Happy Birthday to A Christmas Carol! Charles Dickens first published this book on December 19, 1843. Did you know he wrote it to encourage Londoners to donate money to the poor? He also wrote it to earn money to get out of debt. You can read the full story here.

It is a classic story, and for good reason! It perfectly shows the power of Christ’s Holy Spirit to transform one selfish, grumpy man’s hard heart so he becomes cheerful, generous, and happy.

To celebrate this Christmas classic, here are some links to versions of the classic and other fun resources related to Dickens and his most famous story:

-one of the best movie versions, with George C. Scott, as Scrooge, is here

-a brand NEW podcast/audio drama, based on the story, is here. It features an-star cast! Sean Astin plays Ebeneezer Scrooge, John Rhys-Davies narrates, and Juliet Mills (sister of Hayley Mills!) plays one of the ghosts. I love that it has female ghosts! See the trailer for it above.

-a family activity guide for the podcast linked above is here

-a 5-day family devotional from the same ministry, Hope Ministry, that produced the Scrooge podcast, is here

-play the parlor games from the story! Here are the directions! I’ve always wanted to do this!

-do the following activities for your homeschooling/Christmas family fun. So many sparkly ideas are here! It makes me wish I still had all my seven children at home to do this with, especially my older daughter. She would have loved delving into the Victorian ideas.

-Some fun printables are here, including a memory game, Go Fish, What is Your Dickensian Name? ice breaker game, and more.

-A list of many movie versions of A Christmas Carol, ranked from best to worst is here

-who played the best Scrooge below? Watch below to find out!

-the soundtrack to A Muppet Christmas Carol is here (that’s my favorite version, we watch it as a family almost every year at Christmastime. We have so many favorite quotes that we say all year-round, like “It smells so good Mother!” whenever something in the kitchen emanates a delicious smell. Then the reply is “It does, doesn’t it?”)

-below is a video about the making of the Muppet movie

-Brian Henson (son of Jim Henson), producer and director of AMCC, gives some interesting factoids about that version below. He did such a great job for his directorial debut!

-a condensed version of a Dickens Christmas Concert with the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, featuring John Rhys-Davies is below (I got to see this in person. It was amazing to see Dickens and the ghosts flying!)

-get the picture book below and read it aloud. It is the storybook version of the Tabernacle Choir performance shown above. It shows how the story of Dickens affected the story of Scrooge.

-some of the best quotes from the story are here

-a beautiful, old audiobook version is here

-if you haven’t yet watched the excellent movie, The Man Who Invented Christmas, a movie which tells the back story of Dickens writing the story, you are missing out! Go watch it here or borrow a DVD of it from your local public library. It is absolutely delightful! Christopher Plummer plays such a haggard Scrooge. I love that it shows the dynamics of Dickens interacting with his wife, children, and parents.

-A Christmas Carol trivia quiz, and other ACC digital activities, are here

Merry Christmas! I pray you too with feel Christ’s Holy Spirit so you can say, as Scrooge does at the end of the story “I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future.” What better gift to give the Christ Child and others?

For other family Christmas tradition ideas and read alouds, go here.