What can one say about The Night Before Christmas? We all (or most of us), know the story about Saint Nick’s visit to a house on Christmas Eve, and the narrator’s observations of the visit. The Muppets even did a rendition of it (the fact that A Muppet Family Christmas is pretty much only available on Youtube is still a largest travesty standing in the way of my Holiday Movie enjoyment). This one stands out though because of the art.
This was one of my mother’s favorite books growing up, so of course she made sure that it was on one of the bookshelves in my room growing up. Actually, my mother collects any book Gyo Fujikawa has illustrated, but this will always hold a special place in her heart. The children and Saint Nick are drawn in a very simplistically vintage style (I don’t know how else to describe it).
Is he not the one of the cutest Saint Nicks/Santa Clauses you’ve seen?
The house though, in some ways, is the star of the show; I used to lie in bed looking at the pictures of the house, hoping one day I’d live in one just like it (not yet, but fingers are always crossed). My mother always said when she was a child she’d do the same thing; there’s just something about how Fujikawa drew it that makes you want to crawl into the book and live there.
The colors are soft and inviting and the linework is incredibly detailed, while not being so heavy that it looks like anything other than what it is; a story to read to children, possibly as a holiday tradition. If you wanted to make your own holiday decorations/cards, I could see you using pages from this book.
It’s just one of those books that when I’m feeling down, looking at the pictures always brings a smile to my face and makes me happy.