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Informationen zum Autor Sheila Keenan; Illustrated by Andrew Thomson Klappentext "When Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843, he likely had no idea that the story and its main character, Ebenezer Scrooge, would remain so popular nearly two centuries later. Today, readers still find themselves entertained by the story of a grumpy, selfish man who becomes a holiday hero after he learns generosity through the help of three spirits in Victorian-era England. Whether a Dickens fan or someone in love with all things "Christmas," readers will enjoy learning the history of this memorable character and his many appearances on the page, the screen, and the stage in What Is the Story of Ebenezer Scrooge?"-- Leseprobe What Is the Story of Ebenezer Scrooge? There is a tidy row of nineteenth-century brick town houses on Doughty Street in London, England. Behind the cheery red door at number 48, the rooms are decorated for Christmas. Presents are piled under a tree lit with candles. The halls are decked with holly and ivy. There are evergreens on the mantel of each fireplace. Wreaths and red bows are hung throughout the four-story building, and there is Christmas sheet music on the piano. It’s all very merry, until a tall professor in a green sweater reads aloud: “Once upon a time—of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve—old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house.” Meet Ebenezer Scrooge, one of beloved British author Charles Dickens’s most famous characters. Or as Dickens described him: “Scrooge! A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!” Scrooge is the main character in Dickens’s short novel A Christmas Carol. That is what the professor is reading for his audience at 48 Doughty Street, the London town house that was once the home of Charles Dickens and his family that is now a museum. Every Christmas, performances like this take place on the radio, at schools, in libraries, and in other public places. It is an annual holiday tradition for many people to buy tickets to see a play or a musical production of A Christmas Carol. Many more watch movie versions of Dickens’s popular Christmas tale. There are even festivals dedicated to A Christmas Carol. People re-create Dickens’s world. They dress up in clothes from the 1800s, sing carols, and serve food like sugarplums and fruitcake. Actors stroll around in costumes. They look and talk like the men, women, children—and ghosts—in the book. Everyone is on the lookout for Scrooge! But what makes so many people want to gasp, boo, hiss, or clap for the main character of a book written nearly 180 years ago? Who is this Ebenezer Scrooge, and what exactly is his story? Chapter 1: A Man of Many Words Ebenezer Scrooge is a fictional character. But his last name is now a real word used for anyone who is mean, coldhearted, or cheap. This is thanks to the power of Charles Dickens’s writing. Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England, in 1812. He never finished school but still grew up to be one of the world’s most famous authors. The life he led was an education in itself. Charles was one of eight children. His father, John Dickens, was not very good with money. He spent more of it than he earned. When Charles was ten years old, the family moved to Camden Town, a neighborhood in London. Life there was difficult. The Dickens family lived in a series of cramped, often cold, homes. They were in debt because John Dickens owed money to so many people and shops. Charles, who loved reading and learning, had to leave school at age twelve. He went to work in a factory. His job was to paste labels onto pots of blacking, a kind of shoe polish. The factory was dirty, smelly, and overrun with rats. Charles worked ten hours a day. Meanwhile, John Dickens, his wife, and most of their other children ended up in debtors’ p...
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Sheila Keenan; Illustrated by Andrew Thomson
