The Night Before Christmas

September 14, 2015
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.

September 1, 2015
The familiar Christmas poem is creatively illustrated with photographs of scenes composed almost entirely of Lego building bricks. The first pages show the main room of the house with a decorated Christmas tree and a fireplace hung with red stockings. (The tiny Christmas stockings are made from felt rather than building bricks.) The family members are the familiar, yellow-skinned Lego construction-set characters. A snowy scene of Santa's arrival works well enough, with white bricks serving as snow and little houses with red roofs standing out against the white expanse. Santa and his sleigh float through the sky realistically, but the reindeer don't really seem to take flight as their legs are stationary. The reindeer antlers are made of white building bricks that look nothing like antlers. Some of the scenes are successful constructions, as when the father looks out the open window or Santa places toys under the tree. The more complicated scenes, however, become a dizzying mass of Legos that lacks focus and dimension due to the lack of depth inherent in the medium. Children who love their Legos may find this interpretation of the holiday story interesting, and some may use this as a guideline to construct similar holiday scenes. Most children will be better served by one of the more traditional versions of the holiday poem, as there are many superbly illustrated editions and amusing parodies to suit any taste. (Picture book. 4-8)

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