Out of all the illustrations, though, the best were the alligators and trying to find out what they were doing on a particular page whether swimming, climbing, being carried or flying just to name a few. The pictures were a bit on the oddballish side as they tried to capture the Cajun look and so most of it was natural colors. The book still keeps the rhythm and the pattern of the original story but adding a whole new twist with muskrat clothing, liquor suggestions for comparing, eight alligators and one smart St Nicklus. Being not actually grammatically correct it isn't a book that can be easily read or sometimes even understood in your head so it is best to read it aloud. I am not quite sure if the language of the book is true to the form but it does have the flavor of the bayou-country. This is a very fun and intriguing take on 'The Night Before Christmas'. Maybe it's because I had heard it on the tape so many times, but I think it's more because the dialect isn't quite as thick, and it sticks closer to Clement C.

Oddly enough, though, I found this easier to read than Hillbilly Night Afore Christmas the first time I tackled it. Shit, I bet I could nip down to Louisiana right now and blend in like a crawfish in a gram of coke. And I used to imitate Leatherhead's accent from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles all the time as a kid. Plus, I make Zatarain's Jambalya all the time with beef sausage. And couple it with my knowledge of Bobby Bare's song 'Marie Laveau' and The Skeleton Key movie, and I'm practically an expert. Now I know as much about Cajun ways as if I had read a pamphlet on the subject. Plus I was in my early teens at the time, and not very worldly Virginia was all I knew, so not only was this book amusing, it was quite educational. Not being in any way Cajun, some of the terms were hard to follow the first time I read it, so I needed help following it. Eventually we found this story came in book form, and we snatched it up quick. I reckon that was in the very early '90s or maybe even the late '80s.

Uncle Porter who lived in Baton Rouge brought a video to the farm which had a reading of this on it, and we would watch it every holiday season when the extended family gathered for our annual yuletide shindig. I admit my five star rating is influenced by the power of nostalgia.

The night before christmas poem book