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Paperback64 pages
Author
Charles Dickens - retold by Gill TavnerMore books by Charles Dickens - retold by Gill Tavner
Publisher
Real ReadsPublication date
25th November 2007ISBN
9781906230029Children's Author 'Like-for-Like' recommendations
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A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens - retold by Gill Tavner
Part of the 'Real Reads' Series
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Julia Eccleshare's comment:
Can somebody so selfish, so harsh and so horribly lonely ever change his ways? In one terrifying night, poor Scrooge is haunted by four ghosts. Will he change his ways? Weep and laugh as you read this much-loved Christmas story. This and the other retellings by Real Reads are a fantastic way to introduce young children to some of the best-known and best-loved classics; beautifully presented and skilfully retold (and condensed – 64 pages in total) and illustrated, they are true to the original plot, capture something of the flavour and tone of the original work, while simplifying the narrative and dialogue. They’re primarily aimed for younger readers – 8-13 year olds but are also a great ‘quick fix’ for teenagers and adults.
The Lovereading comment:
What the Dickens does Dickens mean to you? Oliver’s empty bowl? Christmas ghosts? Exciting television dramas? Big books full of long words?Charles Dickens’ stories aren’t just classics because they’re old – they’re classics because they are fascinating, exciting and humorous, and because they show a great understanding of something that time can never change – human nature.Charles Dickens was a brilliant story-teller who had experienced every aspect of life in Victorian England. As a child he saw the misery of debtors’ prisons and, like Oliver Twist and David Copperfield, survived London’s dangerous streets. As an adult, he moved in high circles, amongst top politicians debating in parliament. Largely self-educated, he possessed the genius and the imagination to become the greatest writer of his age.A hundred and fifty years ago, anyone who could read read Dickens. Even Queen Victoria read Dickens. His work, often serialised in newspapers, was easily available. The exciting plots and lifelike characters appealed, as they do today, to young and old, rich and poor. Today, reading Dickens’ original novels is more of a challenge, as many of the things he described and the words he used to describe them are no longer part of our everyday experience.However, the things he wrote about – poverty, justice, cruelty, responsibility and love – are just as important today as they were all those years ago.
A message from Gill Tavner:How many times have you heard somebody speak fondly about a Dickens, Austen or Hardy novel that they read in school or studied for an exam, yet they have not read another since? As an English Teacher and Head of English, I have witnessed the enjoyment experienced by children of all ages and abilities when guided sensitively through a daunting text. However, only the most confident readers will broaden their reading of classics independently of a teacher, either as children or in their adult life. Most people therefore deprive themselves of the delights offered by some of the most influential writers and thinkers. What a loss for them. What a loss for our society.Surely there is a way to make an abridged version an enjoyable and enriching rather than simply informative reading experience? Surely this is an important distinction if we aim to nurture keen, confident readers? In Real Reads we believe we have found an answer to these problems. For many readers, Real Reads will develop a confidence and enthusiasm to address the original, something we try to nurture in the ‘Taking Things Further’ section of every Real Read. For others, who might never have tackled the originals, Real Reads make accessible great stories, great characters and important moral debates which they might otherwise never have encountered.
To take a look at the other classic novels published by Real Reads click here.
Who is Julia Eccleshare ?
Synopsis
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - retold by Gill Tavner‘Bah, humbug! Fools wishing me a Merry Christmas should be forced to sit on cushions stuffed with holly leaves or boiled with their own Christmas puddings.’ Miserable old miser Ebenezer Scrooge hates Christmas. Can somebody so selfish, so harsh and so horribly lonely ever change his ways? In one terrifying night, poor Scrooge is haunted by four ghosts. Why do they show him visions of his past? Why do they show him other people enjoying Christmas? Why do they show him the deaths of a young boy and of a miserable old miser? Weep and laugh as you read this much-loved Christmas story. Will Scrooge always think that Christmas is ‘Humbug’, or will he learn to shout ‘Merry Christmas, one and all’?
Other Real Reads by Charles Dickens’s and re-told by Gill Tavner include Oliver Twist, Hard Times, David Copperfield, Great Expectations, Bleak House.
About The Author
Charles Dickens was born in the southern English town of Portsmouth on 7 February 1812, the second of eight children. He started school at the age of nine, but didn’t stay long as his father, who by now was a clerk for the Royal Navy’s wages department in Chatham, wasn’t actually very good at sums, and was put in prison for being in debt. At the age of twelve Charles was sent to work in Warren’s shoe-blacking factory in London, where wages were meagre and conditions appalling. He was very lonely. After three years he went back to school, but he never forgot his awful experience at Warren’s.
Like many writers, Charles began his literary career as a journalist. He started writing reports forThe Mirror of Parliament andThe True Sun, and in 1833 he became parliamentary journalist for The Morning Chronicle. Now that he had friends in publishing he was able to publish a series of sketches under the pseudonym ‘Boz’. In April 1836 he married Catherine Hogarth, the daughter of his editor and publisher George Hogarth. In that same month his highly successful Pickwick Papers was published, and there was no looking back.
As well as writing novels, Charles produced an autobiography, edited weekly magazines including Household Words and All Year Round, wrote travel books, and administered charitable organisations. He was also a theatre enthusiast; he wrote plays and performed before Queen Victoria in 1851. His energy was seemingly inexhaustible, and he spent much time abroad. He lectured against slavery in the United States, and toured Italy with his friends Augustus Egg and Wilkie Collins. Wilkie Collins was another well-known Victorian writer who inspired Dickens’ last and unfinished novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Charles and Catherine had ten children, but when most of their children had left home they grew apart from each other, and separated in 1858. Towards the end of his life Charles had a long relationship with the actress Ellen Ternan. He died of a stroke in 1870.
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