"_Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, Not a creature was stirring_not even a mouse."
This timeless poem is so well known to children and so often recited by adults, it is virtually a part of our common heritage. Written on Christmas Eve in 1822_in a horse-drawn sleigh with jingling bells -according to legend_it evokes the excitement and good cheer of Christmas Eve like no other work of American literature. Paired with Thomas Nast_s drawings of St. Nicholas, from which we derive the classic image of Santa Claus, this lovely edition may well become the quintessential American Christmas book for children of all ages.
