The Muppet Christmas Carol is Now a Picture Book
There are two Christmas movies that we watch in our family every year. My wife’s favorite Christmas movie is Elf with Will Ferrell, and mine is The Muppet Christmas Carol. Last year I ranked it not only as the best depiction of A Christmas Carol - but also the best family Christmas movie ever made. I obviously think very highly of Brian Henson’s adaptation of this classic, so it should come as no surprise how excited I am about this year’s release of The Muppet Christmas Carol picture book.
If you’ve already read our Christmas articles from last year, you’re well aware of all the reasons I love The Muppet Christmas Carol. The casting (including, of course, the choice of Muppets for each part) is absolutely superb. Maybe the film just hit me at the perfect moment in childhood, but, as far as I’m concerned, Kermit IS Bob Cratchit and Sir Michael Caine IS Scrooge.
And speaking of Gonzo playing Charles Dickens - this framing of the film is precisely why I think it’s the very best depiction of A Christmas Carol. As Brian Henson himself described during an interview with The Guardian, nobody had ever captured the beautiful prose of Charles Dickens before in an adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Having an omniscient narrator constantly setting the scenes with Dickens’ own words was a brilliant decision.
This is why I’m so excited to see that The Muppet Christmas Carol picture book retains Gonzo as the narrator of the story - accompanied, of course, by his friend Rizzo the Rat. This was a great choice by author Brooke Vitale. Quite frankly, it’s just as innovative to have a narrator popping up throughout a picture book as it was in the original film - and it just wouldn’t be The Muppet Christmas Carol without a little break in the 4th wall.
The other thing that I love so much about the movie is the music - which admittedly is a little bit difficult to capture in a picture book. But I’d be lying if I said the music wasn’t playing in my head while reading this book to my kids. Illustrator Luke Flowers did a masterful job capturing some of the most memorable images from the movie - such as Kermit staring up at the moon on Christmas Eve - and it makes it impossible not to hear his beautiful song:
After all there’s only one more sleep ‘til Christmas.
Flowers is clearly a fan of The Muppets and his passion truly shows in the magic of this book. A quick glance through his Instagram page will tell you all you need to know to confirm that the illustrations for this book were definitely placed in the right hands.
He also happens to be the illustrator of another of our favorite nostalgia-filled picture books of the year - A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mister Rogers. As an aside, I sincerely hope we are all blessed many more times in the future by him getting his hands on passion projects like this that bring our childhood to life and help us share a little magic with our kids.
On top of the fact that this picture book is brimming with heartfelt interpretations of the film (look no further than the moment Tiny Tim passes away), the book itself is also put together impressively well. It has all the trappings of a very special treasure. The endpapers are beautiful, and the dust jacket is absolute perfection. The illustrations that adorn the front and back could not possibly be a better fit - and I’d be extremely happy to hang gigantic prints of either one on my wall every single Christmas.
And, speaking of the great job done putting this book together, it’s also worth pointing out that publisher Insight Editions, in association with Roots of Peace, pledges to plant two trees for every one tree used in the production of the book. As if I couldn’t love everything about this entire project any more.
The Muppet Christmas Carol is a special work of art that does a remarkable job embodying the spirit of Christmas for me. That’s why I insist on revisiting it every December. And that’s why when I heard that it was receiving a picture book adaptation, and that it was going to be illustrated by Luke Flowers, my hype levels were through the roof. I desperately wanted it to be a masterpiece.
And, now that it’s been released, I’m happy to report that it feels like our family has a new Christmas tradition to add to the calendar. This is the best year that I’ve seen for new Christmas picture books in a long time, and The Muppet Christmas Carol finished in a tie for our favorite Christmas book of the year.
This year I’m going to wrap it up as a part of our Christmas book advent calendar and have it opened on Christmas Eve in honor of Kermit’s famous song. We’ll watch the movie and we’ll read the book and we’ll go take the last sleep before Christmas. And I have no doubt we’ll be returning to this one for many family Christmases to come.
Enter today for a chance to win your own copy of The Muppet Christmas Carol picture book!
You can find The Muppet Christmas Carol picture book on Amazon or you can shop local on IndieBound.
Is The Muppet Christmas Carol beloved in your house as well? Have you gotten your hands on this beautiful book yet? Do you agree with my claim that it’s the best Christmas movie of all time? Let us know your thoughts in the comments! And Merry Christmas!
