In Iceland, giving books on Christmas Eve is a custom known as “Jólabókaflóð” or the “Christmas Book Flood.” Our bookish family tradition is re-reading/ watching Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol every year. I even have a dinky copy: is there anything cuter than a mini book?

So why A Christmas Carol? Apart from the obvious seasonal connection, and my obsession with the Victorian tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas (more on that to follow) a few years ago, my son was lucky enough to play Tiny Tim at the Charles Dickens Museum in London. They were doing “living theatre” performances, so as visitors walked around the house they watched different scenes. Magical!

Given the popularity of a “twisted” fairy tale, I’m surprised there aren’t more creative re-tellings of this classic – it has so much scope, but I’m only aware of two. Please let me know of others to add to the list: there must be more!

• Bah Humbug by Michael Rosen. “In a school theatrical production of “A Christmas Carol”, the boy who plays Scrooge is extra nervous because his very busy father is in the audience. However, it’s likely his father won’t stay for the duration, due to business. As always. Will the classic story’s message of Christmas cheer and family love reach his father’s distracted heart?”
• The Miracle on Ebeneezer Street by Catherine Doyle. “When George stumbles across Marley’s Curiosity Shop at the Christmas fair he finds a mysterious snow globe. The scene it contains is just the first in a series of impossibilities . . . George and his Scrooge of a dad are soon swept on a hilarious adventure to Christmases past, present and future. With help from an enthusiastic elf, a rather grumpy purple reindeer and a very mischievous Nan, can George find a way to bring the joy of Christmas home once again?”

So when I saw the book tour for A Christmas Carol with Grandfather Time, I was excited to see what the author had done with it, and it’s great to have something else to add to my very short list above, especially since it is a picture book format.

The messages about sharing and caring in Scenes 1 and 2 are spot on. Personally, I have a slight issue with the characterisation used in Scene 3: Christmas future. As parents, of course we want our kids to be connecting “in real life”, but I believe the image of a computer nerd/ gamer alone and in “terrible gloom” is an outdated cliché. When my son is gaming, he is talking non-stop to friends, a bit like we used to get home from school and immediately phone our friends (much to my parents annoyance if I didn’t wait for the cheaper calls after 6pm). Anyway, given the gaming industry currently makes more than three times as much money as the music industry and almost four times as much as the movie industry, and is still growing, it’s actually likely that young readers of this book, their friends, and/ or family could be involved in the industry, so why put a downer on it? Anyway, conscious I’m probably in the minority on this point.

One other thing, the book is dotted with the work “Boing”. I think it’s the grandfather clock chiming, but I would have described that as a “tock” or “dong” or “bong” perhaps. Boing sounds bouncy to me, which doesn’t make sense. Plus there is a dash in the middle of the word, so it is written “Bo-ing” and EVERY time I saw it, I read it as “Boring”. Ooops! Is that just me?

The blurb

“A modern lyrical re-telling of the Charles Dickens classic for children of all ages. Young Ebenezer hates sharing and is not very caring. Can a magical clock and a ghost puppy help him mend his ways?”

About the author

Living on ‘England’s Green & Pleasant Land’, among the gentle rolling hills of the Herefordshire Countryside, Rose’s house is wall to wall books. She’s a Read-a-holic, whose hobby is to write stories for the young and young at heart.

Working as a school librarian, and sharing her love of books with children, was the best job she ever had. However, life moves on and another chapter was only a page turn away. Working in a very different library now, she is a key worker for the NHS helping to run the Medical Equipment Library in Wye Valley NHS Trust.

After winning FIRST PRIZE in a short story competition with ‘The Magic of Grandfather Christmas’ she is inspired to transform the tale into a collection of stories for all ages. ‘Young Ebenezer’ is inspired by the Dickens classic ‘A Christmas Carol’ and brought into modern times with a strong theme of sharing and caring. Rose has a little sidekick called Miss Ruby Heart, a ruby King Charles spaniel from the Grandfather Time Series. The puppy is the Ghost of Christmas Past and features on the ‘Young Ebenezer’ covers.