Can You See What I See? The Night Before Christmas: Picture Puzzles to Search and Solve by Wick, Walter Wick (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

The first photograph, "The Night Before Christmas," features a gingerbread house, Christmas cookies, candles, bulbs, and more. "Visions of Sugarplums" is an abstract composition of Christmas confections; and "Such a Clatter! " is a dynamic explosion of objects. In "It Must Be Saint Nick," Santa is shown in shadow; and in "A Bundle of Toys," the presents in Santa's sack are revealed as a magnificent jumble. The final photograph, "Happy Christmas to All" is a beautiful, pastoral landscape, lustrous under new-fallen snow. The original poem is printed on the endpapers.

Publishers Weekly

A trio of holiday books helps readers get in the spirit (see Children's Reviews, Sept. 26 for more titles). Walter Wick applies his considerable photographic and choreographic talents to the Yuletide-themed addition to his paper-over-board Can You See What I See? series, The Night Before Christmas. Endpapers reprint Moore's famous poem, which kicks off photographic puzzles called "Visions of Sugarplums," featuring a dazzling shower of gingerbread cookies, gumdrops, candy canes and more, and "A Bundle of Toys" that will have alert young eyes scouring Santa's sack for goodies. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Sharon Salluzzo - Children's Literature

Taking inspiration from the classic poem by Clement C. Moore, Wick— photographer of the "I Spy" books—has created scenes in which the reader is given a list of items to find. The title of the list for each spread is a phrase taken from Moore's poem. Much creativity has gone into the composition of each scene. In "New Fallen Snow" the objects are displayed on a white quilt with a Christmas snow globe in the center. The page of "visions of sugarplums" has gingerbread men and women and other cutout cookies, candy canes, ribbon candy and assorted sweets that appear to be floating in air. There is a rhythm and some rhyming to the list of items. Some objects are easy to find, others more difficult. The photographs of the toys and Christmas decorations are clear and eye-catching. Astute viewers might even find a toy just like one of their own. Fans of the "I Spy" books will be happy to spend Christmas afternoon with this book. 2005, Scholastic, Ages 4 to 9.

Kirkus Reviews

The co-creator of the "I Spy" series uses a similar format in this holiday offering full of glowing photographs of tiny toys and sweet treats. As in previous volumes, readers can search each spread for the miniature items craftily hidden within, enumerated in rhyming lists in large type next to each photograph. Wick uses phrases from the familiar lines of "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" as an organizational framework for his lush photos of a cozy house on Christmas Eve all decked out for Santa's arrival. (He includes the poem on the endpapers.) Some spreads focus on one area of the house and others on single images from the poem, such as a whirlwind of sugarplums or an open bundle of toys. Eagle-eyed readers will spot additional clever details such as a recurring white dove and the gabled house in a snow globe that duplicates the home featured throughout. This volume covers much of the same holiday territory as I Spy Christmas by Marzollo and Wick (1992), but fans of this sort of picture puzzle will welcome another challenging Christmas brainteaser. (author's note) (Picture book. 3-7)

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