Holly Hobbie's The Night Before Christmas

Anyone who has been to my house knows that I don't do "sparse".  And because our house was built in 1950 (and our kitchen is still entirely original) I'm also drawn to 40's/50's brightly colored kitsch.

But there's a part of me that would love to have my house so simply decorated for Christmas just like Holly Hobbie's illustrations.  This poem has been illustrated a thousand times and each of our copies vary greatly in style.  But I love every one of them!

 The Night Before Christmas

Clement C. Moore

illustrated by Holly Hobbie 2013

 Other Holly Hobbie:

 Holly Hobbie's Christmas Book

Gem

Other "The Night Before Christmas":

Twas the Night Before Christmas- Jesse Wilcox Smith

The Night Before Christmas illustrated by Rene Cloke

The Night Before Christmas- Gyo Fujikawa

The Night Before Christmas

This poem never gets old- there are just so many different ways to illustrate it.  Here Rene Cloke fills the pages with little elves and fairies and detailed drawings.  In a way it reminds me of the Johnstones' work.

The Night Before Christmas

illustrated by Rene Cloke 1994

Other versions of The Night Before Christmas:

Twas the Night Before Christmas- Jessie Wilcox Smith

The Night Before Christmas- Gyo Fujikawa

Christmas Nutshell Library

Christmas Nutshell Library

Hilary Knight 1963

This adorable set has three miniature books by Hilary Knight.  We use it to decorate and pack it away with our Christmas things.  That way it's a nice treat to pull out every year.  Charlotte likes to "read" the books and they are the perfect size for little hands.

A Visit from Saint Nickolas

The classic poem by Clement C. Moore is illustrated in wonderful vintage style by Berta and Elmer Hader.

 

A Visit From Saint Nicholas

illustrated by Berta and Elmer Hader 1990

 

Twas the Night Before Christmas- Jessie Willcox Smith

Here is another reproduction of the poem with Jessie Willcox Smith's beautiful pictures.  Our copy is a rather small paperback.  I would love to have this with much larger pages to enjoy.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Clement Moore

illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith 1912

The Night Before Christmas- Gyo Fujikawa

The Night Before Christmas

Clement C. Moore

illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa 2004

I absolutely love Gyo Fujikawa's illustrations.  We started a steady collection of her books a few years ago.  We have several versions of this poem by Clement C. Moore and each one is fantastic.  (I'll try to list them all).