A Pirate's Night Before Christmas »

Young mateys will find plenty of holiday joy in this humorous, colorful, and thoroughly piratical version of the beloved Clement C. Moore classic. On this ship of mischievous brigands—who have visions of treasure chests, not sugarplums, dancing in their heads—you wouldn’t expect a visit from nice St. Nick. Instead, here comes Sir Peggedy, with his peg leg and hook arm, cracking his whip and driving eight giant seahorses: Salty, Scurvy, Sinbad, Mollie, Cutthroat, Cross-Eyes, Roger, and Jolly.
Philip Yates’ rollicking rhymes and Sebastià Serra’s sprightly, fun-filled pictures—featuring whimsically multicolored seahorses, stockings hung on the ship’s bowsprit with tar, child-friendly pirates, and a complete treasure map—turn this Christmas perennial into a jubilant celebration!

Children's Literature

Avast any landlubber who's tard of smilin' until yer cheeks hurt. An antidote is out there and it is this here book! If you are sick of reindeer and tinsel, grinches and gingerbread, this book will totally restore your love of Christmas celebrations. You will find yourself decorating with starfish, sharks, parrots, and seagulls. Instead of waiting for St. Nick, you will be dropping anchor waiting for Old Peg(leg) and his lazy seahorses. This spoof of The Night Before Christmas not only has perfectly, exactly, precise rhyme and meter, it has goofy, funny pictures and a sentiment that will have you hoisting the jolly roger over your chimney. Not the least of the fun is the incredibly phonetic pirate jargon throughout, as in " Away to the poop deck I ran very fast, I threw off the anchor and shouted AVAST" and the repeated use of "thar." It is as good as having one eye, a peg leg, or a permanently planted parrot perched on your shoulder to cure a serious case of the humbugs. The narrator is the only one who does not get a gift, but at the end, a treasure map with "X-mas marks the spot" wafts down from the departing Sir Peg whose wishes for everyone include the orders to have a "Merry Christmas, me buckos, an' a Happy New Yaargghhhhhhh!" I am putting this one under my grownup kids' Christmas trees to restore their love of the holiday. And I am decorating my tree pirate style. Perfect fun, a treasure in every way. This one you will never regret buying. I bet even Johnny Depp has a copy. Reviewer: Gwynne Spencer