Twas the Night Before Christmas

Cover courtesy of "Twas"

Title: Twas the Night Before Christmas
Author: Clement C. Moore, edited by Santa Claus for the benefit of children of the 21st Century
Genre: Children's Holiday Picture Books
Publisher: Grafton and Scratch Publishers
Publication Date: 2012
eBook: Available in Kindle format
Hardcover: $16.95
Pages: 32

Synopsis 

The ebook version of the famous poem by Clement C.Moore is a new "smoke-free" retelling. In this lovely version, references to Santa smoking have been removed and some famous lines, including "references to Santa’s pipe and the smoke that 'encircled his head like a wreath'  have been edited out." [TWAS]

These edits bring the famous tale into line with other revisions of classics to reflect a new "smoke-free" way of thinking.

Twas the Night Before Christmas was nominated for a Dan Poynter eBook Award in the Best eBook Cover, Best Children's Picture Books - Fiction, Best Christian Children's eBook, and Best Christian Children’s Picture Book categories in June, 2012. After review by a variety of judges, it was chosen as a winner in the Best Christian Children’s Picture Book category.

What others are saying 

"This poem, which we have edited for the youngest of readers, was first written in 1822 by Clement C. Moore and since that time it has gone on to be widely regarded as the most famous poem in the English language. Most people who hear the first line are able to recite the next line or lines of the poem from memory. This poem spend 36 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List in the children’s category in 2011.

Now in 2012 it takes on a whole new generation with ebooks in English, Spanish and French and an interactive, enhanced, version for ibooks.

This particular edition was edited to quietly remove the reference to Santa smoking a pipe and having a wreath of smoke - the first time in the poem’s 189 year history that such a change has been made. Some people would say that a classic needs to remain intac but we ask the quesiton: “What is a classic if it does not stand the test of time?” To ensure this poem is retained as central holiday reading we felt it imperative to make this edit and we are finding parents, grandparents, teachers and many readers prefer to see the poem without the mention of a pipe.

In this century the World Health Organization predicts that 1 billion people will die a premature death due to tobacco use. The way to cut this number is to do whatever we can to see children not get started down this path with this drug.

The poet Clement C. Moore wrote this poem for his nine children on a sleigh ride home from Greenwich Village back to Chelsea New York on Christmas Eve 1822.

The Publisher
Grafton and Scratch"
Pamela McColl

Of course, the edits are not without controversy.  An op-ed piece in the Canada National Post, After 200 years, Santa kicks a bad habit, details some of the outcry, as does Should Santa give up smoking? in the CBC Community Blog.

Book source

Irene Taylor received her copy of  Twas the Night Before Christmas as a judge in the 2012 Dan Poynter eBook Awards program. She can be reached through this website or email her.

Copyright 2012 +Irene Taylor. The copyright of the review of Twas the Night Before Christmas in My Book Blog: eBook Reviews is owned by Irene Taylor. Permission to republish in print or online must be granted by the author of this blog in writing.