Additional information
by Kimbra Cutlip (Author)
It's the Christmas Eve shift at Firehouse One. All the firefighters are sitting down to bowls of hot chili when an old fireman stops by for a bite to eat. The firemen have to leave to fight a fire and return to find that he was not an ordinary firefighter-they were visited by Sgt. St. Nick!
Front Jacket
Praise for Cajun Night Before Christmas:
"Forget Dancer, Prancer, Comet, and Vixen. . . . Good Clement, wherever he is, will not be gnashing his teeth."
-New York Times Book Review
"Rice is especially good with facial expressions, whether they are on a Texas jackrabbit, a longhorn steer, a dusty cowboy, or the green and long-nosed alligator named Gaston."
-Library Journal
In the tradition of The Night Before Christmas, author Kimbra Cutlip describes Christmas Eve from a fireman's point of view. Several unlucky firemen and police officers are spending a quiet Christmas Eve away from their families when "Jingle Bells" suddenly blares through the window. A Christmas-decked rig, snow-spurting water hose, and sooty old fireman are at the forefront of the Christmas Eve shenanigans.
Kimbra Cutlip, a certified emergency medical technician and firefighter, grew up with two firefighter uncles. Also the author of Sailor's Night Before Christmas, Cutlip lives near the Chesapeake Bay with her husband and two daughters.
James Rice (1934-2004), in his long, distinguished career as an author and illustrator, produced more than sixty children's books, among them several additions to The Night Before Christmas Series. Cajun Night Before Christmasï¿1/2, Rice's first book, has been nationally recognized as a classic in its genre. Rice taught art and music at both high school and college levels and loved teaching children the joys of writing and illustrating. With more than 2.5 million copies of his books in print, Rice ranks among the nation's best-selling creators of children's books, having received awards from Printer Industries of America and the Children's Book Council.
Author Biography
Kimbra Cutlip, a native of the East Coast, was born in New Jersey. For five years, she lived aboard her sailboat off the coast of Maryland near the Chesapeake Bay. Cutlip is a world traveler who loves exploring and experiencing new places and activities. She has, among other adventures, gone backpacking through the former Soviet Union and Mongolia, desert camping, cold-weather camping, and ice fishing, and she completed a Trans-Siberian crossing in 1988. In 1985 she graduated from Syracuse University with a dual bachelor's degree in journalism and anthropology. She continued her education by completing master's degree coursework in marine ecology at George Washington University. Cutlip has worked as a freelance writer, contributing to such publications as the Washington Post, Alert Diver, Calypso Log, and Successful Retirement, among others. Her previous jobs range from manager at the Smithsonian to program director for the United States Department of State, Republic of Niger, and West Africa to an eight-year member of the Peace Corps. Each of these positions has given her a unique insight into the many differences of the world, which she uses in the creation of her books. Sailor's Night Before Christmas, Cutlip's first book, is a seaworthy twist on a classic Christmas tale. The idea came to her while she was living on her boat. Young children would come to her and ask, How does Santa get in? She began to weave a Christmas tale for these children to explain how it would be possible for Santa to deliver gifts to the boat. The children showed so much interest that she decided to write this unique story down so she could share it with others. Cutlip presently lives in Galesville, Maryland, with her husband, Michael Broglie, and daughter, Sienna Michelle. She is a contributing author for Weatherwise magazine.
