Mrs Scrooge : A Christmas Tale

Mrs Scrooge is a delightful Christmas poem from Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. Published as a small hardback and filled with bright illustrations by Posy Simmonds, this modern take on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens makes a perfect Christmas gift.

With her husband, Ebenezer, now ''doornail dead'', the coldest Christmas Eve on record finds Mrs Scrooge outside the supermarket, protesting against consumerism and waste. ''Spoilsport!'' shout the passersby as they load up their shopping carts with Christmas goodies. Just as Ebenezer did, Mrs Scrooge keeps to her frugal ways . . . but with the current state of the world, perhaps Mrs Scrooge has the right idea.

That night, alone in her bed with Catchit the cat beside her, Mrs Scrooge is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. As each in succession takes her by the hand and sweeps through the scenes of her life, Mrs Scrooge learns not only what the ''Christmas Spirit'' really means, but the nature of the real gifts we give and receive.