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"'Twar the night a'fore Christmas on Fisherman's Bay, /And the wind she war calm like she had been all day."
However, for the first mate just beginning his night's watch, that is all about to change.
As a young'un, his mammy had told him some mighty tall tales about ol' Cap'n Claus, who traveled the seven seas with a team of eight seahorses.
But he never believed those stories . . . until now.
The wind begins to blow like a fierce, howlin' thing, the sea begins to surge, and ol' Cap'n Claus appears. With a red tailcoat, black boots, and pockets full of minnows and smelt, this ol' salt is quite a sight as he comes aboard! The first mate can hardly believe his eyes.
Quick as the wind, Claus unloads his fisherman's net full of booty for the crew. And it's a very good thing for the first mate--the gifts are the only proof that ol' Cap'n Claus has even been there. Before the crew can wake up, he's cast off again for other ports of call.
But, luckily for the first mate, the presents are still there. Otherwise, no one would believe his tale about the one that got away!
When not working as an associate editor of Weatherwise magazine, author Kimbra Cutlip lives with her husband and daughter aboard their sailboat in Maryland. She also is the director of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences Board of Directors and has worked as an assistant scientific diving officer for the Smithsonian Institution. This is her first book.
Illustrator James Rice provided the artwork for the first book in this acclaimed series, the classic Cajun Night Before Christmas, in 1973. Since then, he has written and/or illustrated fifty-plus children's books, with more than 1,350,000 copies in print.
About the author
When not working as an associate editor of Weatherwise magazine, author Kimbra Cutlip lives with her husband and daughter aboard their sailboat in Maryland. When young friends visited her boat and asked,
