Author: Christine Ford, Trish Holland
Illustrator: John Manders
Format: Hardcover Picture Book
Pages: 32
Recommended Age: 2+
Over the course of four Christmas seasons at Barnes and Noble, there was something that really stood out to me. Something like 25% of the Christmas books that came in each year were all Night Before Christmas books. If you go into a bookstore kid's department right now you'll see what I mean. They're EVERYWHERE! There are dozens of different versions of this favorite, both in the form of the original poem accompanied by different illustrators' works and themed variations on the original poem(Teacher's Night Before Christmas, Louisiana Night Before Christmas, etc). A few times I actually set up entire displays that were nothing but Night Before Christmas.
When I pulled this variation out of a box one year, I instantly fell in love. This book is a great way to lift the spirits, especially for families of deployed service members. This is all the same landmarks and flow of the original Clement Moore poem, but instead of being about a father in his house on Christmas Eve, it is about a soldier in an outpost in Iraq. It is fun and silly, service members themselves will laugh their heads of at the portrayal of Santa and his sleigh. This book makes a fantastic gift for any military family. On a more serious note, this book would also be excellent for any child of a deployed service member who is worried about whether Santa will make it to their parent overseas.
Is this the one you're bringing to MOPS on Thursday? If it is I'll have to take a look at it. :) - Rachel
ReplyDeleteIt is the one I'm bringing to MOPS on Thursday. I actually have 2 copies, so I'll bring both so you can check it out during the party!
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