The Lump of Coal [SEP] illustrator
The Lump of Coal
The Lump of Coal is a Christmas short story written by Lemony Snicket and illustrated by Brett Helquist. Originally published in the December 2004 edition of the now-defunct magazine "USA Weekend", it was re-released as a stand-alone book in 2008. It is meant to parody traditional children's Christmas stories, a la Twas the Night Before Christmas. Though illustrated and relatively short, the book uses vocabulary above that of most children, including the term "objets d'art". Many
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"The Lump of Coal" is a Christmas story. A living lump of coal falls off a barbecue grill. He wishes for a miracle to happen. The lump of coal is artistic and wants to be an artist. He goes in search of something. First, he finds an art gallery that, he believes, shows art by lumps of coal. But when he comes in, he sadly discovers the art is by humans who use lumps of coal. He then finds a Korean restaurant called Wongs Korean