The Night Baafore Christmas

The Night Baafore Christmas Synopsis:

“It’s Christmas Eve and Bo can’t sleep, so he starts counting sheep. But when the sheep get bored, they scatter, wreaking holiday mayhem all over the house. “Sheep 4 gnaws the stockings–leaves holes in the toes; 5 swallows some garland, and tinsel, and bows!” Children can count along with Bo as he finds the 10 mischievous sheep misbehaving throughout the house. With a house full of sheep and a mess to clean, will Bo get to sleep before Santa comes? Find out in this hilarious story of a night before Christmas gone wrong. With exuberant verse and comical illustrations, this book will have children begging for repeat readings.”

Review:

Bo is anxiously awaiting Santa’s arrival and asks for a little help falling asleep from a few sheep. Soon, Bo has his hands full corraling the sheep back to his bedroom in time for him to fall asleep and clean up all the mess they’ve made! The rhymes work really well and the illustrations are just amazing. They definitely have a Dan Santat vibe to them with the way the pages are laid out. The sheep have a little halo effect to them as if they’re just added onto the page which is a cool idea. The sheep are part of Bo’s imagination, so they really aren’t part of the original scene anyway. Bo’s reactions and expressions will be recognizable to the parents reading this story as they fall exhausted into bed on Christmas Eve!

My Take:

With adorable rhymes, fun illustrations, and a silly situation all around, this is a must-read for the holidays! And one I expect will become part of your annual tradition!

Need to Know:

Title: The Night Baafore Christmas
Author: Dawn Young
Illustrator: Pablo Pino
Publisher: WorthyKids
Publication Date: October 1, 2019
Page Number: 32 pgs.