A version of The Night Before Christmas that I especially enjoy is a version illustrated by Christian Birmingham(1995, Running Press). It has warm, inviting pictures and large print, which is great for helping your child focus on the words. Run your hands under the print sometimes as you read, especially after your child is very familiar with the story.
It is important to follow the lead of your child when reading aloud. For instance, today we talked about what Santa does the night before Christmas. We talked about what Santa does and also why (he is honoring Jesus' birth.) Megan then wanted to talk about what Santa might bring. She wanted a candy cane. Then, a couple of pages into the story she saw a cat in the illustration. Megan is fascinated with cats lately. So, that began a whole discussion of the Christmas gift SHE wants to give our cat for Christmas. On the page that showed the reindeer, Megan wanted to count how many there were, so we stopped and counted them. Then, I pointed out their names. I told her the names began with capital, or big letters, because names are important and should begin with capital letters. On the page that reads, "His eyes how they twinkled! His dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!", I could tell Megan was bored. She laid on my shoulder and was looking away. So, I asked her if we should finish the book later, and she said yes. It will be much more fun for both of us to finish when she is interested again.
