cover image The Night Before Christmas: A Brick Story

The Night Before Christmas: A Brick Story

Clement C. Moore, illus. by Amanda Brack. Skyhorse/Sky Pony, $12.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-63450-179-8

Brack (Brick Greek Myths) brings her Lego-construction talents to a playful restaging of Moore’s quintessential Christmas Eve poem. Scenes within a Lego home show two children dreaming of sugarplums while a man and wife settle their brains for their winter’s nap. St. Nick’s sleigh soars over a white Lego landscape against the backdrop of a pre-dawn sky, as the pajama-clad narrator rushes to the window. Santa’s reindeer are one of Brack’s cleverest elements, and they have an almost robotic appearance, especially compared to the prefab Lego horses and chickens that appear below. Digital and other embellishments accent the Lego images—the stockings “hung by the chimney with care” are made from felt, and as Saint Nick puffs on his pipe, a billow of smoke swirls around him. A fine choice for Lego diehards. Ages 3–up. (Oct.)