'Twas The Night Before Christmas - A Letter from Mark Jenkinson MP
Last year I distributed over 6000 copies of The Nutcracker to primary school children across the constituency, after a difficult year. This year I'm delighted to be able to once again distribute nearly 7000 copies of 'Twas The Night Before Christmas
This is my letter to those students and their parents, with a downloadable PDF below:
In December 2020, I delivered thousands of copies of The Nutcracker to children across the constituency. This year, I am delighted to present another festive book – ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas – to 7,000 primary school pupils.
Once upon a time, when I was boy (many, many years ago), I read the poem in this book. I even learned it by heart for one of our choral speaking competitions. When I went on to have children of my own, I read it to them too. I still do, every year at this time. And now I am delighted to be able to share ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas with all of you. If you would like to watch a video of me reading this wonderful book, please visit: markshar.es/xmas21
Even now, I appreciate the magic of a festive tale from the Elves and the Shoemaker to A Christmas Carol. You are never too old to enjoy a Christmas story: they are for all ages.
I hope this illustrated book brings festive joy following what has been another challenging year - and will also help nurture in young minds a life-long love of reading. Christmas, of course, marks the start of the Greatest Story Ever Told when a child was born in a stable in Bethlehem over 2,00 years ago. The most important stories tell us how to live and why – and teach us something about ourselves.
I know many of you are reading on tablets, iPads and kindles, but there is no substitute for holding a proper book in your hand. Every page turned is a fresh discovery. Each of us should make time for a little reading every day. Reading doesn’t just help with education but also with our general and mental wellbeing. Books can take us on adventures to faraway places and magical lands. Books have the power to paint pictures in our minds and can help us to see the world through someone else’s eyes. Books bring knowledge and understanding. It was JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter Series, who said: “If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.” And books have been described as the quietest and most constant of friends; the
wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers.Please let me know what you think of the gift, and I will reply to everyone. I hope that you like this book or enjoy reading it to your child if they can’t yet read themselves. I will finish with a line from the poem:
But I heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight—“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
Yours sincerely,
Mark Jenkinson MP
