THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

A traditionally depicted Santa and his reindeer arrive at a spooky, underground home to deliver presents on Christmas Eve. Though the text is familiar, this family is quite different: green goblins with buggy eyes, pointed ears, and three toes on each foot. The father goblin narrates the poem as in most versions, but the ten goblin children stop dreaming of sugarplums (bugs and worms) to join in the action. They pounce on Santa, grab the toys, and chase the terrified elves, until Santa fills all the stockings—with the little goblins. He escapes to his sleigh, hog-tying the goblins that still cling to his legs, with one goblin peeking out from the pack of toys on the final, wordless page. The juxtaposition of the familiar poem with the hilarious goblins makes a funny parody, and the naughty (but cute) goblin children add a new note of Christmas cheer to the old words. (Picture book. 4-8)