The Christmas Classic in it's Original Text with Cute Illustrations "Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse." Clement C. Moore's original poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas," has been brought to lovable life by the talented Jessie Willcox Smith. In this edition, the beloved poem is joined with delightful illustrations. Children will be delighted to snuggle in for story time on Christmas Eve and wait for their own visit from Santa Claus after reading this book. Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house... So begins the immortal lines that begin one of America's most famous poems adding magic to one of America's most favorite holidays. Written in the 1820s, Clement C. Moore did not openly acknowledge that he was the author until almost 1840. That makes this edition, with original woodcut illustrations by T. C. Boyd, one of the earliest published editions of this timeless classic. Imagine sitting at the foot of the bed of your child reading from an edition that is nearly identical to what children were familiar with for more than 100 years! And it gets better than that. The real Saint Nicholas was a real person who lived in the 4th century, famed for his generosity. What better way to celebrate Christmas than paying homage to one who knew the real 'reason for the season'?