A Christmas Carol [Hardcover]

Lisbeth Zwerger (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 1995

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

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A well-loved holiday story, Dickens's slim tale has been opened up on the oversize pages of this new version, similar in format to Zwerger's treatment of The Gift of the Magi. Expanses of white space around and between lines of text give the volume a clean-looking design, which sets off the artist's charm-filled, airy watercolors. And that design is of key importance to the unabridged text, for the book appears accessible to readers just out of the picture book age. This is a fine collector's edition as well; Zwerger has chosen not to represent the three spirits of Christmas, but merely hints at their presence in her pictures. That grounds the story of Scrooge's night firmly in the realm of the almost-real and the possible, and renders his transformation a fully believable phenomenon. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 68 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; 1St Edition edition (January 10, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887080693
• ISBN-13: 978-0887080692
• Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 8.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,567,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

One of the grand masters of Victorian literature, Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Landport, Portsea, England. He died in Kent on June 9, 1870. The second of eight children of a family continually plagued by debt, the young Dickens came to know not only hunger and privation,but also the horror of the infamous debtors' prison and the evils of child labor. A turn of fortune in the shape of a legacy brought release from the nightmare of prison and "slave" factories and afforded Dickens the opportunity of two years' formal schooling at Wellington House Academy. He worked as an attorney's clerk and newspaper reporter until his Sketches by Boz (1836) and The Pickwick Papers (1837) brought him the amazing and instant success that was to be his for the remainder of his life. In later years, the pressure of serial writing, editorial duties, lectures, and social commitments led to his separation from Catherine Hogarth after twenty-three years of marriage. It also hastened his death at the age of fifty-eight, when he was characteristically engaged in a multitude of work.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lizbeth Zwerger's mastry of illustration animates story, August 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Christmas Carol (Hardcover)

If you are unfamiliar with Lizbeth Zwerger's work, at first glance you might not see her mastry of her craft. Deceivingly spare and not as eye catching as many of her contemperaries. Upon closer inspection the amazing gift this artist posses begins to reveal itself; the "quickening" effect that Maurice Sendak has written about, the careful balancing of elements- like a zen garden, the wry, wicked sense of humor, the elemental telling of the story- and that touch here and there- perfect. Mr. Dicken would be very pleased to find that finally someone who is hands down a true master in her own field has helped to bring one of his wonderful works to life.