The 13th Day of Christmas

A fun look at how a picture book comes together

David Friedman

09 Dec 2025 • 6 min read

Do you have a favorite novelty version of The Twelve Days of Christmas? I think if I had to pick just one, it would be Allan Sherman’s Twelve Gifts of Christmas. The gifts Allan’s true love gave him for Christmas were already outdated by the time I first heard it, but Allan Sherman’s humor feels timeless to me.

Then of course there’s the Bob and Doug McKenzie version. There’s the one about the Twelve Pains of Christmas that everyone can relate to. And the version the Muppets did with John Denver is played pretty straight but I love it because it’s the Muppets (less good is Cookie Monster’s solo version about twelve cookies). Oh, and there’s that a cappella version that went viral back in the day, if you’re into a cappella.

The Thirteenth Day

Now my friend, bestselling author-illustrator Adam Rex, has a funny new picture book out that asks: What happens next for the person whose true love got them all those presents for twelve days? How do they deal with all those lords a-leaping and drummers drumming after Christmas?

But what amazes me is that Adam also wrote what’s practically a whole second book’s worth of material to promote this one. He sent it out to his mailing list over the thirteen days leading up to his book’s release.

I thought it was a really good promo. It shows a lot of the work that goes into writing a picture book behind the scenes – the character sketches, the cover designs, the legal considerations, etc – all with Adam’s wit and style.

But you’re probably not on Adam’s mailing list (which you can remedy right here), so with Adam’s permission I’m re-publishing his thirteen-day promo in this one newsletter. I don’t even know if I can send a newsletter this long with so many images, but we’ll find out together!

Without further ado, here from Adam Rex is...

The 13 Days of the 13 Days of Christmas

I know, I’m sorry. It’s started now and I have to see it through.

[Adam also had one more panel here announcing a contest, but the contest is over so I’ve omitted it so you don’t get your hopes up]

Only lost twenty followers since I started this

[Adam re-shared the promotional video in this newsletter for people who missed it the first time. I’m editing that part out since it’s already up above.]

Thinking of starting a new substack where I push a rock up a hill