A Christmas Carol (Sterling Unabridged Classics Series) [NOOK Book]

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Overview

Beloved in Christmases past, and sure to remain a favorite into Christmases of the future, Dickens’ popular holiday tale is the perfect Christmas present. The uplifting tale follows the mysterious and magical events that transform the miserly, miserable Ebenezer Scrooge into “as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man” as ever lived.

 

A miser learns the true meaning of Christmas when three ghostly visitors review his past and foretell his future.

... See more details below

More About This Book

Overview

Beloved in Christmases past, and sure to remain a favorite into Christmases of the future, Dickens’ popular holiday tale is the perfect Christmas present. The uplifting tale follows the mysterious and magical events that transform the miserly, miserable Ebenezer Scrooge into “as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man” as ever lived.

 

A miser learns the true meaning of Christmas when three ghostly visitors review his past and foretell his future.

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal
Gr 3 Up–Dickens’s cautionary tale of an embittered, stingy old man learning to be a happier, more giving person thanks to the intervention of four ghosts has long been fodder for holiday collections. From its stark opening spread (“MARLEY WAS DEAD”) to the final one with its much more cheerful winter scene, this year’s version, illustrated in Helquist’s darkly comic style, is one of the best. Some of that credit must go to Greenhut, who provided the abridgment. Sacrificing none of Dickens’s rich language, this retelling reads beautifully. The artist uses watercolor, pencil, and pastel to create cinematic artwork that contains amusing details; additionally, there are a number of pen-and-ink vignettes that help set the scenes. A winning combination of sparkling prose and exciting art.–Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781402776328
  • Publisher: Sterling Publishing
  • Publication date: 10/6/2009
  • Sold by: Sterling Publishers
  • Format: eBook
  • Pages: 96
  • Sales rank: 98,662
  • Series: Sterling Classics
  • File size: 997 KB
  • Items ship to U.S, APO/FPO and U.S. Protectorate addresses.

Meet the Author

Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens is probably the greatest novelist England ever produced. His innate comic genius and shrewd depictions of Victorian life -- along with his memorable characters -- have made him beloved by readers the world over. In Dickens' books live some of the most repugnant villains in literature, as well as some of the most likeable (and unlikely) heroes.

Biography

Born on February 7, 1812, Charles Dickens was the second of eight children in a family burdened with financial troubles. Despite difficult early years, he became the most successful British writer of the Victorian age.

In 1824, young Charles was withdrawn from school and forced to work at a boot-blacking factory when his improvident father, accompanied by his mother and siblings, was sentenced to three months in a debtor's prison. Once they were released, Charles attended a private school for three years. The young man then became a solicitor's clerk, mastered shorthand, and before long was employed as a Parliamentary reporter. When he was in his early twenties, Dickens began to publish stories and sketches of London life in a variety of periodicals.

It was the publication of Pickwick Papers (1836-1837) that catapulted the twenty-five-year-old author to national renown. Dickens wrote with unequaled speed and often worked on several novels at a time, publishing them first in monthly installments and then as books. His early novels Oliver Twist (1837-1838), Nicholas Nickleby (1838-1839), The Old Curiosity Shop (1840-1841), and A Christmas Carol (1843) solidified his enormous, ongoing popularity. As Dickens matured, his social criticism became increasingly biting, his humor dark, and his view of poverty darker still. David Copperfield (1849-1850), Bleak House (1852-1853), Hard Times (1854), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1860-1861), and Our Mutual Friend (1864-1865) are the great works of his masterful and prolific period.

In 1858 Dickens's twenty-three-year marriage to Catherine Hogarth dissolved when he fell in love with Ellen Ternan, a young actress. The last years of his life were filled with intense activity: writing, managing amateur theatricals, and undertaking several reading tours that reinforced the public's favorable view of his work but took an enormous toll on his health. Working feverishly to the last, Dickens collapsed and died on June 8, 1870, leaving The Mystery of Edwin Drood uncompleted.

Author biography from the Barnes & Noble Classics edition of David Copperfield.

    1. Also Known As:
      Charles John Huffam Dickens (full name) "Boz" (pen name)
    1. Date of Birth:
      February 7, 1812
    2. Place of Birth:
      Portsmouth, England
    1. Date of Death:
      June 18, 1870
    2. Place of Death:
      Gad's Hill, Kent, England

Read an Excerpt

MARLEY was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.

Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail.

Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did. How could it be otherwise? Scrooge and he were partners for I don't know how many years. Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend and sole mourner. And even Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, but that he was an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral, and solemnised it with an undoubted bargain.

The mention of Marley's funeral brings me back to the point I started from. There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate. If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlet's Father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentlemanrashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot—say Saint Paul's Churchyard for instance—literally to astonish his son's weak mind.

Scrooge never painted out Old Marley's name. There it stood, years afterwards, above the warehouse door: Scrooge and Marley. The firm was known as Scrooge and Marley. Sometimes people new to the business called Scrooge Scrooge, and sometimes Marley, but he answered to both names: it was all the same to him.

Oh! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn't thaw it one degree at Christmas.

External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, nor wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Foul weather didn't know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often 'came down' handsomely, and Scrooge never did.

Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, 'My dear Scrooge, how are you? when will you come to see me?' No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was 'oclock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Even the blindmen's dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, 'no eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!'

But what did Scrooge care? It was the very thing he liked. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was what the knowing ones call 'nuts' to Scrooge.

Once upon a time—of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve—old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house. It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside, go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement-stones to warm them. The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already: it had not been light all day: and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighbouring offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air. The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole, and was so dense without, that although the court was of the narrowest, the houses opposite were mere phantoms. To see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale.

The door of Scrooge's counting-house was open that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk's fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. But he couldn't replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. Wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort, not being a man of a strong imagination, he failed.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating 4
( 415 )

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  • Posted September 29, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Brilliance spilled like ink into the pages of this book.

    After reading this, you are no longer left to wonder why this tale has been retold coutless times through many mediums throughout the years. It is haunting in its eerie descriptions of London after dark. It is chilling in that we can all sympathize with Scrooge to one degree or another. And while haunting and chilling, it still sprinkles you with a generous amount of Christmas warmth throughout. If you're simply looking to find the best version on film, then I kid you not in recommending The Muppet's version. It's the closest to the book I've ever seen.

    13 out of 16 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 15, 2010

    This is a great book and I would recommend it for all readers.

    Do you celebrate Christmas? Well if you don't your on the same level as Scrooge the main character of A Christmas Carol. Charles Dickens created a true masterpiece when he wrote A Christmas Carol, telling a story of a man who had to decide what is right to change his future. This fictitious story really gets the gears in your head turning. Scrooge is a very mean man in 1800s London. His business partner, Marley, dies at the very beginning of the story and later visits scrooge as a ghost. He tells Scrooge he will be visited by three ghosts. The Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. They take him through different parts of his life. All three have different personalities. Charles Dickens gives great details of the characters without telling you directly. Throughout the whole story Charles dickens keeps you wanting more of the story line and makes sense with the book. Overall it's a great book with sophisticated words, and I would recommend this book for all readers.

    8 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 30, 2010

    Best format for nook

    This edition was carefully created with the nook specifically in mind.

    7 out of 11 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 4, 2011

    To idk

    Enhanced means : Intensify, increase, or further improve the quality, value or extent of.

    So by an enhanced book they probably mean that it has error-text, no huge spaces between paragraphs. Stuff like that. It just means that they fixed it up so that you can enjoy it more.

    By the way, this is an amazing book. You should get it.

    Hope that i was of assistance to you.

    5 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted November 28, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    A Classic...

    I read this book every year around the holidays and really enjoy it every time. I have seen many versions of the story such as Scrooge and a Christmas Carol in movies but nothing beats the book.

    4 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted December 6, 2010

    Great! Highly recommend--

    This classic is well presented in a very readable format. A good choice.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted November 30, 2010

    Best version for nook!

    This version was crafted with nook's screen in mind.

    2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted February 8, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    A Christmas Story

    Another Christmas present for my grandson who has really found the love of books and is beginning to read the classics. I thought this was a good one to start with and I hope he enjoys it as much as I did when I read it.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 16, 2010

    Wonderful book to read again and I intend to read it again next year

    This is a book I first read in Jr. High. I have seen the story in a movie, play, and on TV but it was a wonderful experience to read the book again as it was written by Charles Dickens and I recommend it to every one young and old
    I also recommend "Little Women"

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted February 7, 2012

    love it

    I love the story Christmas Carol and have it in every media you can get by everyone you can think of from the muppets to albert finney, but had never read the book so when I got my NOOK tablet for Christmas and so this I said it time to read the book or at least listen and I did both and it is still the most wonderful story at Christmas.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 3, 2012

    Awesome

    First off, pizza and pokemon??? SERSOULY!!!!!!!!! This is for THE CHRISTMAS CAROL !!!!! NOT pizza or pokemon!!!!!!! SECOND OFF, I love the CHRISTMAS CAROL!!!!!!

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted December 27, 2011

    I Also Recommend:

    HIGHLY RECOMMEND! YOU SHOULD TOTALLY READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!

    I love this book and the style of writing (Charles Dickens did, after all, write this in the 19th century) Eerie...and I was surprised by the way it really made me feel chills! But this book isn't just about the ghosts, it has a great moral of the story with a nice ending!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 26, 2011

    A great way to enjoy a classic

    Really enjoyed this enchanced version, added more insight about the author. Enjoyed this classic book very much!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 25, 2011

    So cheap!!!!!!!!!

    I'm 10 and i say this book is great for kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 24, 2011

    Worth the Time!

    I am not a big classics reader. I'm more into teen drama and romance, but I LOVE this book and it is definitely a good selection, whether you're into classics or not! :)

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 21, 2011

    OMG!!! This book is so soooo awesome!

    Don't no Y some children think its boring with long sentences and hard words lol MayB they R like in Preschool or someplace .This is Gr8 story .

    Ps If you cant read this then go check out the Muppet versionon DVD lol gtg

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted December 1, 2010

    Must read for the Christmas

    What story is more timeless than this for Christmas

    1 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 16, 2010

    A Christmas Carol is a TRUE Classic...

    I have loved this story ever since I was a child. I picked up this book to share with my nieces and nephews during the holidays.

    1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 9, 2010

    Timeless Classic

    Why do you even need a review? This is Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol! I LOVE this book, it's a must have for everyone. I really truely understand its popularity, especially after so many year.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 9, 2012

    Wow

    Its such a good book! What a tridition

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