The Night Before Christmas

“The main thing I wanted to do was to bring as much storytelling as I could into the poem, which is quite lyrical. It tells the story of Santa visiting the family from the perspective of the father. I thought about the children who would be reading the book and it felt right to bring the whole family into the story. As soon as I did that, the whole book came to life! I liked that although Santa doesn’t interact with the family (he doesn’t know they have seen him) he does interact with the family’s pets — a cat and a dog. That felt like it brought a bit of life and connection into the story. I also really enjoyed adding little details, like the food wrapped in foil in the kitchen, ready for the big day. It was intimidating at first, to illustrate such an iconic poem, but as soon as I drew everyone, including Santa, they all became a little bit like family, and I found I lost myself in the work I created.” Read more...

The Most Beautifully Illustrated Children’s Books

Ella Beech, Artists & Art Critic

“In Washington Irving’s writings, he is a Dutchman who rides a wagon pulled through the air by horses on St Nicholas’s day. Then later on, with the famous poem ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas’, he moves to Christmas day and gets reindeer” Read more...

The best books on Christmas

Bruce Forbes, Theologians & Historians of Religion