A coastal Christmas tale for young readers, sure to delight fans of Clement C. Moore's classic Christmas poem
Creatures of the ocean celebrate Christmas Eve in this illustrated undersea retelling of "A Visit by St. Nicholas" by Rev. Clement C. Moore. Under the waves and surrounded by swaying ocean eel grass, Sea Santa makes his yearly Christmas journey. Pulled in his clamshell sleigh by his eight faithful minnows, beautiful watercolor paintings illustrate his visit to a family of lobsters.
Told in sweet and clever rhyme, The Lobsters' Night Before Christmas combines a holiday classic with delightful newness. After the poem, children can learn fun facts about lobsters, such as what they look like, what they eat, and how they molt. See if you can find the lobster hiding in the eelgrass throughout the book!
Praise for The Lobsters' Night Before Christmas...
"Here, our beloved Christmas story is creatively translated into a tale from lobster-land. We follow Santa Claws into the depths of the sea, distributing his precious gifts and meeting its denizens, all illustrated in poetical watercolors by Elizabeth Moisan." —Jelle Atema, Ph.D. Proffesor Emeritus of Biology, Boston University Marine Program
"What a fun and fascinating experience to have a lobster arriving instead of Santa Claus and minnows replacing the tired old reindeer. The illustrations are full of action and give the viewer much room for added imagination. A must share with the children, grandchildren, and parents." —Suzanne M. Packer, nationally exhibiting artist, first director of the Cape Cod Museum of Art
The Lobsters' Night Before Christmas is a sweetly illustrated homage/retelling of Rev. Clement Clark Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas". Released 28th Oct 2019 by Schiffer, it's 32 pages and available in hardcover format.
The story and poem will be familiar to virtually all readers. This retelling has the undersea Sea Claws driving a sleigh pulled by 8 little minnows. Elizabeth Moisan's beautiful watercolor illustrations invite readers to pause on each page to take a closer look and find more details. The text by poet Christina Laurie follows the same scansion (more or less) as the original poem (anapestic tetrameter in case my 10th grade English teacher is reading) and really is quite charming and humorous.
There is a neat glossary and informational page at the end of the book with biological info about lobsters and some ecological facts for further reading and discussion.
This would be a superlative choice for a read-along or library circle/activity read (maybe with more info available on climate and conservation issues). It would also be a great choice for a read-to-me adult/child bedtime story. There is also wide scope for some silly voices and sound effects.
Five stars. Charming, original, well written and beautifully illustrated.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
