Susan Cooper's poem "The Shortest Day," celebrating the winter solstice, is also a children's book illustrated by Carson Ellis. They collaborated by mail.

The “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” poem was first published anonymously on Dec. 23, 1823, in The Sentinel, a newspaper based in Troy, New York.

The “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” poem was first published anonymously on Dec. 23, 1823, in The Sentinel, a newspaper based in Troy, New York.