Another Night Before Christmas: the ideal gift book

I'm a huge fan of our poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. She manages to magically combine humour and pathos with a gentle, feminine lightness of touch that taps into my emotions. My favourite poem, A Child's Sleep, has incredible power, particularly when I think abot Evie drifting off to sleep at night. I have it pinned to the fridge with a black and white picture of my little one sleeping soundly. The above recently published book, a reworking of the Victorian classic, tells the tale of a little girl the night before Christmas in Duffy's eloquent verse and features delicate illustrations by London-based artist Rob Ryan (another CLB crush). Talk about the perfect combination. £4.99 at Amazon.co.uk

A Child's Sleep

By Carol Ann Duffy


I stood at the edge of my child's sleep

hearing her breathe;

although I could not enter there,

I could not leave.



Her sleep was a small wood,

perfumed with flowers;

dark, peaceful, sacred,

acred in hours.



And she was the spirit that lives

in the heart of such woods;

without time, without history,

wordlessly good.



I spoke her name, a pebble dropped

in the still night,

and saw her stir, both open palms

cupping their soft light;



then went to the window.  The greater dark

outside the room

gazed back, maternal, wise,

with its face of moon.