Twas the Night Before Christmas: Edited by Santa Claus for the Benefit of Children of the 21st Century

Clement C. Moore wrote this classic Christmas poem almost two hundred years ago, long before the age of political correctness. In his time people celebrated Christmas without worrying about the word "Christmas" or the fact that it is supposed to be a Christ-centered holiday. Today things have changed--and not for the better, I might add.Today, in the twenty-first century we have whiners, and worriers and people who appoint themselves as our collective conscience. Of course that self-appointment usually only covers a single aspect of something they disapprove of, which is, in this case...smoking.It is extremely fortunate that, as of yet, this poem has not been set upon by the hoards of other whiners and the self-righteous among us. I find it strange that with its "new" anti-smoking theme, this version has now been labeled as a "Christian" children's book.If we take a look at the logical progression of this type of censorship (and yes, it absolutely IS a censored version of the poem in every sense of the definition...what it isn't, is book banning), you will see that this poem has almost no redeeming social value. Now HOLD ON TO YOUR HORSES and see where I'm going with this. I think a list of "problems", and necessary changes, is in order:1- All references to Christ, including the awful word Christmas, should immediately be removed to appease those people who find that reference offensive. Take a look around you...it's already being done to this holiday. Of course you can't call it Xmas because that offends people on the other end of the spectrum. So, we either have no title at all or, perhaps, we go with a title such as: Twas the night before you-know-who's birthday.2- This version already has addressed the evils of smoking so we can all sleep a little more soundly knowing that our children have been spared the horrors of a pipe-smoking Santa. (Not that they would actually ever notice that aspect without the shameful act being pointed out to them.)3- Next let's address Santa, shall we? He is portrayed as fat and happy but wait...how jolly can he really be knowing that he is projecting an image which is utterly harmful to our tiny tykes. The 21st century Santa should be slimmed down considerably to appease those folks who feel that "big is bad". Also, let's look at Santa's diet on his big night...candy, milk and cookies. Now that's just gotta tick off the vegans and those with lactose intolerance out there as well as the anti-junk-food and anti-sugar crowd, so any depictions or references to said food items must go.4- Santa both flies and drives his sleigh around at night, yet I see no landing lights, driving lights or strobes of any type. Oh sure, there are two totally outdated carriage lamps hanging precariously off the sides, but I doubt the 747 pilot will see those in time to avoid a nasty mid-air collision. Perhaps that rattletrap sleigh should be done away with entirely. It just doesn't meet today's standards. For example; it has no mirrors, no backup camera, no horn, no emergency flashers, no antilock brakes, no airbags, no windshield, no safety inspection sticker and no "emissions" control (i.e.; diapers) for any of the reindeer for God's sake. Oops, strike the reference to G-- I mean, the big guy! Oh yeah, the sleigh is also a convertible, a death trap, yet I see no evidence of a roll bar or seatbelts of any kind. It's outta here, don't you think?5- Santa wearing fur??? Gosh forbid, (doesn't quite have the same ring but it'll keep people happy). Oh yeah, the fur issue has been addressed as an afterthought by our new collective consciousness.6- The tree...what about the tree? It looks like it was MURDERED by some axe-wielding-nature-hater at about four years of age. Poor thing! Why isn't it a sustainable, living tree, huh? That certainly has got to go! In addition, you'd best hide anything that even resembles candles 'cause this poem, obviously written by the devil himself, will have your little ones torching the house in no time as they try to emulate the illustrations in the book. Just settling down for a long winter's nap? Whaaa? With lit candles on the tree and everywhere else throughout the house? That's a massive safety issue which has gotta go. And is that WOOD I see burning in the fireplace? Doesn't that increase your carbon footprint??? What about global warming? Sheesh, doesn't anybody give a damn about the overall big picture here? I mean, you have these revisionist censors shouting about how they just saved GENERATIONS of kids from the evils of tobacco but that's just something they disagreed with, their hot button issue if you will. What about all these other evils??? I have an idea: Why don't we all petition the government to appoint a committee to look into this matter...that ought to get things cleared up...sometime, or maybe not.All told, and after all censoring is complete, the "new and improved" published version will have no illustrations and only a smattering of words like "to", "for" and "a" sandwiched between two slices of white bread which make up the biodegradeable cover. That should make everybody happy...except for those of us who loved the original version...or people with gluten allergies. Oh well, guess it's back to the drawing board for this problem poem.Two stars for this censored version but the original has and always will rate five stars with me. Merry uh, this-time-of-year to all and to all a good night!

I found this book for free at time of purchase which I appreciate. I'm already familar with the story, so I was very pleased on opening the book to see the high quality of illustrations (only problem being the entire page doesn't fit on my kindle screen so it is stretched over multiple screens). I note it had been edited but the only thing I thought might have been different was it ending "Happy Christmas" instead of "Merry Christmas" the first go around, then I checked customer reviews before formulating my own and was surprised at the large number of 1-star reviews and proceeded to leaf thru them. It appears many are upset with regard to Santa's pipe being edited out which never even occurred to me. Passed the book to my wife whom also failed to catch it as well. I'd have a hard time believing any child reading this book for the first time would notice the missing pipe either unless it were mentioned forthright (but I'd also wonder why one would want to emphasize this point anyway?). But if you were to leave anything out, I think I'd much prefer the heading be modified to "Revised or Adapted by the appropriate individual" rather than "Edited By Santa Claus for the Benefit of Children of the 21st Century" since it sort of leaves me cold. The bottom line - It should all be about Christmastime (for heaven's sake!) and were I not to have been aware of all the bickering I would have just read this book and enjoyed it for the wonderful art and story (less the fact that it might have been formatted better for my kindle). "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!"

I liked the book. KIt was for my grandson’s first Christmad.

This classic story is always a favorite with my children. They love the art work and how colorful each page is.

Perfect for Christmas time

I enjoyed this book and so did my niece. I am not even going to worry about the whole controversy thing. Basically they took out the part about Santa's pipe. They are trying to get Santa to stop smoking. OK I get it. If you read this with young kids they wont even know the difference. Unless they read the original story and can pick out the differences. The only part my niece asked me about was at the end. It says Happy Christmas instead of Merry Christmas. She is used to saying Merry Christmas. Again no big deal for me really.The bright colorful pictures are very nicely done. They have a lot of details and plenty going on to entertain young kids. The story is a great classic for the Holidays. My niece is bothered by cigarette smoke. It makes her cough and she hates the smell. I don't even know if she has ever seen someone actually smoking a pipe. She would probably just say... yucky.. Santa is smoking. If you want your kids to experience the original then just find the original. We enjoyed this one so I am happy with it.

Okay so I admit I read the other reviews before I decided to leave one of my own. I still like it. There are people complaining about the censorship and this and that and another thing. Here is my take. It meets the criteria for a great way to entertain your child at Christmas. I for one thought it met all my standards. It was colorful, cute and free of bad language and other negative influences. The pictures were a little small on my kindle fire, but they still looked vibrant and I thought the illustrator did an excellent job. My children smiled when I read it to them and enjoyed the book enough they asked me to read it a second time. Any book that can hold their attention more than once deserves some credit in my opinion. I really don't care if it is an edited version of the classic or not. It was adorable and free...you can't beat the price for some fun entertainment for the whole family. I would download it again!

Book was fine it was the delivery that was a mess

The only place I could find this book for my nan. She reads it to us every year.

読まなくてもわかるけど、クリスマスの夜にサンタさんがやって来たというストーリー。紙の本では飛び出す絵本のようです。私はKindle版を読んだので当然飛び出しません。KindleでもアニメGIF表示とか出来ればいいのにな。

ok

My grandaughter loved me reading this book to her.

Wow, this is the value of reading on an iPad rather than my kindle - vibrant colours, gorgeous if corny illustrations. I downloaded it to share with my granddaughter nearer Christmas but, at eight, she may be a little old for it...whereas I'm not! And for free, it's astounding value. Absolutely love it and if, as another reviewer suggested, Santa looks a bit dodgy I think you have to put it down to drinking all that sherry (Santa, not the reviewer!,)