by Moe Zilla

Created on: April 25, 2010

For 30 years, Robert Bright had written and illustrated his children's picture books about Georgie - a friendly ghost who lives in the attic of the Whittaker family in an old house in New England.  (At the back of the book, Bright is quoted is saying "The imaginative child in the imaginative man is fortunately never far away.") Bright had worked as a newspaper reporter in both Baltimore and Paris, but credits his children - and later his grandchildren - as the inspiration for his stories about the cheerful ghost.  But in 1975, at the age of 73, Bright decided to match Georgie with an even more special topic: Christmas.  

"Georgie's Christmas Carol" seems to borrow the tone of Charles Dickens classic, along with a similar character. Like the other books, this story features Georgie and his friend Herman the cat, but he's also got a new grumpy neighbor named Mr. Gloams! Gloams is in charge of babysitting his sister's children over Christmas, but Gloams is, unfortunately, a bitter man who hates Christmas. When he was a child, he'd never received the sled he'd requested from Santa as a Christmas present. He spent the rest of his life trying to take care of himself without asking help from anybody - which is how he ended up in an expensive house...all alone.

He locks the two children indoors, but they sneak out a window in the night and leave a letter for Santa Claus, tucked in the hands of a nearby snowman. A neighboring cow delivers the letter to Gerogie and his friends. "Mr. Gloams is very gloomy because nobody ever gave him a sled for Christmas when he was a little boy," the letter reads. "So please, dear Santa, will you bring Mr. Gloams a sled for Christmas so he won't be gloomy any more..."

The children's letter is drawn beautifully, and it's shown with neat, carefully-printed letters by the two helpful children. And fortunately, Georgie's attic just happens to have a sled - plus more gifts for the two children. On Christmas eve, the children stare out their window to see if they can catch a glimpse of Satna Claus.  But instead, they see a cow-drawn sleigh, pulling a little ghost who's delivering toys!

This story has the right spirit for the holiday, and it arrives at a ending that's genuinely happy. Mr. Gloams discovers his sled the next morning, but assumes it's a trick and tosses it into the snow. But then he sits on the sled to rest, allowing Georgie the ghost to sneak up behind him and push the sled onto the hill. He whizzes straight into the town, to the big Christmas tree on the green, where everyone in the neighborhood shouts out an appropriate greeting.

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Gloams!"

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