Customer Reviews:
 A good choice for sharing this classic with younger children. December 1, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
One of the stories I really wanted to share with my children this season was A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The children I particularly wanted to read this with were my 7-year-old daughter, and 8 and 11-year-old sons. While I wanted them to know the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge and his change of heart, I knew that the unabridged original version would probably be a bit much for my daughter to take in, and require a lot of explanations regarding the archaic language for my sons. So for us, The Great Illustration version of A Christmas Carol was perfect.
This version has illustrations on just about every page, which was particularly important for my very visual younger children. This version stayed true to the original as I remembered it and kept the personality of Scrooge, from bitter old man to renewed and invigorated redeemed soul intact!
I also felt that the use of modern English was not a disservice to the original. While reading about the death of Tiny Tim, I felt the same amount of emotion and pain as reading the original. In fact as my voice cracked and the tears started to well my little son, who is just beginning to truly appreciate the subtle nuances that make for a good reading said, "Great expression, mom!"
I have read some of the reviews of other books in this series as being too watered down, and that may be. But for this particular age group, I think this book in particular fills a special need. I think reading it as a family this season will leave a special impression on their young minds and hearts and make them want to pick this story up again when they are a bit older and able to handle more of a reading challenge.
|
