More Christmas Music Books

Included in my Caroling post were two books I use as resources for Christmas music: The Usbourne Book of Christmas Carols and Wee Sing for Christmas.  In addition to these two books, here are three more beautiful and useful books for Christmas carols from my collection.  I've had these for so long that they are really inexpensive to buy used at this point, and you know the music is going to be back in style each December!

Sing Noel by Jane Yolen, with musical arrangements by Adam Stemple and illustrations by Nancy Sippel Carpenter is a book filled with Christmas music both familiar and unfamiliar.  The book contains music scored for piano with guitar chords, a little background information about each song, and stunningly beautiful artwork on each page. 

Songs included:

1.  Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
2. Jingle Bells
3. Masters in This Hall
4.  The Friendly Beasts
5. Angels We Have Heard on High
6. Away in a Manger
7. The Boar's Head Carol
8. Born is Jesus, the Infant King
9. Pat-a-Pan
10.  Christmas is Coming
11. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
12. Deck the Halls
13. Carol of the Bells
14. Carol of the Birds
15. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
16. O Christmas Tree
17.  O Little Town of Bethlehem
18. Ding, Dong! Merrily on High
19. The First Noel
20. Here We Come A-Wassailing
21. God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
22. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
23. Angels from the Realms of Glory
24. The Seven Joys of Mary
25. The Coventry Carol (Lully, Lullay)
26. Good King Wenceslas
27. Joy to the World
28. O Come, All Ye Faithful
29. Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming
30. The Cherry Tree Carol
31. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
32. We Three Kings of Orient Are
33. Bring a Torch, Jeannette Isabella
34. Rise Up, Shepherd and Follow
35. Silent Night

Sacred Songs of Christmas: A Family Treasury with illustrations by Andrea Eberbach, Paine Proffitt, and Nicole Wong is a collection of not only religious Christmas music, but also Scripture readings, poems, recipes, reflections, and stories, accompanied by beautful artwork. A CD of all of the 19 songs is also included in this book.

Songs included:

1.  The Angel Gabriel
2. Angels We Have heard on high
3. From Heaven Above to Earth I Come
4. Welcome to Earth, O Noble Guest
5. O little Town of Bethlehem
6. Oh, Come, Little Children
7. Oh, Come, All ye Faithful
8. He Whom Shepherds Once Came Praising
9. Away in a Manger
10. In a Little Stable
11. Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
12. Now Sings We, Now Rejoice
13. Silent Night, Holy Night
14. Once in Royal David's City
15. Little Children, Can You Tell?
16. Joy to the World
17. As with Gladness Men of Old
18. What Child is This?
19. Songs of Thankfulness and Praise

Christmas Carols, a board book illustrated by Holly Russell is a wonderful Christmas resource for the youngest children.

The artwork throughout is pictures of sewn felt Christmas decorations, and the sturdy board book pages are textured so that you can feel each "stitch".  It is a perfect book to enjoy with your own children while listening to the included CD and singing along together...it could become a treasured tradition in your home!  It would also be very suitable for use in a preschool or first grade classroom or religious education program.

The only drawback to this book is that there is no music notation included if you want to play the music on piano or other instrument.  Notation for most of the songs (but not all) is easy to find in the other  resources I've listed.

Songs included:

1. Away in a Manger
2. Silent Night
3. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
4. Deck the Halls
5. Jingle Bells
6. Good King Wenceslas
7. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
8. O Little Town of Bethlehem
9. The Holly and the Ivy
10. I Saw Three Ships
11. Once in Royal David's City
12. The First Noel
13. O Christmas Tree
14. We Three Kings of Orient Are
15. In the Bleak Midwinter