Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
'Twas the Night Before Christmas
Illustrator: Kay Whelan
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 9
Tiger Tales, 2010 ISBN: 978-1589258587
For many people, the lines “’Twas the night before Christmas, / when all through the house / Not a creature was stirring, / not even a mouse” are very familiar. As we listen to the opening lines of Clement C. Moore’s poem, in our minds eye we see a family lying in their beds fast asleep on a cold winter’s night. In this version of the poem, artist Kay Whelan has chosen to do something just a little different; the main characters are not people at all, they are mice!
As the story unfolds, we see a father mouse getting up out of bed to “see what was the matter” while his wife sleeps on. We see a little Santa mouse flying over the rooftops sitting in a sleigh that is being pulled by “eight tiny reindeer.” We see Santa, with large mouse ears and a curling tail, come down the chimney, just like his much larger human counterpart.
With wonderful double page illustrations that are touched with sparkly glitter, this picture book is sure to delight little readers who have a fondness for mouse book characters.
