design of the series with the enormous heads on little bodies really creeps me out!

Silhouettes!

 This edition from Alma Classics has an interesting cover:

Those particular silhouettes wouldn't be in the same frame at the same time, but whatever!

Special Edition!

This particular edition not only has a fun cover, but it's formatted to be read more easily by those with dyslexia:

Pretty neat!

Let Topo Read!

Now that I think about it, I want Topo Gigio reading "Il Canto di Natale" to me!

Sorry, Julius LaRosa and Lou Monte!

How Sweet It Is!

This one from Sweet Cherry Publishing has very intriguing artwork:

More info at the Sweet Cherry website.

The artwork reminds me of something. Ren & Stimpy, maybe?

How about Haggis MacHaggis?

Fun fact: Haggis was voiced by Alan Young, sounding very much like Scrooge McDuck!

Puzzling!

This is intriguing...

It's an edition of "A Christmas Carol" using emoji to make kind of a rebus.

Here's a sample page:

Fun!

More info at the Vaikon website.

More Italian!

This Italian edition also has an interesting cover:

Oh, and I think I'd go with Julius LaRosa. Less shtick!

More Spanish!

A lot of editions translated into other languages have fun covers, such as this one:

I think that's pretty cool! Good job, Sergio Mora!

Interestingly, the website where you can buy this book indicates that it contains the original* illustrations by John Leech, which you'd never suspect based on the cover art!

*When I first tried to type the word "original," I was so far off that the spell checker thought I meant "doornail" as in "dead as..." Fun!

Another Edition!

There are so many editions of "A Christmas Carol" out there that you see the occasional one with an eye-catching cover such as this one:

I believe it was published by Arcturus in 2016 and maybe features Arthur Rackham illustrations inside?

It's hard to keep these things straight!

International!

Keeping it random, here's an Indonesian edition of "A Christmas Carol":

I'm always a fan of old school ghost representations!

Here's what I get for a translation of the tagline at the bottom of the cover:

 "nothing for regret can make up for one chance of a wasted life"

I get it!

Curious!

This old school edition of "A Christmas Carol" published by George Harrap & Co. (1920s?) has something interesting on the cover:

This appears to be a reformed Scrooge enjoying a stroll around London, but the building behind him has a sign that would seem to read "The Old Curiosity Shop!"

Does this mean that Scrooge might run into Little Nell?

Actual Italian!

So, who do we trust to translate this for us?

Do we go with Julius LaRosa or Lou Monte?

"The Fireside Book of Christmas Stories" (1945)

"The Fireside Book of Christmas Stories" (1945)

Bobbs-Merrill Company

Editor: Edward Wagenknecht

Illustrator: Wallace Morgan

We now land in 1945 for a look at "The Fireside Book of Christmas Stories," which lives up to its name by including a lot of Christmas stories.

One of the stories is "A Christmas Carol," and like each of the other stories, it gets one illustration on its title page:

I like this illustration by Wallace Morgan and wish there were more for this story!

This book is about 700 pages long, so there's room for plenty of material. You'd think that the inclusion of "A Christmas Carol" would be a non-brainer, but that's not exactly the case!

Here's an excerpt from the introduction by editor Edward Wagenknecht:

Mr. Wagenknecht being a noted critic, his introduction reads like something of a critical essay. It kinda sounds like he's bowing to popular pressure by including "A Christmas Carol" in this book!

But critics gonna criticize!

"A Christmas Carol Christmas Book" (1984) - Stave Five

We wrap up 1984's "A Christmas Carol Christmas Book" featuring stills from George C. Scott's TV-movie with Stave Five:

Pretty cool book on the whole but more of a curiosity than anything!

"A Christmas Carol Christmas Book" (1984) - Stave Four

 Time for Stave Four:

These stills are very atmospheric!