Texas Night Before Christmas Coloring Bo

by James Rice

"'Twas the night before Christmas . . ." and Texas
is ready and waiting for old Santy to appear. You may know the story, but
you've never heard it like this before. Based on Clement C. Moore's poem,
Texas Night Before Christmas is filled with images of the Lone
Star State.
It is an icy Christmas Eve as this Texas family prepares for Santy's visit.
A great ruckus arouses Pa, and he spies Santy himself in full Western
rawhide suit, Stetson, and cowboy boots. He fills the young'uns' waiting boots,
then warms himself a while before leaving for his next stop. As Ma and Pa lose
sight of him in the fog, Santy calls out, "Merry Christmas, y'heah? And
y'all have a good night!"
James Rice is one of the nation's leading creators of children's books with
more than one million books in print. Other titles in Pelican's famous Night
Before Christmas series include An Irish Night Before Christmas , Redneck Night Before Christmas and
Gullah Night Before Christmas . The classic Cajun
Night Before Christmas , which Rice illustrated in 1973, has more than
389,000 copies in print. Also Available TEXAS NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Childrens, Holiday, Storytime, Poetry

32 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 1981

Reviews

[Samantha]

I was expecting a lot more from this book. Sadly, it didn't reach my expectations. When I was reading it, I felt like I was given a glimpse into a true redneck Christmas [this one's for you Cletus!], considering the house came complete with gun over the fireplace. I get that everyone who lives in Texas has a gun, but its never propped up so nonchalantly. I love Texas, but this book did not give me Texas. It gave me a creepy Santa Claus with rather oddly named longhorns...except for Sam, I rather liked Sam. The rhyme was ok, but it didn't sound proper when read with a Texas drawl...even though since it takes place in Texas I believe it should. Not a hit for me. Texas deserves better than this. I would very much like to toss this book and every copy of it out of the Lonestar state. =(

[Judah Copeland]

Texas night before christmas By: James Rice. This book is about a family In texas who is trapped their house with a blizzard going on outside. The family eats dinner and goes to bed but that's when santa clause comes instead. He fills the boots us left for him to fill. After filling the boots for the family santa says goodnight and that's when he takes off with his longhorns on that cold winter night.

[Cynthia Gutzwiller]

I received a signed hard backed signed copy of this marvelous book as a gift. I shared it with a friend and we laughed all the way through. In this version, which is the same as the classic, has Texas sized everything. Santa is sporting a ten gallon hat and cowboy boots. The reindeer are long horn steers. I will share just one of the reindeer names, Leadfoot.
I highly recommend this book for all.

[Adam Walker]

There are several typos, and one stanza that just does not scan. But the artwork is delightful and the story is fun. Maybe not quite as much fun as the Cajun Night Before Christmas, but how could it be without Mama to "make bake de yam"?

[Kimball]

Ashley has a tradition of reading select books for Christmas Eve to her sisters. This year I listened to her read them aloud. I liked the illustrations in this one.

[Marilyn]

Take-off on 'Twas the Night Before Christmas"

[Shaye Miller]

Hilarious rendition of The Night Before Christmas complete with Texas vocabulary and hick pronunciations. This simply must be read aloud!

[JaelynAlonzo]

Loved it! Night Before Christmas with a Texas Twang!

[Katherine Cobb]

A fun take on The Night Before Christmas for Texans and Tex-fans. Love this illustrator.

[Tonya Pember]

This has been a staple of my Christmas reading in my classroom for years. A delightful retake on Clement Moore's classic!

[Cassidy]

I’m from Texas, and while we do not have Prairie Dogs, this is still my preferred version of Twas the night before Christmas. Plus, the illustrations crack me up.

[Kim Hampton]

A cute version of The Night Before Christmas for cowpoke kids.

[Teresa]

Heard this read at Church.

Funny read!

[Jessica Sanders]

Classic Christmas Eve reading at our house

[Patricia]

This is a Texas version of Twas the Night Before Christmas, complete with a cowboy Santa and Longhorn "deer." Over all, the poem is good, though it feels a little awkward at times. The illustrations are terrific with alternating black and white and then full color pages. I really liked the cowboy boot stockings.

[Megababy]

A funny rendition of the Night Before Christmas, complete with phonetic spelling of bad Texas accent (winderpane, farplace, bellering). Cute pictures, some in color others black and white that held our baby's attention as I read while my husband mocked my "accent".

"Merry Christmas, y'heah? and y'all have a good night!"

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance]

Cowboy Santa arrives on the ranch. Cowboy boots. Longhorn cattle. Ranch. Texas. Ages 6-10.

[Keri Fletcher]

So much fun to read aloud with a terribly affected accent! :)

[Alexandria K]

This story takes place in Texas. The pictures are nice, too. The story is also cute except bulls do not pull Santa's sleigh, and Santa Claus does not wear cowboy clothes.

[Shirley]

It was a hit with the little ones at the Christmas party. You could have heard a pin drop. The illustrations are very good. A couple of times I heard a small voice say, "I want to see."

[William Agnew]

adadada

[Loraine]

If you're from Texas or just want a good laugh, this is an adorable Christmas read. I was lucky to hear the author read it aloud at my elementary school and buy an autographed copy.

[Erin]

I felt this was ok. I was born & raised in Texas, even have it tattooed to my body, so anything Texas has a special place to me. I was especially excited to combine Texas & Christmas, but I was a bit let down. Some of the graphics are almost scary & it just didn't live up to my expectations. Cute, but just ok to me.

[Jacey Romero]

This book was a fun spin on the classic night before Christmas story. It is the same plot but is written in a Texas accent with Texan features. They set out their boots instead of stockings. Santa is referred to as Sannty Claus and he has long horns instead of reindeer.
Being from Texas, I thought that this was very cute. It was funny to see how they turned traditional Christmas things into Texas themed. I loved the writing in the Texas accent and how he said "y'all" at the very end. The boots and longhorns were very cute. The illustrations were also very good.
I would use this around Christmas time because it is not the traditional Christmas story so everyone can get on board with it. It would be funny to have a cowboy come in and read in to them in a funny accent.