Saturday, December 25, 2010

Scrooge is the Classic Christmas Character

Weekly Trip to the Library for Nannies and Au Pairs

A Christmas Carol: A Young Reader's Edition of the Classic Holiday Tale By Charles Dickens

There are many versions of this classic tale First published in 1843. We chose this easy reader version as an introduction to this classic holiday ghost story for nannies and au pairs to share with their charges.

Who hasn't heard the name Ebenezer Scrooge? Scrooge and the Grinch are the two infamous cranky characters of Christmas.

Scrooge is a sour old miser who hates the holiday season more than anything. Scrooge goes through life being nasty to everyone, but this Christmas a series of spectral visitors changes his mind. The first arrival is the Ghost of Christmas Past, who reminds him that he wasn't always in a perpetual bad mood: he shows him himself as a schoolboy, for example, and later as a young man in love.

Then the Ghost of Christmas Present takes him to see how Bob Cratchit, his much-abused clerk, can find joy even in poverty, and how Fred, Scrooge's nephew, who has married for love, finds it in generosity.

Finally, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come provides a frightening vision of how Scrooge's life will end if he continues on his present course. Waking after witnessing these nighttime scenes, Scrooge is a changed man, and immediately sets about mending his ways.

Perfectly structured and full of dry wit and heartfelt inspiration, A Christmas Carol deserves a place on every child's shelf.

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