Favourite Christmas Carols

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

A carol is defined as a popular song with words that reflect a religious
theme. Because so many Victorians were loath to appear to enjoy music
unless it had an uplifting Christian theme, it should be no surprise
that the 19th century is considered the golden age of the Christmas
carol. This attractive little red book presents 20 of the most beloved
carols from that era.

Few people in the western hemisphere do not already know the tunes to
“Silent Night,” “The First Noel,” “Good King Wenceslas,”
“O Little Town of Bethlehem,” “It Came upon a Midnight Clear,”
and “We Three Kings of Orient Are.” This book supplies the complete
words and musical arrangements for these songs, and 14 more. The music
can be adapted for voice, piano, and even guitar chords. Alongside the
arrangements are dozens of authentic full-color illustrations of
19th-century scenes. Primarily gleaned from Victorian postcards, they
feature chubby little Victorian children engaged in such quaint holiday
endeavors as dancing around a candle-lit tree or hanging holly sprigs on
window sills, and everyone is having a jolly good time.

Most Victorians would likely be amazed—or amused—at our
20th-century obsession with their Christmas customs, but they more than
likely would approve of this book’s contents. Recommended.