Article 2
by Lyn Lacy
5300 words
For Bruce Whatley, for revealing the startled man behind Santa’s cool façade—and the struggle the frantic reindeer had getting onto that roof.
America’s Santa Claus is magic. He may be pictured as an elf or as a full-grown man. His coat is red, green, brown or even black. Best of all, Santa can be of any race—all he has to do is lay his finger aside of his nose. He was first described almost two hundred years ago in “A Visit from Saint Nicholas, or ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas”, a poem of 56 lines that have been called “some of the best-known verses ever written by an American.” The poem has been published in hundreds of editions, anthologies and parodies, has been visually interpreted more often than any other text and was the text for one of the first children’s books published in America to be illustrated in color.
The poem was first printed publicly on December 23, 1823, in the Troy Sentinel of New York anonymously and without illustrations. For the holiday in 1830, the Sentinel attached a woodcut by Myron King (n.d.) as the first illustration for the poem.
In 1838 Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863), was cited as the poet, but he did not begrudgingly admit it until 1844. Some historians say that Moore—a well-known New York scholar of Hebrew and Greek—considered a sweet holiday tribute written for children as too frivolous to have been written by a pious man of the cloth.
A debate about whether Moore was indeed the author was examined by Don Foster in Author Unknown: On the Trail of Anonymous (Holt, 2000), in which he used, among other things, textual analysis of the anapestic verse to insist that the poem was written by Major Henry Livingston, Jr. (1748-1828) of Poughkeepsie, New York, seventy miles up the Hudson River from New York City. Livingston’s children remembered their father reading the very same poem to them as his own as early as 1807. Livingston himself never claimed authorship, but his descendent Mary S. Van Deusen (n.d.) published the poem under his name in 2016, illustrated by various illustrators of the 19th century.
The question of authorship has been as fascinating as the idea of where Santa Claus came from in the first place. Of all the world’s traditions and folklore surrounding generous gift-givers, the Netherland’s Sinterklass or Sint-Nicolass had the most direct influence on the poem. Both Moore and Livingston would have been aware of the Dutch culture in New York that had existed since the 17th century, when the Nederlanders settled the southern tip of Manhattan Island and called it New Amsterdam. The Dutch brought with them their tradition of a benevolent old gentleman with long white hair and beard who rode either in a horse-drawn wagon or mounted on the white horse itself to deliver gifts in good children’s shoes. Only the name “Sinterklass” (which became “Santa Claus”) and names for two of the reindeer—“Dunder” (thunder) and “Blixem” (lightning)—would attach themselves to The Night Before Christmas.
And both Moore and Livingston would have been familiar with their fellow New Yorker, Washington Irving (1783–1859), who wrote a gentle lampoon of the “hard-headed, hard-handed, stout-hearted” Dutch settlers in his novel A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty (1809). Irving wrote, “the good St. Nicholas would often make his appearance in his beloved city, of a holiday afternoon, riding jollily among the treetops, or over the roofs of the houses, now and then drawing forth magnificent presents from his breeches pockets, and dropping them down the chimneys of his favorites…he never shows us the light of his countenance, nor ever visits us, save one night in the year…confining his presents merely to the children.”
Irving also created a character Oloffe “The Dreamer” Van Kortlandt who had a dream in which he recognized “the good St. Nicholas…by his broad hat and his long pipe, which smoke ascended into the air and spread like a cloud overhead…And when St. Nicholas had smoked his pipe, he twisted it in his hat-band, and laying his finger beside his nose, gave the astonished Van Kortlandt a very significant look, then mounting his wagon he returned over the tree-tops and disappeared.”
The first illustrated book of the poem was a little 16-page chapbook in 1848 with eight wood engravings of a high-stepping Santa dressed as a Dutchman in frock coat, vest and knickers by Theodore Chauncy Boyd (1830-c1899).
Following that was an even slimmer 10-page edition in 1862 illustrated by the prestigious illustrator, Felix Octavius Carr Darley (1822-1888). Darley had earlier illustrated Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle,” and the artist explained that for “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” he used Irving’s description of Saint Nick as an American Dutchman—“plump, short fur-lined coat, black boots and pipe.” Some other early versions were published with no credit given to the illustrator and are today known as the “Charles Graham” edition of 1870 or the “McLoughlin Bros” edition of 1888.
Thomas Nast (1840-1902), a famous political cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly, was the first to picture Santa Claus as a rotund little elf in a red fur suit, based on the artist’s German tradition of Sankt Nikolaus. In 1890, Nast published Thomas Nast's Christmas Drawings for the Human Race, which had a few illustrations for select lines from the poem. Haddon Sundblom (1899-1976), in advertisements for Coca-Cola from 1931 to 1964, pictured Santa as a full-grown human—always holding a bottle of Coke but never drinking it and never with a pipe—who is recognized around the world today. Although neither Nast nor Sundblom illustrated a picture book of the full text from The Night Before Christmas, much credit is due them both for their contributions to an American Santa.
The first half of the 20th century had editions of the poem by famous artists, all of whom remained true to their traditional styles, such as those by William Wallace Denslow (1856-1915) in 1902, Jessie Willcox Smith (1863-1935) in 1912, Margaret Evans Price (1888-1973) in 1917, A. E. Kennedy (1883-1963) in 1918, Frances Brundage (1854–1937) in 1927 and Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) in 1931.
Other illustrators were Keith Ward (n.d.) in 1934, Fern Bisel Peat (1893-1971) in 1936, Berta Hader (1890-1976) and Elmer Hader (1889-1973) in 1937, Thelma Gooch (b.1895-) in 1937, Grandma Moses (1860-1961) in 1948 (see below), Leonard Weisgard (1916-2000) in 1949, Eleanora Madsen (n.d.) in 1949 and Corinne Malvern (1901-1956) also in 1949.
The second half of the 20th century offered a flood of classics by well-known picture book illustrators, some of whom exhibited an almost reverential attitude toward the famous poem. Settings were customary scenes of moonlit winter nights and cozy interiors, such as those by Gustaf Tenggren (1896-1970) in 1951, Roger Duvoisin (1900-1980) in 1954, Gyo Fujikawa (1908-1998) in 1961, Douglas Gorsline (1913-1985) and in 1975, Tomie dePaola (1934-). Additional illustrators were Anita Lobel (1934-) in 1984, Tien Ho (n.d.) in 1986, John Steven Gurney (n.d.) in 1989, Greg Hildebrandt (1939-) in 1990 and Cheryl Harness (n.d.) also in 1990, Mike Artell (n.d.) in 1994, Ted Rand (1916-) in 1995, Christian Birmingham (n.d.) also in 1995. Private and small press editions of the poem were works of art illustrated by Valenti Angelo (1897-1982) in 1937, John dePol (1913-2004) in 1957 and Emily Wentworth (n.d.) in 1988.
However, more than half a dozen illustrators in the 1980s and 1990s presented new details for characters, plot or composition. For example, Rene Cloke (1905-1995) in 1980 pictured a slew of fairies that helped Santa (who knew he had fairies?). A worthy mechanical edition of The Night Before Christmas from this period was by Michael Hague (1948-) in 1981. A coloring book by John O’Brien (n.d.) in 1981 showed 12 kids, 30 stockings and a twinkle-toed, elfin Santa reminiscent of ones by Nast and Denslow.
James Marshall (1942-1992) in 1985 pictured Santa in cowboy boots, raiding the family’s fridge and posing for a photo with the family’s bulldogs, cats and chickens. Scott Gustafson (n.d.) in 1985 had an awe-inspiring view from very high above of Santa arriving in his sleigh and devoted an illustration that lingers on the narrator coming down the dark stairway, heightening the anticipation of seeing Santa himself in the living room. James Rice (1934-2004) in 1989 depicted very homely, exhausted reindeer and a houseful of mice that were already living it up before a bespectacled, hard-working Santa came along with elves to be the mice’s dance partners.
William Cone (n.d.) in 1992 presented a fun point of view from a solemn Santa looking into the chimney. For the stanza “To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!” Julie Downing (n.d.) in 1994 showed reindeer in the foreground headed right off the double-page spread. Jan Brett (1949-) in 1998 had two of Santa’s elves doing all the work while Santa himself was barely in the pictures at all. Tasha Tudor (1915-2008) changed a portrayal of Santa from a traditional “peddler” in her 1962 and 1975 editions to a glowing, goblin-like elf in 1999.
As handsome as these holiday books are, they are not in keeping with the focus here on exciting innovations regarding characters, plot or composition. Also excluded from this study are parodies, re-writes for select audiences, editions with animals as characters, miniatures and uses of photography or novelty media such as clay models or stitchery. Others not surveyed are editions in which the text has been edited. The only acceptable edits here are two common changes – one for the title, in which The Night Before Christmas has supplanted the poem’s original longer title, and one for the last line, in which “Happy Christmas” has become “Merry Christmas.”
The following illustrators have been faithful to the text itself, whether their visual interpretations are contemporary, classical, comical or surreal. Some of the artists are award-winners for their other picture books, and those from outside the U.S. are proof that America’s Santa now belongs to the world.
1999 Bruce Whatley (Australian, 1954-), Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas. New York: HarperCollins
For the last Christmas of the 20th century, Bruce Whatley ushered in a truly bold new age of innovative 21st-century illustrations. The first double page spread was from the viewpoint of the mouse’s nest on a shelf high above the living room. Then, his reindeer exploded off the pages for the couplet, “To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!” This was followed by two more spreads depicting the continuing tumultuous action as the animals stampeded into our space beyond the picture frame, truly in a panicked frenzy that demands our involvement. The illustrator’s attention to the stanza about “dry leaves that before a wild hurricane fly” resulted in the reindeer rolling their eyes, tangling up with the leaves and bugling frantically.
Most artists before and since have ignored this stanza altogether as irrelevant to the story or perhaps as too awkward and troublesome to illustrate. Whatley pictured the reindeers’ arrival in a way no one had done before, and his superb sequence of four double-page spreads was as exciting to see as Chris Van Allsburg’s (1949-) single-page rhino scene in Jumanji in 1981 and Maurice Sendak’s (1928-2012) three “wild rumpus” double spreads in Where the Wild Things Are in 1963.
Whatley also gave endearing, larger-than-life facial expressions to Santa and the father, including their surprise at first seeing each other. He included a plot twist by having the jolly old elf give the father a nostalgic little present of his own. Plus, as Santa flew away, the reindeer once again burst off the page right into our laps. In 2004, HarperFestival released a board book of Whatley’s 1999 edition.
2002 Robert Sabuda (American, 1965-), Illustrator and paper engineer. The Night Before Christmas Pop-up, New York: Little Simon, 12 pp, 8”x8”
A master paper engineer like Sabuda has elevated the pop-up book to a work of art with the power to entice and educate in the razzle-dazzle of a high-tech age. Sabuda’s mechanical edition enhanced the magical theme of Santa Claus and the poem itself when, for instance, paper performance showed Santa going down the chimney, then back up again. From the beginning stanza, when the mouse’s head turned as the clock strikes midnight, the special mechanical features acted out the story, advancing an understanding of it rather than simply amusing or intriguing the audience. Sugarplums on wheels encircled the children’s heads and a pull-the-flap propelled Santa above the town in this remarkable tour de force.
2002 Matt Tavares (American, 1975-), Illustrator. 'Twas the Night Before Christmas: Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas, Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 32 pp, 10”x11.6”
Among all the pitched rooftops in Boston, Santa and his reindeer landed on a particular one -- the beautiful 1804 Nichols House in Beacon Hill. The setting inside the townhouse had old-fashioned furniture, Christmas tree and toys drawn in pencil to create monochromatic scenes from a time gone by. Such close observation can be doubly rewarding when you learn online that the illustrator photographed real-life models for his characters, a sleigh, a papier-mâché reindeer, a Christmas tree with 19th century ornaments and The Nichols House Museum. The book has very few solid black lines or solid white spaces but exhibits a gradation of shades of grey, affecting the softer tones of moonlight and candlelight at nighttime.
Adding to the illustrator, Tavares created unforgettable facial expressions for three characters. First was a lovely young girl, whose model was the artist’s cousin Susan, sleeping with one arm over a dolly to keep it from falling out of bed. Next was the father, modeled by author friend M. T. Anderson, who turned with eyes wide in wonder as he hears from above the “prancing and pawing of each little hoof.” Last of the frozen moments in time showed Santa -- whose model was a Santa’s helper named Art Usher -- with a priceless expression of shock when he realizes he’s being watched, not only by the father but also by us. This Santa was in the old tradition of a 19th-century Dutch gentleman of New York, dressed in a long coat with fur collar, and the startled look on the good sir’s face pulled at our hearts as you realized he’s just as vulnerable as we mortals. Long after you’ve closed the book, the three sweet faces stayed with you. Tavares has illustrated other Christmas books, such as The Gingerbread Pirates (2009) by Kristen Kladstrup, Red and Lulu (2017), and Dasher (2019).
2005 Lisbeth Zwerger (Austrian, 1954-), Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, New York: Penguin, 40 pp, 9.5”x11.6”
Zwerger ‘s remarkable double page watercolor showed Santa in his sleigh as a wee gentleman in a red coat and tall headgear with a St. Nicholas’s hooked staff. He had a few tiny elves in a wooden sleigh with toys pulled along behind it by delicate threads. Inside a handsome, austere four-story townhouse, the enchantment continued as the mouse is shown sleeping in his striped pajamas while upstairs six children rested their heads on one enormous pillow and a portly father sprang from his bed with amusing agility.
These visual details came before the main event itself, which was the most magical of all. Using only five poses, Zwerger illustrated Santa going straight to work, filling small stockings with large toys, bringing in a stack of books, pulling the Christmas tree out of his bag, climbing up the tree to decorate it with little dolls and finally, smiling in farewell. The smile from this whimsical little man – along with his wispy “hat hair” after taking off his headgear – made this edition an impossible one to put down. Zwerger’s remarkable imagination over many years has graced children’s classics, fairy tales and folklore from around the world.
2006 Gennady Spirin (American, 1948-), Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish, 32 pp, 8”x10”
A small book with small type and only ten small watercolor illustrations, Spirin’s edition was a lap book begging for close attention. The moon cast long shadows in the snow as Santa, in his handsomely-carved sleigh pulled by bejeweled reindeer, glided up to the rooftop in the only double-page spread, putting on a show for a beautiful boy gazing out the window with pure joy. The child raced his cats downstairs to watch with eyes aglow as the Russian-born illustrator’s huge Santa broke into a jig in heavy boots. The jolly giant was having the time of his life with toys held high, and his exuberance was infectious. This small book with a not-so-elfin Santa offered a whopper of a gift – the unadulterated, feel-good happiness of Christmas Eve. Spirin has illustrated several other Christmas books, as well as folklore and fairy tales.
2006 Richard Jesse Watson (American, n.d.), Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, New York: HarperCollins, 40 pp, 10”x10”
A chat between Watson and St. Nick at the end of this edition answered the question: How does Santa deliver “so much to so many all in one night?” For one thing, according to Watson, Santa is a “reindeer whisperer” who’s developed a special feed concoction that “stimulates their ability to move very fast,” and he’s also got a super-duper rocket for a sleigh that’s tricked out by the Far North Airline “to expand the moment between ‘tick’ and ‘tock’ on Christmas Eve.” Santa as aviator wore vintage goggles and flight cap, and his rocket’s cockpit had such controls as a Geese Alert, Fast-Faster-Zoom switches and a hot drink machine that offered Tea, Hot Chocolate, Wassail, Espresso, Milk or Borsht.
To study for his illustrations, Watson made a papier-mâché model of the rocket, which was featured along with the illustrator’s family, friends and a big dog Alfred, all of whom posed for characters. The reindeer invited the audience into the book while they flew past and by the father who reached off the page when he sprang from his bed. No one, young or old, could resist such invitations to join in the fun, certainly not the diverse group of elves (or rather, Watson’s own family and friends). He has also illustrated Biblical verses and fairy tales and wrote and illustrated The Magic Rabbit (2005).
2007 Niroot Puttapipat (Thai, n.d.), Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas: A Magical Cut-Paper Edition, Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 24 pp, 9”x10”
The black-on-white elegance of silhouettes appeals to children when a bit of color attracts the eye and when something’s going on in the pictures. Add to that a turn-the-flap page, ingenious cutouts and a graceful pop-up, and you satisfy many youngsters’ need to manipulate things in mechanicals or moveable books. Once mechanics have been dissected to see what makes them work, the artistry of a single double page spread where nothing much happens makes its impact. This book’s masterful illustration was an exquisite, perfectly balanced portrait of a regal Santa simply filling a stocking, and the pose showed that the illustrator was a master of the picture-book craft of placement for elements either side of the gutter.
Natee -- as the illustrator prefers to be called -- now lives in London and expresses a strong artistic influence from, among other things, the “Golden Age” of illustrators, known for their delicate, precise characters and settings from the Victorian and Edwardian eras, just like those seen in illustrations here. The illustrator has added editions of Jingle Bells (2015) and The Nutcracker (2016) to a Christmas collection of pop-ups.
2009 Rachel Isadora (American, 1953-), Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, New York: Penguin, 32 pp, 10”x10”
In the first double page spread, a bright orange sun sets while snow began to fall over an African village. In the next spread, the sky and land changed to darkness as night came and the light snow covered all. As in other editions where Santa does not arrive from the sky, this sleigh glided on the ground outside the window before the reindeer flew “up to the housetop.” The whole family greeted the hearty, robust Santa who looked eager to dance, not an unusual attitude for Isadora since she danced professionally and her art often reflects her love for it. Richly textured cut paper with patterns and paint formed everything in her collages to stunning effect, especially the gaily-dressed dolls and colorful toy animals left for the children. Isadora was awarded the 1992 Caldecott Honor Book for Ben’s Trumpet (1991) and has had published almost two dozen other picture books in the 21st century, the latest being Do I Have to Wear a Coat? (2020).
2010 Robert Ingpen (Australian, 1936-), Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, New York: Sterling, 48 pp, 9”x10.5”
Ingpen’s wrinkled and weather-beaten elf who fell calamitously down the chimney was the sootiest, grimiest Santa by far. He looked like one of those good-hearted rascals recognized the world over, and he instantly recovered from his inglorious descent with benevolent but mischievous charm. As Whatley did in his edition discussed above, Ingpen also devoted several double-page spreads to Santa’s reindeer, including an illustration for the problematic “dry leaves” stanza. The house was a stolid, imposing edifice set down in isolated ranchland far from town, and from nearby woods the reindeer ran onto the lawn, pulling Santa across the snow in a low-frame wooden sledge. Only after several pages did they “mount to the sky” and land on the roof. Ingpen’s several Illustrated Classics published by Sterling include his latest, Just So Stories (2018).
2010 Eric Puybaret (French, n.d.), Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge, 26 pp, 12”x10.8”
An edition by Puybaret began in the endpapers, done in colorful acrylics, bold and fanciful, with before and after scenes of Santa’s elves (one of them wearing sneakers) at his North Pole workshop. Then on the title page, a sweet smiling Santa himself welcomed us to his favorite night of the year. Soon, gliding down gracefully from the sky were eight identical, dignified reindeer as delicate as ceramic figurines in flowing capes and top hats. They escorted the red-robed Santa, who was much like a little porcelain doll, benign and unpretentious, with gorgeous beard, mustache and pointed cap. A lovely fairy witnesses the gift-giving inside the house, which has a décor as child-friendly and toy-like as a toddler’s first dollhouse. Puybaret has illustrated a series of classic children’s songs, complete with audio CD, as well as the story used for the ballet, The Nutcracker (2016), retold by John Cech.
2013 Zdenko Basic (Croatian, n.d.) and Manuel Sumberac (Croatian, n.d.), Illustrators. The Night Before Christmas, London: Hodder, 32 pp, 11”x 11”
Tiny tubby toddlers marched across endpapers in hooded onesies, carrying snacks, gifts and a stuffed bear. Basic and Sumberac are digital artists and animators with a history of art in the steampunk movement. Landing on the rooftop was a tangle of elegant, spider-like reindeer, with Santa and his truly humungous burlap bag of toys. Santa himself was a gigantic balloon of a fellow with round steampunk eyeglasses, wee mittened hands sprouting from a bulbous red coat and a dozen helmeted elves scurrying around to do all the work. On every wall of this tilted old funhouse were framed pictures of the toddlers but none of grown-ups. No parents witnessed the craziness of this nighttime visitor -- just a threadbare toy bear sitting in an easy chair. Basic has illustrated a series of Steampunk Classics, featuring works by Dickens, Poe, H. G. Wells and Mary Shelley.
2013 Christine Brallier (American, n.d.), Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, St. Paul, MN: Brownian Bee Press, 32 pp, 8.8”x10.8”
Mosaics are a difficult medium for the creation of facial expressions -- not just for human faces but certainly for a jubilant, bugling reindeer or a decidedly suspicious cat. However, in Brallier’s stained-glass edition were not only subtle expressions for Santa and the father who crept downstairs but also for a couple of reindeer and more than a dozen exquisite poses of the artist’s own cat. In fact, the cat itself might well have been the narrator, since the lovely creature obviously has “nothing to dread” when Santa approached on bended knee, then gently picked it up for a cuddle. One could almost hear the cat purring.
2013 Holly Hobbie (American, 1944-), Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, New York: Little Brown, 40 pp, 11.5”x9.5”
Every adult knows a child who can’t get back to sleep once awakened. On the cover of Hobbie’s edition, the sleepless one was a toddler squished in bed with three older kids and a cat. This little one was a real treat with thumb in its mouth, trailing a favorite blanket down the hall and too young to talk, therefore unable to divulge a secret. The baby went down the stairs on its bottom, into the living room to hide behind a chair while a magical little man in a red coat and suspenders entertained the cat. Dad came too but was unnoticed hiding in the hallway, or the silent scene would be interrupted. As the little man left up the chimney, the baby waved goodbye and all’s well, so back to bed, eyes wide with the wonder of it all. Here were unadorned, uncluttered Hobbie watercolor paintings of the purest and simplest kind – perfect innocence. Among her many picture books since the early 1970s, Hobbie has illustrated another 21st century holiday title, I’ll Be Home for Christmas (2001).
2015 David Ercolini (American, n.d.), Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, New York: Scholastic, 32 pp, 10”x12”
If future archeologists unearth a house such as the one in this edition they might figure they’d found the American 21st-Century “Taj Mahal of Tacky.” Every Christmas decoration imaginable by digital-artist Ercolini was found here, inside the house and out, from Santa slippers and a red-nosed-reindeer nightlight to a stupendous inflatable Santa on the roof that was twice the size of the jolly old elf himself when he landed with his maps, megaphone, whistle and reindeer fitted out with costumes, carrots and cameras. Santa relaxed awhile to enjoy the smorgasbord of cakes, pudding, cookies, donuts and cupcakes and listen to family pets’ Christmas lists and play with their toys before he was surprised by Father, got quickly to work and finally scurried up the chimney with soot puffing out all around. That Ercolini sure knew how to throw a party. He did so again in the hilarious It’s a Moose! (2020) by Meg Rosoff.
2017 Charles Santore (American, 1935-), Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas or, A Visit from St. Nicholas Coloring Book, Kennebunkport, ME, Cider Mill Press, 48 pp, 11”x10.5”
In Santore’s traditional 2011 picture book, Santa was the only vividly colorful figure in otherwise dark illustrations. “The luster of midday” in outdoor scenes was missing as well as any light inside the house, except for a candle that Santa used to light his pipe. However, for would-be artists who might choose to lighten up the visuals, an opportunity became available in 2017 when pencil drawings of Santore’s original illustrations were published in a coloring book. The original double page illustrations were skillfully cropped to single-page line drawings in order to focus solely on the action. As adult coloring books became increasingly more popular, Santore’s was certainly one for serious hobbyists to create their own versions for family heirlooms. Coloring books have been issued for several other titles in his series called Classic Edition.
2020 Loren Long (American,), Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, Harper
The charm of Long’s edition was the depiction of different kinds of families of diverse ethnicities residing in different types of homes, each group preparing for Santa’s visit — a trio of redheads in a farmhouse, a boy and girl in a trailer home, two boys in a downtown apartment and a girl in an island bungalow with palm trees outside the window. Fathers appeared at windows of three homes, and a mother took his place in the last. Santa, sleigh and reindeer were diminutive as exactly described in the poem, so the illustrator’s choices of settings and characters were the pleasant details not seen before that lend much toward reaching a wider audience of a variety of families. If only Santa would have magically put his finger aside his nose and become as diverse as the families he visits.
Note: Some of this information was included in the exhibition “The Night Before Christmas into the 21st Century” at the Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona Beach, Florida, 6 December 2018 – 21 January 2019, Ruth Grim, Curator, with Lyn Lacy, Guest Curator.
Ordering Bibliography
Basic, Zdenko and Manuel Sumberac,,Illustrators. The Night Before Christmas, London: Hodder, 2013, ISBN-10: 1444902423, ISBN-13: 978-1444902426
Brallier, Christine, Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, St. Paul, MN: Brownian Bee Press, 2013, ISBN-10: 0978968824, ISBN-13: 978-0978968823
Ercolini, David, Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, New York: Scholastic, 2015, ISBN-10: 0545391121, ISBN-13: 978-0545391122
Hobbie, Holly, Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, New York: Little Brown, 2013, ISBN-10: 0316070181, ISBN-13: 978-0316070188
Ingpen, Robert, Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, New York: Sterling, 2010, ISBN-10: 1402781822, ISBN-13: 978-1-4027-8182-7
Isadora, Rachel, Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, New York: Penguin, 2009, ASIN: B00EB0HX8C
Long, Loren, Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, Harper, 2020
Puttapipat, Niroot, Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas: A Magical Cut-Paper Edition, Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2007, ISBN-10: 0763634697, ISBN-13: 978-0763634698
Puybaret, Eric, Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge, 2010, ISBN-10: 1936140063, ISBN-13: 978-1936140060
Sabuda, Robert, Illustrator and paper engineer. The Night Before Christmas Pop-up, New York: Little Simon, 2002, ISBN-10: 0689838999, ISBN-13: 978-1403715821
Santore, Charles, Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas or, A Visit from St. Nicholas Coloring Book, Kennebunkport, ME, Cider Mill Press, 2017, ISBN-10: 1604336838, ISBN-13: 978-1604336832
Spirin, Gennady, Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish, 2006, ASIN: B00ERNS05I
Tavares, Matt, Illustrator. 'Twas the Night Before Christmas: Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas, Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press,2002, ISBN-10: 0763631183, ISBN-13: 978-0763631185
Watson, Richard Jesse, Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, New York: HarperCollins, 2006, ISBN-10: 0060757426, ISBN-13: 978-0060757427
Whatley, Bruce, Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas. New York: HarperCollins, 1999, ISBN-10: 0060266082, ISBN-13: 978-0060266080
Zwerger, Lisbeth, Illustrator. The Night Before Christmas, New York: Penguin, 2005, ISBN-10: 9888240889, ISBN-13: 978-9888240883