'Twas the Night Before Christmas: Or Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas

"Lushly textured pencil drawings capture the mystery surprise and anticipation of . . . the most magical night of the year." Publishers Weekly Once upon a time children imagined St. Nicholas as a stern skinny bishop who was as likely to dole out discipline as Christmas presents. But thanks to the anonymous publication of the poem "Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas" in the Troy Sentinal in 1823 a plumper merrier St. Nick was born transformed into the sleigh-riding chimney-diving jolly old elf we now call Santa Claus. Complemented by gorgeous monochrome illustrations that are meticulously true to pre-Victorian times this definitive volume of Twas the Night Before Christmas honoring the poems original language is available in a compact gift edition.