Christmas Carols: Complete Verses

Inexpensive- very complete booklet of Christmas Carols - easy to use for singing during the holiday--- has many traditional older version verses too.

Christmas carols are among the oldest of holiday traditions, stretching back centuries with songs about celebrations, Christ's birth, and cold snowy nights. Dover Thrift's "Christmas Carols: Complete Verses" is a solid resource for anyone who can't remember that second verse of "Angels We Have Heard On High." Shane Weller collects many traditional Christmas carols, both secular ("Jingle Bells") and religious ("Joy To the World"). He includes old favorites like "The Twelve Days of Christmas," which is almost impossible to remember every verse of, the bouncy "We Wish You A Merry Christmas," and the solemn balladic "Silent Night." However, Weller doesn't just stick to well-known favorites. He also dips into a large store of lesser-known carols such as "Good King Wenceslas" -- sure, people know the first first four or five lines, but what comes after that? Anyway, the lesser-known, richly traditional carols include the lullaby-like "Coventry Carol," the enchanting part-Latin "The Snow Lay on the Ground," and the enchanting "Wassail Song." The real gems of this collection are, in fact, the much older traditional carols -- they can be just as catchy as the more recent ones ("Here we come a-wassailing/Among the leaves so green,/Here we come a wand'ring,/So fair to be seen"). And not all of the most recent ones as well known, such as Christina Rossetti's "In the Bleak Midwinter," a carol/poem she wrote for a newspaper. While the book is of the cheap quality -- rather slimy paper and cover -- needed to keep the price affordable, a few flourishes are given to it, like cute little holly decorations over the songs. The songs are arranged alphabetically, which is either good or bad -- good for finding them quickly, bad for singing all in order. "Christmas Carols: Complete Verses" is a surprisingly good selection of carols, old and new, well-known and obscure. What they all have in common is a rich holiday atmosphere. Definitely worth getting.

I bought 30 copies of this book several years ago and they are now a regular part of our Christmas holiday. They have carolled around many neighborhoods. Great for groups caroling or just singing around the piano. It has lyrics only (alas), but for the price, this little 64-page book can be indispensable if you're putting a group sing together.

Fits all of my criteria for this type of book. It has the words, it is easy to read, it is cute and easy to hold. Oh, and the most important thing....it is inexpensive! The only thing missing from this little ditty are the musical notes (not that I could read them or hit them). Shipping is a bit high for such a small and lightweight little gem so be sure to look at that part of your cart when you check out.

Admit it. Last year, two days before your Christmas caroling party, you spent four hours at the computer typing up all the verses to a dozen carols. Dover--the people who brought you an affordable version of Francis Child's Scottish Ballad collection--have come out with a cheap (seriously: eighty cents!), attractive little book with four or five verses to all the best-known carols. Even better, if you love Christmas music: in addition to "Away in a Manger" and "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen" you'll be delighted to run into beautiful and less-widely-sung friends like "The Cherry Tree Carol," "Coventry Carol," "Masters in this Hall," and "Unto Us a Boy is Born." The catch? There isn't any. I bought twenty-five copies. I'll spend the time before my next Christmas party decorating the tree!