Sherlock's Night Before Christmas

by Julie Petersen, Sheryl Dickert (Illustrator)

In the rhyme and meter of Clark Clement Moore’s classic Christmas poem, Sherlock Holmes tracks clues through his familiar haunts to “eliminate the impossible.” When he discovers the jolly old gent with the white beard dipping his hand into a bag full of toys, Sherlock surmises that “whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” Or is it? This little holiday mystery will delight Sherlock fans of all ages.

Genres: Christmas, Poetry, Mystery

32 pages, Hardcover

Published September 11, 2018

Reviews

[aimee]

“Doctor Watson smiled; his forgiveness wasn’t needed. His affection for Sherlock remained unimpeded…” ❤️❤️

[Court · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is cute and the shape and size make it a unique little book. The rhythm and rhyme scheming is pretty bad and there are some typos, as well. The main thing that bothers me is that the entire book uses "Sherlock and Watson." Grates like nails on a chalkboard. Holmes even thinks of himself as "Sherlock" and calls Watson "John" once, too. I hate it. I also have no idea why a Victorian story that has otherwise fun and well-done period illustrations uses the very American, 20th century Coca-Cola Santa Claus instead of Father Christmas. I was going to give this to someone as a gift but I don't think they will enjoy it for these same reasons.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a campy little book inspired Clement C. Moore's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas replacing the family with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The book attracted to the book by the different shape of the book, it's tall and thin - very rectangular.

Read if you like Sherlock Holmes or Christmas. Skip if you are a "serious, Sherlock fan" not in to a lighthearted story or not fond of Christmas. Oh, and it's only 39 pages so you aren't out anything.

[Shelby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun mix-up of classics! And it's never too early to read about Christmas!

[Jamille Parks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading the classics with a Christmas twist. It's never to early for that.

[LudmilaM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure if it's hilarious or very cheesy, maybe bit of both :-) But endearing nevertheless.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cute, and the rhymes were fun, but part of me was hoping Moriarty would be disguised as Santa Claus.

[Pages & Cup · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4/5 stars. Really cute Holmesian take on the Clement C. Moore original.

[Ray Palen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An ingenious mash-up of a Sherlock Holmes mystery with the classic 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, complete with great illustrations by Sheryl Dickert.

[Marcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute!

[Staciel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice mash-up of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' and Sherlock Holmes.

Would have been 4-stars, except for the fact that some of the rhymings didn't quite work for me.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute little Christmas story with quite a few Sherlock references (shocking, I know).

[Denise Gossow · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little book. Lighthearted

[Jenny Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great gift book for any Sherlock Holmes fans you know! Happy Holidays 🎄

[Andréa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute idea, but several typos, a rhyme scheme that feels forced, and use of the word "posthaste" more than once in such a shirt work detract from the overall effect.

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw this in the new releases section of my library. It’s “The Night Before Christmas” with Sherlock and Watson. I wasn’t impressed. The rhymes and rhythm don’t always work. The search for Santa was uninteresting. It might be cute to read to little kids, but then why not just read the original? The best thing about it was that it’s a pretty hardcover book that’s distinctively narrow and tall.