What it looks like now!

This is a book of Christmas carols but for me it is more than that it is a book of Christmas memories, Christmases at junior school where we used to sing these carols over and over again every year. And I loved it!

How it looked then!

I love Christmas and I love to sing and so this book is now one of my most treasured possessions, complete with CD. When I was teaching I used to play it all the time in my classroom and now I am a Mummy I play it to my own children all the time at home. Instilling the same magic and passion in them that lives in me to this day for the awe and wonder of festive music and voices coming together in celebration.

The seventh book of advent is Carol Gaily Carol.

An A&C Black book of Christmas songs for children.

Some of my favourites are:
Now Tell Us Gentle Mary;
the classic Little Donkey,
Here We Go Up To Bethlehem (to the tune of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush!);
Joseph is Sad as He Travels the Way;
Standing in the Rain (very funky for a school Christmas song of its time!);
There Isn’t Any Room (Rat-a-tat-tat!);
Come They Told Me (Parum Pum Pum Pum!);
O Come Little Children (based on a German carol);
Go Tell It On The Mountain;
Lift Up Lightly The Stable Bar (my absolute favourite to this day!)
Under Bethlehem’s Star So Bright (Hydom, hydom, tidlidom!)

There are many more traditional and new carols in the book. I have a feeling that I remember these the most because when I was at school in Cyprus my teacher used the songs as a basis for writing our Nativities each year. I remember performing those songs so clearly.

O Come Little Children we also used to sing when I was at school in Germany. A beautiful carol.

I love the simple songs in this book. They are so easy to teach and learn.

The book includes tips for each song for playing percussion instruments which are great for using at school and at home.

When Esther and William go to preschool I would like to be involved with their Christmas production and wonder if it might be something simple and traditional using songs like these.

When I was teaching Year 2 we did some fabulous Christmas productions but I do think there is something wonderful about going back to basics and using a book like this as inspiration.

Merry Christmas Everyone!