The Night Before Christmas - Clement C. Moore

This for me is one of the best books I have bought for my daughter and contains the most beautiful words. I remember when I used to read this poem, sitting in the assembly hall at school reading the words from the projector. It used to get everybody feeling festive.

Seeing this book in the book store over a decade later it brought back so many happy memories and got me feeling all festive again. I bought this book for my daughter immediately once I saw it. It cost £5.99 from waterstones which isn't a bad price for such a classic book.

The book is called the night before Christmas and it is written by Clement C. Moore. The poem tells a magical story of Christmas Eve and is written in such a way where it leaves you feeling all warm inside. It contains breath taking descriptive words such as; "the moon on the breast of the new - fallen snow, gives a luster of midday to objects below." This being just a small example, the whole poem needs to be read to experience the joy and happiness the poem brings.

This poem really takes you back and as you sink into the bliss of the poem and really engage in the magic, it leaves you thinking for a moment about the innocence of childhood and the time Santa, in your mind was a real thing, not just a tale. The powerful words fill you up inside like a glass of warm milk and freshly baked cookies.

The illustrations in the book are done by Christian Birmingham and tell an interesting story of their own. The poem is very old and the illustrations are created to follow suit. Some illustrations are colour and others are in black and white to go with the whole old feel that runs throughout the poem. The people presented in the pictures are of your typical story book old fashioned people, with the men in night dresses wearing long head hats with bobbles on the end holding a lit candle on a little tray.

Father Christmas in the poem is addressed as St. Nick, this adds to the old, warm Christmassy feel the book provides. The 8 reindeers also have a mention in the poem and contains all of their names; Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen. I have to admit over the years I had forgotten these names but hearing them again takes me back and leave's me feeling like a little child again.

After all that you may be thinking that secretly I bought this book for myself (not for my daughter!) the reason I bought it was that I want my daughter to experience every little drop of Christmas magic as she possibly can before someone eventually tells her that father Christmas isn't real. ( not that it will happen any time soon as she is only two) but still the longer she can hold onto that magic the better as once you experience the trauma of your older brother or sister telling you that Santa isn't actually real it sort of starts to disappear, and then you become an adult and your main job at Christmas is to spread the magic to your own children (as well as spending every penny you have on toys and getting absolutely no credit for it as it has all came from Santa!) But hey, that's what Christmas is all about!

This book spreads magic and joy and can be enjoyed by adult and child. I put this book away and bring it out every Christmas so it has a more special effect when it is read. My daughter loves the soothing words and pretty pictures, and without fail every time I have previously read this to her she has fell to sleep within minutes.( let's hope it works the same this year!)

I would highly recommend this book, it is suitable for all ages and will bring a little bit of joy and happiness to your stressful Christmas times.