The Night Before Christmas (NR, 2008)

Another in the Scholastic series of Storybook Treasures, THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS follows the familiar approach of bringing well-known children's stories to life with music and animation. This collection focuses on the winter holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Clement Clarke Moore's famous poem about Saint Nick is narrated by Anthony Edwards. "In the Month of Kislev" by Nina Jaffe, tells the story of a peasant family in a Russian village finding a way to celebrate the festival of light despite their poverty. "Seven Candles for Kwanzaa" by Andrea Davis Pinkney is a primer on the Kwanzaa holiday, narrated by Alfre Woodard. And Latino holiday traditions are depicted in "Too Many Tamales" by Gary Soto. Three additional short Christmas tales are included as a bonus.

While the content of the stories is uplifting, Scholastic hasn't added much to them by putting them into DVD format; the four main stories rely on slow panning over the book's illustrations as the narrator reads. Viewers have the option to display the text onscreen as the DVD plays, a terrific way to reinforce young readers. And the music complements each story well.

Of the collection, "Kislev" and "Tamales" work best simply because they have suspenseful plots that will keep young viewers wondering how the story will end. "Seven Candles" is useful as an introduction to Kwanzaa, while "The Night Before Christmas" and "The Little Drummer Boy" function like familiar holiday ornaments without which it wouldn't really be Christmas.