This week The Huffington Post recounted the true, but little known, story of the inspiration behind Charles Dickens’ iconic holiday tale A Christmas Carol. Though the British author had already published several novels, he was struggling to make ends meet in the fall of 1843. During an evening constitutional through a seedy London neighborhood, Dickens was reminded of his own hardscrabble childhood, and was struck with the inspiration to write a cheerful, uplifting Christmas story for all those who had felt the harsh sting of poverty.

With the holidays quickly approaching, he decided on a short story format, and gave the publisher very detailed instructions on the book design, specifying a gold stamped cover, a green and red title page and several etched illustrations. Despite the high production values, the book was reasonably priced at five shillings, so that it would be affordable to a large segment of the population. Read more…

Award-winning author and illustrator David Shannon has released his latest rambunctious adventure in his David series just in time for the holidays. In the new picture book It’s Christmas, David! (The Blue Sky Press, 32pgs), the irresistibly naughty little boy faces new challenges and temptations as he struggles to keep himself on Santa’s “Nice” list in the days before Christmas. Shannon, who based the mischievous David on his younger self, has special empathy for kids at this time of year. “Christmas is when you get in the most trouble and you get told ‘no’ the most. There’s all this excitement that you have to be patient for,” he explains in a interview with the Los Angeles Times. But at the end of the book, Shannon also illustrates the upside to Christmas. “It’s the biggest ‘yes’ of the year when it finally comes. That’s the other side of being told no: The ‘yes’ that comes after it.” Read more…