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Magical

Customer Rating:
So neat to find a book that captures actual photos of santa from the victorian era.

Highly recommend it.

beautiful edition

Customer Rating:
Bought a copy for each of the grandkids to have for Christmas Eve. Inexpensive but has wonderful illustrations.

Photographs, not illustrations!!!

Customer Rating:
I am an elementary school librarian, and each year I read this book to my 4th graders. It reinforces the belief in Santa Claus for those students who are questioning the exsistence of Santa. It also makes those who no longer believe question their choice. The photographs are incredible, and the opening letter from the illustrator to the reader is what captures my students before I begin to read the classic poem and show the pictures. I recommend this book to any parent who encourages fantasy and "believing with the heart what the eyes cannot see" within their children. Childhood is short, but this book may help prolong Christmas for many.

T. Tudor's illustrations are overlayed with frames...cutting out details

Customer Rating:
I was very disappointed with this edition. The publisher overlayed Tasha Tudor's beautiful illustrations with frames that cut out a lot of fun details, like the little mousy apartment below floor level. I hope that whichever publishing house has the rights to this book will go back to the original format in future prints.

The Night Before Christmas (Golden Storybooks)

Customer Rating:
I'm now on a third edition of this poem and, to keep them straight, the ISBN of each edition is at the start of its review. The first, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (Candy Cane Books) began with a sentence I'm going to copy and paste here: While there's no question that the original poem by Clement Moore is a five star piece of work, there are so many versions of this poem in print that any review has to be of the entire book, with more weight on the illustrations, the only difference between them. I suggest potential customers pay attention to which reviews apply to which book, as there's quite a difference in quality.

The classic poem, wherein the narrator hears noise on the lawn on Christmas Eve and, responding to it, sees Santa in his sleigh land on the roof, come down the chimney, etc. The narrator, the father of the family, watches Santa place gifts under the tree and, when done, hop in his sleigh and fly away.

ISBN 0307637506 - (5 stars) Illustrator Cyndy Szekeres and Golden Books measure up to the standard set by Moore. Szekeres's family is one of mice, which always makes for some fun illustrations. The "wreath" on the family's door is one leaf and one holly berry; the parents' bed is a sardine can; Santa sits on a single die to review his list and the endtable is a thread spool while a large family photo has a locket for a frame. These little touches of whimsy are fun and cute. All ages love the poem, children in particular will love the mice and their adorable adapted furnishings.

ISBN 0307119564 - (3 stars) Illustrators Greg and Tim Hildebrandt did an okay job, just nothing special. The Santa on the cover looks a little bug-eyed, which makes him seem to be leering... which, in turn, makes it an unattractive cover. The inside illustrations are on the old-fashioned side, and they complement the poem well. The detail is nice and the decorated tree is one of the best images - although the decorations on the tree change from page to page. Not bad, just not the best.

- AnnaLovesBooks