A Christmas Carol Retold: Light Reading Series

By Tim Bullins

A modern-day retelling of Charles Dickens's timeless classic Christmas tale - A Christmas Carol - for easy reading. It is suitable for young readers as well as those wishing to improve their English reading skills. It has been rewritten and modernized as well as heavily edited.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tim Bullins
• Release date: Jun 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386985976

Tim Bullins

The author has spent the last 16 years teaching English to students in Taiwan, where he still resides.

Book preview

Foreword

Ifelt that there exists a need for something a little easy to read in the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) market in Taiwan, and perhaps other parts of the world, so I wrote this book. It is a short book, using simple English but at the same time contemporary English. A few words might cause a reader to find a dictionary, but most will not.

On the other hand, I also think this book is suitable for beginning readers whose native language is English. It was been updated, insomuch as there is electricity, credit cards, automobiles, and other such things in the story.

Although it is based on Charles Dickens’s classic A Christmas Carol, many things have been left out and a few things added.

I hope you enjoy reading this book.

Since this is an ebook, I welcome you to email me should you have any comments or suggestions concerning it, or should you find any glaring mistakes (spelling and whatnot).

Acknowledgements

Iwould like to thank Inga Koehler and Todd Schadler for their diligent editing. I would also like to thank my sister, Sherry-Lynn Womack, and, my sister-in-law, Dee Bullins, for their patronage and support which helped to make this book a reality.

Where to find the author

https://www.patreon .com/TimBullins

https://timbullins.wordpress.com/

http://www.timbullins.com/

Chapter One

Scrooge was a grumpy old businessman who lived in a big city. He lived in the poor part of the city because the rent was cheap there. Scrooge liked money. He didn't just like money. He loved money. Money was his life. It was his love. There was only one person Scrooge liked and that was his business partner, Jacob. But Jacob was dead.

He died a long time ago and now Scrooge was all alone. He had no friends. He spent all of his days counting money, trying to make money, and thinking about money. His business was money. He would lend people money and charge them interest for it. If they couldn't pay, then he would send the police to their houses. Or he would take their houses. He was a mean man. He didn't care what happened to anyone but himself. And money. He cared about money.

SCROOGE WORKED IN HIS office every day. He had a clerk working there too. His name was Bob. Bob was a small skinny man. He was small and skinny because Scrooge didn't pay him enough money, so he could buy enough food. Bob had a wife. She was small and skinny too. Bob and his wife had children. They were small and skinny too.

One of his children was so small and skinny that he was sick. He was very sick. His name was Tim, but everyone called him Tiny Tim, because he was so small. Tim had another problem. He couldn't walk. Bob and his wife worried about Tiny Tim, but they couldn't take him to the doctor. They couldn't take him to the doctor because Scrooge didn't pay Bob enough money to go to the doctor. Scrooge was a really bad boss.

Bob! Scrooge yelled.

Bob jumped up from his desk. He didn't know why Scrooge liked to yell so much. His desk was in one corner of the room and Scrooge's desk was in another corner. There was no reason to yell.

Yes, sir, Bob said with a soft voice.

Did you turn on that heater again?! Scrooge asked in a loud voice.

Bob looked under his desk. The office was so cold and he knew the heater was on. But he didn't want to say 'yes' too fast. It would only make Scrooge more angry.

Oh, my. It looks like it might be on low, Bob said, timidly. I am sure it was an accident.

Scrooge stood up. He looked like he was going to go over and hit Bob on the head. But just then the door to the street opened and in walked a tall chubby man.

Hello Uncle! he shouted. Merry Christmas!

Scrooge quickly looked at the man standing in the door way.

Shut the door! You're letting all of this hot air out! he shouted.

The man closed the door and then looked around the room. Bob was still standing up. Bob was wearing a scarf and a big coat.

Heat? Uncle, he said. Bob is over there freezing to death and you say it's hot in here.

Scrooge made a grumbling noise in his throat, Grrr...Bob turned on his heater.

Scrooge looked over at Bob and shouted, turn off that heater! I don't have money to waste on keeping you warm. If you are cold, then wear more clothes!

The man standing by the closed door looked at poor Bob. He wanted to say something but he knew his uncle too well. If he said something it would just make his uncle more angry. Finally, he decided to speak to Bob.

His voice was not so loud this time, he said, Merry Christmas Bob.

Bob had reached under his desk to turn off the heater, but now he was standing up again.

Oh, Merry Christmas to you too Fred.

Fred was Scrooge's nephew. Scrooge used to have a sister but she died a long time ago. Before she died she had a baby. Fred was that baby. Now Fred was all grown up. He was a man.

Stop chatting and get back to work, Scrooge shouted. And you, nephew, what are you doing here interrupting my business.

Fred looked around the cold room. There was no one there but his uncle and Bob. He looked back at his uncle and smiled.

It doesn't look that busy to me uncle.

Scrooge sat back down in his big office chair behind his big desk.

"What would you know about busy? Do you