Santa’s (Zany, Wacky, Just Not Right!) Night Before Christmas

“One Christmas Eve it was a cold stormy night; and nothing at the north pole was going quite right…”

Santa’s (Zany, Wacky, Just Not Right!) Night Before Christmas is a beautifully illustrated children’s picture book telling a whimsical tale of Santa’s journey through a Christmas Eve that doesn’t go as he expects. One small event leads to a series of surprises that change Santa and Christmas as we know it.

Written by award-winning author DK Simoneau & David Radman
Illustrations by Brad Cornelius
Book Design by Cherished Solutions, llc (Cherish Flieder and Benjamin Hummel)

Last year I was contacted by the publisher of this great new book. We worked on their first book together, many moons ago, it won numerous awards and accolades. (If you want to check it out, it’s called “We’re Having A Tuesday” a book helping children of divorce cope with shared custody living arrangements).

So, when AC Publications asked if we would design the next book, of course, I said “YES,” even though I didn’t get to read the story until about 6 months later. I had the honor to meet one-on-one with the author DK Simoneau and she was kind enough to read it to us (even though she might have felt a little silly reading a kids’s book to a couple of adults in a coffee shop). ;)

WOW! I knew right away that this little book would take off and I couldn’t wait to start designing. It is very well written, engaging for children. The illustrations that Brad made are full of great little surprises and really capture the holiday spirit, even the upside down version of it!

We dove deeper into the story and thought about the kids who would be enjoying this book that is bound to become a new family holiday classic. I worked with Benjamin Hummel to design the cover and loving typeset each page with a very wacky font and lots of colors (not something you get to do with every children’s book design, surprisingly enough).

We are also very proud of this new Christmas children’s book as it just won the 2014 GOLD Medal for the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards, Holiday Category.

“The cause of promoting childhood literacy knows no boundaries, and the award winners illustrate that point well, coming not only from long-established publishers and university presses, but from small presses, foundations, museums, and self-published entrepreneurs.” ~Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards

 And it was a finalist in the USA Best Book Awards!

The pre-launch party was truly Christmas in July. Note the purple Santa hats.
(You really have to read this book to find out what that’s all about.)

We also got to design the website to promote the book. So much fun!