210. What Is The Story of Ebenezer Scrooge?

What is the Story of Ebenezer Scrooge? Sheila Keenan. Illustrated by Andrew Thomson. 2022. 112 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: There is a tidy row of nineteenth-century brick town houses on Doughty Street in London, England. Behind the cheery red door at number 48, the rooms are decorated for Christmas. Presents are piled under a tree lit with candles. The halls are decked with holly and ivy. There are evergreens on the mantel of each fireplace. Wreaths and red bows are hung throughout the four-story building, and there is Christmas sheet music on the piano. It's all very merry, until a tall professor in a green sweater reads aloud: "Once upon a time--of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve--old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house." Meet Ebenezer Scrooge, one of beloved British author Charles Dickens's most famous characters.

Premise/plot: As an adult reader, I see this as a dressed up Cliffs Notes of sorts for young(er) readers. (Upper elementary, lower middle grades) Readers get a little biographical information on Charles Dickens, a little context for the story, the basic plot of the story, and some light (or "lite") literary analysis. It gives you a more thorough understanding than say watching Mickey's Christmas Carol. 

My thoughts: I don't honestly know what to think of this one. I know it's part of a greater series. I am very familiar with Charles Dickens and A Christmas Carol. I think it does a decent [even good] job in explaining everything in a simpl(er) way. I would recommend to those who struggle a bit--whether they want to admit it or not--with reading comprehension. One could get a sense of the story by watching adaptations, but not all adaptations are faithful to the book. This one includes details that some adaptations leave out.

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers