Almost two years ago, Joe Sutphin began sketching with a micron pen and a sepia-toned pencil. He drew an elderly hare. He gave it bushy eyebrows, spectacles, and a Victorian overcoat. The creature became the first of many illustrations in Sutphin’s latest work: Little Christmas Carol.
The beloved original story was published in 1843 by Charles Dickens. Sutphin wanted to reimagine the tale in a family-friendly way without ostracizing longtime fans. He hopes his version will be meaningful for young and old readers alike. That meant keeping in the heavy parts.
Joe Sutphin remembers watching a black-and-white movie version of A Christmas Carol in fourth grade. As an adult, he bought a 1960s-era radio drama version on cassette tape. For many Christmases after that, he listened to the story.
A Christmas Carol tells of Ebenezer Scrooge, an old man who cares only for himself. One winter, three ghosts visit Scrooge. They show him what will happen if his heart does not change. Visions of the present, past, and future startle Scrooge. On Christmas morning, Scrooge awakes with a new perspective. He learns how to “keep Christmas well” and vows to use the rest of his life doing good.
Joe Sutphin wanted to preserve the seriousness of the story. “There are quite a few very quotable lines that I didn’t want to mess with,” says Sutphin. He did change some of the more old-fashioned words and took out mentions of places like London and the United States.
To appeal to younger ages, the characters are woodland creatures in Sutphin’s version. The Ghost of Christmas Present is a lion. Fezziwig is an owl. Tiny Tim is a squirrel. But all look very dignified in their 19th-century top hats and waistcoats. Many of the characters are similar to drawings from Little Pilgrim’s Progress, which Sutphin published in 2021.
Especially in Little Christmas Carol’s fourth section (called a stave—as in a musical notation for a hymn or carol), the book gets spookier. The art shows what Scrooge’s cruelty could have led to.
“If something is dark, I tried to accentuate that it’s dark because of the condition of Scrooge’s heart,” says the illustrator. “He is intentionally being shown a lot of darkness because that’s his opportunity that he’s being given. . . . There really would be no other way to change that character.”
Sutphin feels that the story can show consequences of sin. Artists can describe the world honestly because the goal is “proving why the good thing is worth fighting for,” says Sutphin.
—by Bekah McCallum in Duluth, Georgia
Why? The best stories reflect the ultimate story of God’s redemptive plan. That’s a tale of how “the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
To enjoy Joe Sutphin's illustrations, see Little Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens in our Recommended Reading.
