Monday, November 12, 2018

Bah! Humbug! by Michael Rosen - OPTIONAL

Bah! Humbug! : A magical retelling of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Tony Ross, 192 pages. Walker Books Candlewick Press, 2017 $15.99.

Language: PG (4 swears, 0 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: G. 


BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Harry is starring in his middle school production of A Christmas Carol. He is well prepared and excited, but his dad, Ray, has his mind on work - all the time. So when Ray schedules a meeting during the production, he leaves the show to talk with "Mumbai", and starts his own private version of A Christmas Carol, seeing himself for what he has become - not the father he set out to be.

Dickens's A Christmas Carol script is interspersed with this family story to give the reader perspective, however, the pages of dialogue from the play were a bit tedious. Is there an expectation that the reader already knows A Christmas Carol? I wish Ray had been a child or teenager. I'm not sure kids will connect to the adult and shifting back and forth from script to narrative may prove daunting. I wish Ray had been a child or teenager. I'm not sure kids will connect to the adult and shifting back and forth from script to narrative may prove daunting.

Lisa Librarian

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