For as long as I can remember, every Christmas my family has attended a neighborhood Christmas party. “Santa Clause” comes bearing gifts and all the kids sit around in patience waiting for him to, of course, hand out presents, but to also read a story. Every year he reads the same book, The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore. You would think the same story every year would become boring and less enjoyable, but I loved hearing this short story every year and letting it take my imagination somewhere else. This short story is also considered a poem do to its rhyme and rhythm.
The story begins with the author painting a picture of the setting in your head. It is a quiet Christmas Eve, and “not a creature was stirring not even a mouse.” Stockings were hung and everyone was in bed innocently waiting for St. Nicholas to arrive. Suddenly, the narrator hears a noise outside on the lawn. He springs out of bed and opens the shutters to see what the noise is, and of course trying to see if he can witness St. Nicholas arrive, and to his surprise he does. He sees “a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer” as well as St. Nick! St. Nick addresses the reindeer to fly by calling them each by name. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen! The sleigh is filled to the top with children’s toys and the narrator hears the sounds of each hoof of the reindeer on the roof.
The narrator then witnesses St. Nick come down the chimney dressed in all fur and covered in soot from the chimney. He describes his twinkling eyes, merry cheeks, snow white beard and jolly round belly. He watches St. Nick go to work, delivering his toys, without a word, and then quickly he arose back up the chimney. The end of the story wraps up with St. Nick leaving the house with his reindeer effortlessly with a whistle, and wishing “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
This is by far one of my favorite stories for many reasons. First, it was something I always looked forward to every year as a child to hear “Santa Clause” read this story at the Christmas party and allow myself to get lost in the story and paint the picture in my head. To this day I still enjoy listening to this story at the Christmas party. It has become an annual tradition that has been passed down, and I will introduce this story to my children.
That being said, the reason I truly love this story is the immense amount of detail the author puts in and makes you feel like you are the narrator. You can picture every moment of the story. For example, when Moore is describing how the reindeer fly, he describes it as how leaves during a hurricane fly, and mount in the sky. I enjoy the way Moore writes and focuses on the descriptive words to make the reader feel very involved in the story. Another reason I love this story, which is also considered a poem, is the rhyme. Every line rhymes creating a gentle, musical effect and it makes the story all the more fun and pleasing to read.
This story is also very relatable when you are a child. Children of course believe in Santa Clause and are always trying to sneak into the living room on Christmas Eve and catch him delivering presents. This story shows how the narrator did catch Santa, so it makes the reader use their imagination as to what it would really be like if you were to catch Santa Clause on Christmas Eve. The element of wonder in this story makes the reader get lost in the magic of Christmas and the true meaning of what it stands for.
Overall, this is one of my favorite short stories due to the tradition and memory I have experienced with it as well as the description and the way the author wrote the story. Every time I hear this story I get lost in the magic of Christmas and feel as though I was the one who caught Santa Clause delivering presents to me. Every year I look forward to hearing this story around Christmas and I fall in love with it again every time I hear it.
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