fa la la #2
I sometimes have a hard time knowing if a book is truly great.. or if I just remember loving it as a little girl, and so it has become wonderful only to me. The Night Before Christmas (illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa) is one of those books I can recall vividly from my childhood... page by page.
Whenever I hear Clement Moore's poem, it is always these images I see in my head. I love everything about it. The title page with the wooden stick letters and the cutaway view of the house as everyone gets ready for bed.
And the amazing sugarplum dreams of the sleeping children.. (which I especially loved because we had six children in our family.. three boys, three girls)
And I love the little jolly Santa, a bit on the petite side. Oh, I adore this book.. but my son has had a few questions: "Where's Rudolph, mom?" "And are these the mean reindeer that were calling him names?"
12.17.2008
Reader Comments (9)
That IS a sweet version! We've had the rudolf question when we read The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett. Actually all of the reindeer are differently named in that book.
I gasped out loud when I saw that you featured this book because this book holds so many happy Christmas moments for me. My Mom read it to us every single Christmas Eve when we were growing up and now we do the same for our children. The illustrations represent all that is magical about Christmas (I love the little mouse that always shows up).
Hello ^_^ I love, love, LOVE your blog posts where you feature books. I'm a children's book enthusiast & you're giving me so many fabulous ideas to expand our baby's library (she's due in the next 5 weeks!)
Oh! I just posted today about another one of Gyo's books, now out of print. I love this one, too, and was glad to see the reissue.
I discovered your blog on the Purl beehive. Lovely. I've thumbed through/read several of the books you've designed. Wonderful work. Printing by Hand and and the Purl book are gorgeous books and on my wish list.
We had this same one growing up so when I found it in the bargain books and Barnes and Noble I HAD to pick it up! Such sweet illustrations.
Do you have Gyo's board book Babies? Another classic.
I don't know this book but I know that cutaway views of houses, with all the rooms and detail and inhabitants busy inside, were a hit with me every time as a child. That picture alone would've endeared me to this book forever.
Lovely blog.
The Animals' Merry Christmas by Richard Scarry had me weeping with happiness the first few times I read it to Sugarlump. It is all about animals spreading joy.