A Christmas Carol

By: Dave McCluskey

Narrated by: Liam Scott

Length: 1 hr and 11 mins

Publisher's Summary

A classic Christmas tale, lovingly recreated in this beautiful audio book.

The reviled Scrooge is visited by three spirits who teach him the real meaning of life. 

The tale has been turned into rhyme, making this a delightful new twist to the story you know so well. Could it be a new addition to your Christmas traditions? 

©2016 Dammaged Productions (P)2020 Dammaged Productions

Just Great!

A new take on a Christmas classic. While remaining true to the original, this rendition breathes new life into this tale.
The writing is excellent and the narration along with the music and sound effects are spot on bringing it all to life.

Fun Retelling of a Classic

I’m not much of a classics person, nor much of a Christmas person either, but there’s just something about a curmudgeonly old Scrooge having a change of heart that I greatly enjoy. This rhyming version of the classic is pretty good and I like the way it feels as if I could listen to a bard recite it on a dark, snowy night by the fire with a horn of mulled wine in my hand.

As with so many versions of this tale, it’s fit for the whole family. In fact, I think this one is an excellent vocabulary builder. Imagine using ‘sinew’ in a rhyme! This book gets bonus points for that.
The story follows the classic outline, though I felt some parts utilized drama to better effect than the original. Scrooge really does need the ghosts to be a little harsh in order to open his eyes, and then his heart. I love the underlying message that it’s never too late to stop being a jerk and to turn things around. Scrooge may have wasted so many of his years being bitter and alone but now he can spend his final years being a positive force in the world.
My one quibble is that ladies have so little to do with the story and yet I’m pretty sure they are the ones making the money stretch at home, etc. It’s a standing grievance I have with nearly all classics is that women are underrepresented in the tales. This version of the classic is a smidge better but still lacks in this regard.
Overall, it’s a fun visit with a likable classic. 4.5/5 stars.
The Narration: Liam Scott does a great job. I loved his voices for all the characters. He showed off his range of vocal abilities and also kept things realistic. I certainly enjoyed his voice for Scrooge, who had the most emotions in this story. The pacing was perfect, which is super important in this story because it’s rhyming all the way through. There was some piano music that worked well with the tale & didn’t drown out any voices. There were no tech issues with the recording. 5/5 stars.
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Dave McCluskey. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Fun adaptation

A cute adaptation of A Christmas Carol. I think it would be a great way to introduce younger children to this Christmas classic.

Great retelling of a Christmas carol

This performance of the story is quite good and makes it easy to listen to

A Fun Rhyming Rendition of 'A Christmas Carol'!

This author has done a great job in presenting Dickens's 'A Christmas Carol' in rhyme. It has a smooth rhyming rhythm, reminding one of the classic 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.
The wording and characters are very much like the same ones, endeared by many, in Dicken's A Christmas Carol.
The narration was good except a few of the character's "voices" were too raspy sounding. Other than a less than stellar use of "voices", the performance was good.
The cover is very whimsical and eye catching. It was a great choice for this presentation.
I offer a Four and a Half Stars rating, overall!
This audio-book was gifted me with no pressure for a positive review. This is my honest review.

An incredibly beautiful retelling of the iconic story...

The Review

An incredibly beautiful retelling of the iconic story, both author and narrator worked well together to help the source material shine for a whole new generation of readers and Christmas lovers alike. The story is both haunting and heartwarming, just as Dickens intended it, bringing to life the chilling tale of Scrooge as he walks the path to find redemption during the holiday season.

The narrator does a great job of not only bringing to life the story and characters themselves but helped craft an atmosphere befitting the Victorian-era story that Dickens wrote in. This story rings even more true in our modern times, as the gap between the wealthy and the middle and lower classes has never been further apart, and a global pandemic and economic crisis have pushed everyone to their limits. A heartfelt tale of finding one’s humanity once more and working to the true meaning of Christmas has never been more important.

The Verdict

A brilliant retelling of a truly iconic and memorable Christmas story, author Dave McCluskey and narrator Liam Scott’s “A Christmas Carol - in rhyme, an audiobook suitable for all ages” is a must-read and must-listen this holiday season. From memorable characters like Scrooge and Tiny Tim to a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere delivered through the narration, this is a fantastic audiobook you won’t want to miss. Be sure to grab your copy today!

A Christmas Carol, But Rhyming

This is the classic Charles Dickons A Christmas Carole, but re-written in rhyme. It's funny, cleverly written, and takes just the right amount of time to listen to. This is a fun, fresh take on the story we all know and love, and I very much enjoyed the experience. I normally try to write more in the story portion of my reviews, but we all know how this one goes, so let's move on to the narrator and sound production.

Liam Scott's performance is solid, and his "narrator" voice is very calming to listen to. This paired with the music and sound effects used made for a relaxing listen. I would like to note, however, that whenever he changed his pitch for certain character voices he began to sound a bit like Piglet from Winnie the Pooh, which will either delight or annoy readers on an individual basis. Personally, I found it charming.

I prefer to list to audiobooks at 1.5-2x speed, but given how short this particular file is, I started off at 1x speed just to give it a chance. It's slower than casual conversation speed (at least where I'm from) and the tempo of the introduction music seemed a little too slow for the story we were about to hear. I must admit I did end up speeding it up just slightly (which may have exaggerated the affore mentioned Piglet voice.)

4 stars out of 5 all around, a very enjoyable experience.

an masterful retelling

This book has been designed with children in mind lots of colourful pictures and lots of amusing rhymes. This retelling is done in an artful and amusing way.

A fun way to introduce your children to the classic Christmas tale.

Brilliant!

Absolutely loved this!!! Liam does an amazing job narrating this retelling of a classic story. More please!!

I highly recommend this version of A Christmas Carol.

I first read A Christmas Carol while still at school a long time ago and I have seen numerous films of it, yet I still enjoyed hearing it yet again. The message in the story is an excellent one and it does no harm to be reminded of it once more! This version though was even more enjoyable, what with all the sound effects and the rhyme in it is superb -it is so witty and enjoyable.

A lovely new tradition, perfect for Christmas eve

A lovely short listen, perfect for sitting in front of the fire with a mince pie and a baileys, or when wrapping presents. It's a bit Dr Seuss meets Charles Dickens. The performance is lovely, with background effects that make it really atmospheric.

Well produced original take on a classic tale

This is good fun, Very well performed by Liam Scott and with clever rhyming by Dave McCluskey throughout. This production is well produced with music and good quality effects of heavy clock chimes and thunder etc and wide variety of convincing characters. Recommended. I was gifted this in return for a review.

Review

Review:
A Christmas Carol is a well known story and it has been retold many times. I found this version to be particularly innovative. It's cleverly written and although it's relatively short at just over an hour long, it captures the atmosphere and spirit of the original version. The rhymes are not always what I expected. There is some dark  humour running through it and this version makes the original story accessible to every reader. 
The narration demonstrates brilliant characterisation, which means the recording is engaging from beginning to end. I also enjoyed the music and sound effects which enhance the atmosphere of the story. 
This is definitely a recording which I could listen to year after year, and take different messages from it each time. 

Super Christmas listen

I absolutely loved the audio version of this book! It is an original take on the Christmas carol story, as it is written in rhyme! I was unsure whether this would be my cup of tea but it certainly was! It was so well written and the narrator was brilliant, using different accents and portraying the various characters so well. The added piano playing and sound effects really added to the atmosphere of the story. This is an audio book that I will listen to every year. My nine year old daughter thoroughly enjoyed listening to it too. I would highly recommend this book 🎄😊

Your winter favourite in rhyme

So this is my go to audio every Christmas as I just love this story and I always feel Christmas has begun once we start listening to this. This new take on the story read in prose was really enjoyable and I was not disappointed. It still has the heart of the story but is told in rhyme in a really lovely way. Does not disappoint.

A truly atmospheric audiobook

This audio book is truly magical, with Liam Scott bringing this unique rhythmical graphic tale to life. The additional piano by Clare is a wonderful touch. You really cannot help but be drawn in.

“The office retained its quiet norm
as Cratchit watched the clock.
The day it crawled at a sluggish pace,
set to a slow tick tock”

You can also hear the very slow ticking in the background. Truly magical.

I have a signed copy of the book, and the illustrations by Joe Matthews are bright and colourful. Now this extra audio addition makes this wonderful collection complete. I love how the author has made some subtle changes from the book and it really helps the story to flow.

The narrator’s characters are oldy worldy, with their cockney accents and you can picture them in your head quite easily without actually having seen the illustrations in the book. (Though if you have not seen the illustrations you are missing out.)
This is a magical, seasonal treat to share with the whole family. Just gather them together around the Christmas tree with all your favourite treats and enjoy. I can guarantee you will not be disappointed.

I have to thank Dave for gifting a copy of this book to me for an honest review.