A CHRISTMAS CAROL WITH GRANDFATHER TIME

 

A CHRISTMAS CAROL WITH GRANDFATHER TIME BY ROSE ENGLISH WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY PABLO RODRIGUEZ.

Target Age ... Children age 4 to 8 + years

Genre ... Christmas Picture Book

Publication Date: 1st October 2023

Standalone Book

Estimated Page Count ... 32

Purchase Link ...  https://mybook.to/GrandfatherTimeXmas

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?

**At least £1 from every book purchased will go towards donating a book to each child in Hereford County Hospital over the Christmas Season 2023**

A Christmas Carol with Grandfather Time {a grandfather clock} tells the story of the young Eb who, well, not the most nice or thoughtful of children has some lessons to learn in this re-imagining of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

Though obviously not nearly as dark as Dicken's version {English's version is after all aimed at children as young as four} we have the child friendly 'ghosts' of Past, Present and, my favourite, Future, 'The Dream Catcher' who come 8 o'clock Christmas morn hope to see a changed Eb 'sharing his games, happy and caring'. 

Written in rhyme, something that I personally believe always adds a certain something to books for young children; the poetic meter is pretty much consistent throughout, making it easy for young readers to pick up the words and thus the story as it is read out loud.

All in all the book worms and I enjoyed this fun rendition of a classic story. That the children were able to talk about why it was that Eb was not a good friend prior to the visit by the 'ghosts' a bonus. However, rather pettily of me perhaps, I was slightly disappointed in the depiction of Eb's parents; that having been told by his mum that it was time for bed, Eb's dad took over parenting when he 'Jumped from his chair and said with a roar! "NOW EBENEZER! You heard what Mum said. Put down your game and get ready for bed."' after Eb declared he wasn't finished playing his game.

The illustrations however, Hmm! I'm still not sure about the illustrations and the little bookworms certainly weren't particularly enthusiastic about them in so much as, once seen, they were happy enough to lose themselves in the story whereas normally there are complaints from at least one of them that they cannot see the pictures.

Having been called upon to re-read the story 'just one more time pleasseee' over several consecutive nights now, it would seem this has become something of a favourite with the bookworms. As for myself, happy to re-read it, I do think it a festive read and it has a good message at its heart.

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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.

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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.

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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. She also has her own social media pages check out www.instagram.com/missrubyheart1

Social Media Website ... Website  X/Twitter

With thanks to Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for organising a paper copy. One of several bloggers participating in the Blog Tour of this book, agree or disagree with me, all opinions are my own; no financial compensation was asked for nor given; threats of violence towards my favourite teddy bear went unheeded as did promises of chocolate.

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