A Christmas Carol

Reviewed by Nicole Lobdell, Assistant Professor of English, DePauw University on 6/22/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The book provides clear textual notes that help students comprehend what they're reading, as well as discussion prompts and activities. I would have liked to see more development of the prompts and activities that deepened student engagement with the historical context or themes of the novel.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The work and textual notes are clear, accurate, and unbiased.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The book's notes, prompts, and activities are framed in such a way that they will not become obsolete and will be accessible to students from different levels of education and experience.

Clarity rating: 5

The text and its accompanying notes are clear and accessible to students of different educational backgrounds and experience.

Consistency rating: 3

Some of the book's writing and activity prompts are only found in certain chapters and chapters differ from one another. It would be nice if they appeared in multiple chapters, or if the chapters followed the same framework.

Modularity rating: 5

Yes, the text is broken down into a way that it could be taught in discrete units.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book is organized in a clear and logical fashion that is easy to follow.

Interface rating: 5

The text is extremely easy to navigate and is very accessible.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There are no obvious grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The notes and writing and activity prompts are open and accessible to students from all backgrounds with no insensitive or offensive language or representations.

Comments

It's not clear who the student audience for this book is. It seems to be geared more towards middle or high school students, but it's not stated clearly which students will best benefit from this work. It would be nice if the editor added a note about the audience for this edition.

Reviewed by Chelsey Decker, MBA Director/ Courtesy Professor, Pittsburg State University on 4/22/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The text was very easy to follow and provided an effective glossary.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

As one of my favorite childhood stories, I felt the accuracy of the story to be excellent.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

Text was relevant and is arranged in a way that would provide room for updates if needed.

Clarity rating: 4

The text was somewhat lucid as the use of additional lines was, at time, difficult to follow.

Consistency rating: 4

The text was very consistent in terms of terminology, and I appreciated the clarity of this.

Modularity rating: 4

The text was split into modules and was easy to comprehend and follow along.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The text was organized in a very clear and logical fashion.

Interface rating: 5

The text did not include any navigational problems or distortion of charts/images.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text contained no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text was not offensive in any way.

Reviewed by Pamela Herring, Lecturer III, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on 12/16/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

A Christmas Carol is a classic favorite. Younger readers might miss some of the text in its original format and language because they find it too formal. Timothy Krause is able to bring the complete text to life for these and all readers with out leaving any important part of the text behind. Clues are given in the Comprehension Checks to make sure unfamiliar words are clear.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

This text brings Marley , Scrooge, Tiny Tim and the rest of the characters to life in an inviting manner without changing any of the original meaning.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

As Dickens' original A Christmas Carol remains timeless, so should Krauses' text.

Clarity rating: 5

As for clarity, Krauses' text is fine for readers 7th grade on up, and good for advanced 5th and 6th graders.

Consistency rating: 5

The story remains consistent throughout. There are no "chicken runs" so to speak that cause the reader to wonder if he/she has gone on to another story.

Modularity rating: 5

The book can be used as four separate lessons: Marley's Ghost; The First of the Three Spirits; The Second of the Three Spirits; The Ghost of Christmas Past. Each section should immediately be taught after the one preceeding it as the book is a complete Story. It should not be broken up into different periods of the semester. Students need to be able to stay close to the whole story to obtain the full meaning of the adventure.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The organization of the text remains true to Dickens' original work and flows well.

Interface rating: 3

The placement of the Comprehension Checks disrupt the reader's involvement with the text. As I came to the first Comprehension Check I felt "jerked" away from the story. These checks and the Discussion Questions would be better placed after the story ends.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The grammar is clear, consistent, correct.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

A Christmas Carol is a British text and should be introduced as such to the students who will read and study it.

Comments

Timothy Krauses' A Christmas Carol is a readable, enjoyable, engaging text. It stays true to the Charles Dickens' original as it is slightly abridged to reach a younger reading audience, or those who are not accustomed to a more formal English. The Comprehension Checks, Discussion Questions and Collaborative Activities are fine for the middle school students, but for high school students and college students, the instructor may want to develop course questions and activities appropriate for the age level and course being taught.

Reviewed by Renee Kelly Walsh, Instructor, Virginia Tech on 12/10/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text accurately covers all subject matter and provides clear concise directions for the reflections as well as a table of contents.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The book is accurate in new context as well as original text.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Text is updated but not so much that it is out of context from the original.

Clarity rating: 5

Clarity of instructions for questions, reflections and exercises are well done. They are clear, concise and written in a way to foster proper and in-depth reflection and comprehension of the text.

Consistency rating: 4

There are alternating formats of interpretation, analysis, connections, compare and contrast and sharing, that while it deviates from consistency, the change adds to its interest and an engaging format.

Modularity rating: 5

There are definitive ways to easily break up the text.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

All is presented in a clear logical manner.

Interface rating: 5

There were no interface issues.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical issues were found.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

There was nothing offensive or culturally insensitive.

Comments

I found the interpretations, analysis, connections, compare and contrast and sharing very clear and concise as well as engaging. I think this book fosters an understanding of a classic piece and helps to keep it relevant.

Reviewed by Kathryn Webb, Director of Nursing Simulation, Associate Professor, University of Saint Francis on 11/23/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Timothy Krause has taken this Dickens classic and made it a modern day text that allows students to succinctly become immersed in the story. The Stop and Check boxes, Discussion boxes, end of section Analysis assignments allow for both comprehension and reflection. Active learning is brought about with students reading as the characters and having reflective questions immediately follow.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

This text stays true to the original novella and removes the lack of understanding often associated with the language of the time.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Thought provoking assignments allow the age old struggle between greed and generosity to be vividly understood.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is extremely well written with clear assignments that will engage each generational learner.

Consistency rating: 5

As stated above, by placing definitions to words that are no longer used in society today, the student is quickly able to gain understanding without the meaning of the story being lost. The definitions used by the author are easily understandable.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is broken up into three sections and students are assigned specific activities at the end of each section.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The assignments are diverse and well placed with different modalities used in the different three sections.

Interface rating: 5

NA

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text contains no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The message of A Christmas Struggle is of choices between kindness or greed. There is nothing culturally offensive in this text.

Comments

I love this story and Timothy Krause will bring it to life for the students that read it. A really wonderful text and brilliant idea!