A Christmas Carol: A Pop-Up Book, written by Charles Dickens, engineered by Chuck Fischer, Hachette, $30, ages 9 and up, 12 pages. The stunning novella that made Dickens weep and laugh, and weep again as he wrote it, A Christmas Carol, is faithfully reproduced in all of its Victorian splendor in this lushly painted pop-up. Harking back to vintage pop-up greeting cards, the scenes unfold on cobbled streets lit by gas lamps or in grand rooms in Ebenezer's house, some with ornate swags of holy around the edges, others with dark wood furniture and red velvet curtains. Perhaps best-loved of all Christmas stories, the tale of human redemption begins on the streets of London as a scowling Scrooge steps out of his business into the languishing light of early evening. Each of the next four pop-ups show the miser reacting with fright as the four spirits show him the folly of his ways.
