'Twas the Night B'Fore Christmas: An African-American Version [Hardcover]

Melodye Benson Rosales (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1996 | Age Level: 4 and up

An African-American retelling of Clement Moore's classic holiday poem is complemented by lavish illustrations of an African-American family at the turn of the century.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rosales's (On the Day I Was Born) rendition of the well-loved Clement C. Moore poem casts a "Santy Claus... with skin like molasses" who directs his reindeer with "Giddy-up y'all!" and lands on the roof of an African American family. Her tweaking of the verses, adding dialect and atmospheric description ("Like tobacco leaves whipped by a hurricane") joins with the art in creating a new setting, a small North Carolina farm at the turn of the century. Despite the frequently exaggerated expressions of human and reindeer figures, the tender oil paintings radiate warmth. Ages 3-8.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover
• Publisher: Scholastic (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590739441
• ISBN-13: 978-0590739443
• Product Dimensions: 12.5 x 9.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #622,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This is not an African-American version this is slang., December 21, 2007

By 

Mini Mouse (Orlando, Fla USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 'Twas the Night B'Fore Christmas: An African-American Version (Hardcover)

I looked at the excerpt for this book. This is by far the worst version of this great classic story I have ever seen. I use the word seen because "I can't read it!", looks like someone threw some letters together and called them words. I am African-American, I read "English". I remember reading a version of this story with the orginal words to my son and I wanted him to be able to do the same with his son, only with illustrations that look like us African-Americans.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY a book I like reading over and over too!!, November 20, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 'Twas the Night B'Fore Christmas: An African-American Version (Hardcover)

I just loved it. My daughter, a kindergardener brought it home from the library today, and here I am purchasing it already it was so enjoyable. I am a white woman (if it matters). I dislike what feels to me like no diversity in children's books, or rather the kinds of stories I was raised on 40 years ago. Likewise I don't like the lack of diversity in toys, movies...neither of my children fit the 'retail' norm. To me, this was not so much "An African American Version" as a just a book I loved to read and they loved to hear. There was a different word here or there than the version I seem to have memorized accidentally (no matter, I never could figure out what a sugar plum was anyway). I love it that the book is so big, makes the already wonderful illustrations more enjoyable and easier for my kids to see as they lay on either side of me when I read. The book focuses on The Night Before Christmas, not the night before Christmas in a black household, so I liked that too. And I was especially happy my daughter selected this book since she is biracial (again, if that matters), my son is also biracial and disabled, and I feel it is so easy to find non-minority books and toys and movies I love everyday finds like this book. Now if Walt Disney would be so kind as to give us an African American princess (for starters), I'd be much obliged.

I hope everything I said would compel anyone of any nationality to get this book.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, April 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: 'Twas the Night B'Fore Christmas: An African-American Version (Hardcover)

Finally! Too good to miss! I am a grade school librarian and I am always searching for books that speak to our children. I have ordered other titles by this author/illustrator and will be looking forward to more from Ms. Rosales.