Rosen employs a school production of A Christmas Carol as a device to suggest how a workaholic father withdrawn from his family may end up as lonely as Scrooge. The novel alternates young Harry's onstage experiences with scenes about his father's distance. The bad-dad story line seems aimed mostly at parents; however, Harry's sister Eva, who parallels Tiny Tim, is a gem. Christmas activities and songs are appended.

Veteran British children's author Rosen gives a new twist to an old tale. Eleven-year-old Harry Gruber has been cast as Scrooge in his school's production of A Christmas Carol. The script of the play, based on Dickens' classic, is interspersed with Harry's thoughts and observations while he is performing the role. Harry's parents and sister are in the audience, and all is going well until his workaholic dad decides that he cannot ignore a business call and abruptly walks out of the play. Ray Gruber's dash to his office and his obsession with his business, to the exclusion of his family's wants and needs, are skillfully mirrored with scenes in the play. In being a negligent parent, Gruber is Scrooge-like, in actions as well as behavior. A conversation with a business colleague starts to make him aware that his behavior is undesirable, and his recollections of his deprived childhood and his resentment of it make him realize the error of his ways. Scrooge's revelations are paralleled by the growth of Ray's personal awareness. To his family's delight, he returns at the end of the play and turns from "the ogre of the family" to a good dad who applauds Harry's performance. Harry and his family are white; both Harry's classmates and Gruber's business colleagues reflect a multicultural world.An accessible and funny morality tale that's useful reading for work-obsessed parents as well as their children. (Fiction. 8-12)

A school production of A Christmas Carol sets the stage for this retelling of Dickens-s classic alongside a contemporary family drama that parallels the beloved tale. Eleven-year-old Harry is prepared to play Scrooge, even though he-s -nervous times four- to do so. But as soon as he hits his stride on stage, Harry sees his distracted, workaholic father sneak out of the show. Just as Harry is visited by various spirits in the show, Dad has similar experiences, haunted by memories of the past and realizations about the present and future. Rosen intersperses the play-s lines with passages of prose, allowing readers a front-row seat to both sets of proceedings. Signature loose-lined ink drawings of modern and period characters by Ross (the Horrid Henry books) pepper the pages. Dad-s admissions about a tough childhood and difficult marriage strike an adult tone, but they dovetail with Dickens-s themes of memory and regret. After happy endings prevail, Rosen (We-re Going on a Bear Hunt) offers concluding pages filled with recipes, games, and other holiday fare. Ages 8-12. (Sept.)