Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Versions and Variants of “The Night Before Christmas”

Clement Clarke Moore is said to have written the poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas," for his own children and recited it to them on Christmas Eve in 1822. It was then published anonymously, became increasingly popular and is still shared today as a Christmas tradition. It has also been interpreted, re-cast, and even parodied by many others as shown in the books listed here.

The list begins:

            Adams, Jennifer. 2004. The Night Before Christmas in Idaho. Salt Lake City, UT: Gibbs Smith.

Beard, Henry. 2005. A Dog’s Night Before Christmas. New York: Broadway Books.

Davis, David. 2003. Librarian’s Night Before Christmas. Gretna, LA: Pelican.

Holland, Trish and Christine Ford. 2006. The Soldiers’ Night Before Christmas. New York: Random House.

Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2003. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, and other Seasonal Favorites. New York: Abrams.


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