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The Night Before Christmas by Clement C.…
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The Night Before Christmas

by Clement C. Moore, Clement Clarke Moore

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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Showing 1-5 of 40 (next | show all)
Bright, festive illustrations. ( )
  Sullywriter | Apr 3, 2013 |
First lines:
'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

A classic edition with illustrations by Corinne Malvern. I found these illustrations to be a little dated for today. The words though, are timeless.

This edition still has the reference to Santa's pipe and smoke. ( )
  ccookie | Mar 20, 2013 |
The illustrations are so bold, the words are so simple and cheerful. Clement Moore uses simple words to tell a story of Santa Claus bringing gifts to children in the Christmas night. ( )
  thuvan0301 | Feb 27, 2013 |
First lines:
'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

A classic edition with illustrations by Corinne Malvern. I found these illustrations to be a little dated for today. The words though, are timeless.

This edition still has the reference to Santa's pipe and smoke ( )
  ccookie | Feb 25, 2013 |
http://www.cozylittlebookjournal.com/2012/11/twas-night-before-christmas-edited-...
It's not often that I get to write a review for a children's book that's so controversial it gets featured on The Colbert Report's "Blitzkrieg On Grinchitude" segment. Though to be fair, Stephen Colbert doesn't feature many children's books at all, other than I Am a Pole (And So Can You!). But the new edition of Clement C. Moore's classic Christmas tale, Twas the Night Before Christmas, edited by Canadian anti-smoking advocate and book publisher Pamela McColl, has been making headlines all over the place. The controversy stems from the fact that she has edited out the lines about Santa's smoking:
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teethAnd the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath
Pamela McColl has long been an advocate for smoking cessation, and has worked with Allen Carr ofAllen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking. Her reasoning is that it's probably a good thing to limit the amount of positive reinforcement of smoking that children are exposed to, so maybe it was time for Santa to give up the pipe. This has, apparently, blown people's minds. The backlash has been huge!

For me, it's kind of a non-issue. I have multiple copies of the book in my house, I've enjoyed it since I was a small child and I now read it with my daughter. But if I'm being honest, I've been editing that line for Magda the last two years. She's not old enough to read it herself yet, so I can absolutely understand why parents would be interested in getting the "smoke free" version for their kids to have for years to come, particularly if the kids are reading it themselves. I'm not so "horrified" or "incensed" or whatever some of the other reviewers are saying about the edit.

I'd also like to point out that classic literature gets edited, abridged, reinterpreted and re-worked ALL THE TIME. Just this month I've reviewed "baby versions" of Pride and Prejudice, Moby Dick and Alice in Wonderland, to name a few. It's not that controversial!

I will say this though. Apparently the print edition of the book has a "Letter from Santa" explaining the changes. I received a digital review copy and it wasn't included in the file. But here's what's on the Amazon product page:

A letter from Santa Claus: In this special twenty-first-century edition, select lines have quietly slipped from the pages. Here at the North Pole, we decided to leave all of that tired old business of smoking well behind us a long time ago. The reindeer also asked that I confirm that I have only ever worn faux fur out of respect for the endangered species that are in need of our protection. This includes my dear friends the arctic polar bears.

Wait, what? Santa's wearing faux fur now? Okay, I call bull$#*! on that one. Santa lives in the FAR NORTH. He can't wear faux fur! He'll freeze to death! Also, no one said he wore POLAR BEAR fur! There are plenty of furs that Northern peoples wear that are humanely killed, not over-hunted, and are from animals that are also used for meat and bones. Not all fur comes from mink farms or "my dear friends the arctic polar bears." I mean, if Santa's going to give up fur and not freeze to death, he'll probably have to switch to those high-tech mountain expedition fabrics that people wear on oil rigs in Alaska, which just ruins the whole look.

Okay, I'm glad I got that off my chest.

Anyway, the illustrations are cute and the book is otherwise exactly the same, just with the smoking lines omitted. I think you probably already know if you'd prefer this edition or one of the originals (which are still readily available, so there's no need to panic, other reviewers!).

Disclaimer: I received a digital galley of this book free from the publisher from NetGalley. I was not obliged to write a favourable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own
( )
  CozyBookJournal | Jan 17, 2013 |
Showing 1-5 of 40 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (280 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Clement C. Mooreprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Moore, Clement Clarkemain authorall editionsconfirmed
Biers, ClarenceIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
dePaola, TomieIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Galdone, PaulIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Malvern, CorinneIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rackham, ArthurIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Tenggren, GustafIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Winship, Florence SarahIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 059042758X, Paperback)

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

(retrieved from Amazon Sat, 05 Jan 2013 14:56:55 -0500)

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Saint Nicholas visits a sleeping household on Christmas Eve.

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