A pair of Christmas poems is rendered by the inestimable Jim Dale. The lovely opening poem evokes the heartwarming spirit of the season. It's short (picture-book length) and worth repeated listening. Then Dale segues into Clement Moore's classic "Night Before Christmas," and, once again, his delivery is as jolly as we've all grown to expect from this always-popular narrator. The rest of this production is filled with traditional Christmas carols sung by a choir of young-sounding voices. This filler material feels like what it is—padding. Holiday albums by your favorite musical artists would be more fun.
Ages 4-6Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2009
Duration: 1 hr
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Narrator Stephen Fry delivers a heartwarming and spirited performance in this fresh production on the origins of Christmas rituals. Fry's dynamic narration brings out the humor as well as the heartache in young protagonist Nikolas, who sets off on an adventure to find his father and stumbles upon a mystical elf kingdom. Fry's hearty range of voices expresses not only Nikolas's quiet bravery, anguish, and joy during his journey but also a myriad of animated human and nonhuman characters, including a humorous troll and a sweet elf. Fry's delightful storytelling weaves heartfelt emotion with the magic of elves and the power of goodness, making it easy to believe in Christmas.
(Fantasy. 6-13)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2016
Duration: 4 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780735207806
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Charles Dickens loved to read his own words to his audiences. Since he can't do that now, he would possibly settle for someone else doing the narration, and he'd be hard-pressed to find a reader more able than Miriam Margolyes. Her rendering of everyone's wintertime favorite, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, is masterfully done, with a remarkable range of vocal talent capturing this tale of Scrooge and his redemption from a miserly existence. She excels at Marley and the three ghosts, making each of them distinctive according to his role in the proceedings as Scrooge visits his past, present, and future. Margolyes is drama personified, loud, soft, plaintive, frightened, annoyed, sorrowful and, finally, rejoicing. Top marks for this one; Dickens would be delighted.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 1999
Duration: 3 hrs, 15 mins
Publisher: AudioGo
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
