A Christmas Carol Special Edition

I've talked about my love for the websites CuteOverload.com and Lolcats, and they are wonderful for the obvious reasons. But another more subtle reason I enjoy them so much is seeing the myriad ways God has made animals. He didn't have to make them beautiful, awe-inspiring or just plain cute. He did it as part of His love for us, so that we could see it reflected even in the wild. These are a few of the pictures that caught my eye and made me smile and offer up a silent thank you to their imaginative Creator.

These are a loris, a baby sloth, several momonga, and a laughing walrus. I hope they make you smile too!

A Christmas Carol Special Edition by Charles Dickens edited by Stephen Skelton makes the timeless classic new again. Dicken's A Christmas Carol has been told hundreds of times over in many different formats with varying degrees of success. Skelton doesn't change one word of the original story, but provides footnotes that offer new understanding of the story giving it added depth and power. He explains the various references to spirits in the opening chapter of the story that would have told Victorian era readers that the story would have a spiritual element, something that today's readers wouldn't necessarily notice. He also offers definitions of words not commonly used anymore. It was neat finding out that a Glee means a group of people singing a song with at least two different parts in harmony. At the end of each chapter, Skelton includes several questions to encourage readers to think more deeply about the story and to bring the message home. The questions vary in difficulty from those for adults to questions perfect for children. I have read the classic book before, but this study made its message fresh and relevant for today's readers.

Thank you to FSB Associates for providing me with a copy of this book for review!

Molly's choir concert is tonight, and she has a solo! She's singing O Come Emmanuel, one of my favorite carols. I'll post picture and maybe some video tomorrow.