The Night Before Christmas

Merry Christmas Eve!  In honor of the day, I am sharing with you all the picture book versions of The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore that I own.


I am starting off with the book my mom used to read to me every Christmas Eve when I was a kid.  The book was originally hers, illustrated and "animated" by Meg Wohlberg, published in 1944.  As you can see, unfortunately it's not in good shape anymore because it's been well loved for many years. But it's a great interactive pop up book.

Next is Tasha Tudor, published 1975. I love how her St. Nick plays with the pet cat and corgi and the toys that come to life. He also fits the original version from the poem, being short like an elf.

Rachel Isadora's African take (2009) is refreshing and works very well.  I love her illustrations.

Niroot Puttapipat is a cut-paper artist who grew up in Thailand and now lives in England. This book (2007) has such wonderfully intricate pop-ups and designs. I love the silhouettes with the Victorian illustrations.

Another from my childhood, this book by Michael Hague (1981) has nice cozy illustrations with fun pop-ups that make it very accessible for children. 

Jan Brett was one of my favorite illustrators as a kid.  This book came out in 1998 when I was a little older, but I still really appreciated her signature borders and Scandinavian style.  I also like that she included Santa's elves.

While this book was originally published in 1949, it is new to me, just buying it this year. I love Leonard Weigard's mod illustrations.  

 Well, that's it.  For a Pinterest board of all the Christmas books I owned and read as a kid, you can click here.  For other Christmas book suggestions, you can view that board here. 

Merry Christmas!  Thank you for reading.