The Visit: The Origin of the Night Before Christmas - Hardcover

Moulton, Mark Kimball

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0824958594 ISBN 13: 9780824958596

Publisher: Candy Cane Pr, 2003

Synopsis

Describes, in verse, how Clement Moore composed and recited for the first time a poem which came to be known as "The Night Before Christmas," as a Christmas gift for his ailing daughter in 1822.

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: Candy Cane Pr
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0824958594
• ISBN 13: 9780824958596
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 56
• Illustrator: Winget Susan