Children's Book Review: Cajun Night After Christmas by Jenny Jackson Moss and Amy Jackson Dixon, Illus by James Rice

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, from Pelican Publishing, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it

You'll want to pick this adorable book up for the day after Christmas,

and make a new family tradition!

 Inspired by the spicy humor of Cajun Night Before Christmas and the authors’ own chaotic holiday experiences, this is the story of St. Nick, an alligator named Pierre, and the Boudreau family’s post-Christmas blues.

Boudreau needs to get away. His children are hollering as they play with their new toys, and his wife has cleaned out their pocketbook, after buying Christmas gifts and treats. As he drifts down the bayou on a moonlit night, Boudreau spies Pierre, one of St. Nicholas’ alligators that has been left behind! Boudreau offers Pierre a home to keep him safe from hunters and trappers.

Will St. Nick ever come back for his lost gator? And what will Boudreau’s children think of this new pet? The antics of this cast of characters are sure to induce laughter and add a fun twist to the original story!

Review:

This is an adorable story and a perfect follow up to the Cajun Night Before Christmas, if you read that book o your kids! In Louisiana, it is a very popular book, and most of us read it instead of the traditional Night Before Christmas poem! Especially if you go to the NOLA Celebration in the Oaks, where the Cajun Night Before Christmas is a popular lighted scene! Like the previous book, this book is best read out loud (with da proper Cajun accent!). Your kids will really enjoy this new book and the tale of Boudreau and Pierre (adults will totally relate to Boudreau's wanting time alone).

I highly recommend buying BOTH books and giving as a wonderful family or hostess present this season!

About the Author:

Sisters and visual artists Jenny Jackson Moss and Amy Jackson Dixon grew up in Louisiana and attended Tulane University’s Newcomb College in New Orleans. Moss lives in South Carolina with her husband and three children, and Dixon lives in Colorado with her husband and three children.

About the Illustrator:

James Rice, in his long, distinguished career as an author and illustrator, has produced fifty-plus children’s books, among them an addition to the Night Before Christmas series, Gullah Night Before Christmas. With more than a million and a half copies of his books in print, he ranks among the nation’s best-selling creators of children’s books.

About the Previous Book

More than twenty-five years after its first appearance, Cajun Night Before Christmas has become a modern classic that has sold more than 490,000 copies and has served as the model for Pelican’s ongoing, best-selling Night Before Christmas Series.

The formula that started this success story is surprisingly simple: take the classic story of jolly old St. Nicholas, place it in a Louisiana bayou, dress Santa Claus in muskrat “from his head to his toes,” pile his skiff high with toys, and hitch it to eight friendly alligators. The result is a delightful twist on an old and familiar tale. It is Christmas on the bayou.