The Night Before Christmas - Hardcover

Moore, Clement Clarke

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316070181 ISBN 13: 9780316070188

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2013

Synopsis

Beloved illustrator Holly Hobbie offers a timeless take on the best-known Christmas poem of all time.

In the twilight hours of Christmas Eve, a hushed world enveloped in moonlit snow waits for the soft tinkling of sleigh bells to announce the most magical night of the year. Then comes a thump on the rooftop, a scratching in the chimney, and suddenly--Santa Claus appears!
In her fresh imagining of Clement C. Moore's enduring poem, acclaimed master watercolorist Holly Hobbie captures the magic of this timeless tale. Her vision of the night before Christmas glows with warmth and feeling, and features the delightful addition of a child's-eye view, which magnifies the wonder of this exciting, mysterious time.

About this title

Review:

Whose tiny faces are peeking out from Santa's golden sleigh? Yikes! It's two of Santa's elves who are Christmas Eve stowaways. Beloved illustrator Jan Brett's version of The Night Before Christmas lets these two mischievous elves add their rambunctious spirit to this familiar 1823 rhyming story. Here, Santa and his reindeer land on the snowy roof of a Victorian mansion in New England. While Santa delivers the toys inside, the elves and the reindeer frolic around the lawn, as a pig (earmarked for a girl named Jan) and a few alphabet blocks spill out of sacks into the snow. Santa swiftly reins in the mischief-makers and "away they all flew like the down on a thistle." Brett's richly illustrated borders are lavishly decorated with antique toys, ornaments, and sweet treats, all surrounded with twisting golden ribbons. They also give us a window on the mansion's inhabitants, including the children watching Santa's departure in awe. A sugarplum of a Christmas story, just right for a reading before "a long winter's nap." (Click to see a sample spread. Illustrations ©1998 by Jan Brett. Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons, a division of Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers.) (Ages 3 to 6) --Marcie Bovetz

Book Description:

A classical look at old Saint Nick

The poem "The Night Before Christmas" has become so much a part of Christmas that it’s hard to imagine the holiday without it. Originally published as an "Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas," it appeared in 1823 in the newspaper, the Troy Sentinel. It has since been reprinted hundreds of times, acted out on stage, and read over the radio and on film and CD. The author, CLEMENT CLARKE MOORE, is said to have written the poem for his children on Christmas Eve, 1822. Our modern image of Santa Claus as a bearded, plump, jolly figure can be traced back to Moore’s famous description of St. Nick: "He had a broad face, and a little round belly, that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly."

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0316070181
• ISBN 13: 9780316070188
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 40