Tomie dePaola's Book of Christmas Carols

by Tomie dePaola

A selection of more than thirty favorite Christmas carols, highlighted by full-color illustrations and six fold-out pages featuring triptych-like designs

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Music, Childrens, Nonfiction, Holiday

81 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Tomie dePaola (pronounced Tommy da-POW-la) was best known for his books for children.

He had a five-decade writing and illustrating career during which he published more than 270 books, including 26 Fairmount Avenue, Strega Nona, and Meet the Barkers.

Tomie dePaola and his work have been recognized with the Caldecott Honor Award, the Newbery Honor Award, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and the New Hampshire Governor's Arts Award of Living Treasure.

Reviews

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solely illustrations and sheet music/lyrics for Christmas carols. Absolutely lovely. I remember my mom playing Christmas carols from books like these as we gathered around the piano and sang together. dePaola's version reminds me of Tasha Tudor's Take Joy! A Christmas Book, though that book also has tales and traditions.

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

More than one offering in Tomie dePaola's literary oeuvre resembles this book. At the very least, he has a similar collection of nursery rhymes, and one of Mother Goose stories. Here, he turns his attention to Christmas Carols, combining them with his own original illustrations.

Classic seasonal songs and relative unfamiliars intermingle in Tomie dePaola's Book of Christmas Carols. "The First Noël" helps set the mood early, followed close after by "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear". "Silent Night" is a wondrously drawn three-page spread. "Angels We Have Heard on High", "What Child is This?", and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" are beautiful complements to the surrounding pieces, and "Away in a Manger" is a sweet ballad of the Christ child's love for mankind.

"O Little Town of Bethlehem" plucks the heartstrings, and "We Three Kings of Orient Are" is illustrated with lovely colors, the guiding rainbow in particular. This wouldn't be a proper compilation of carols without "Joy to the World!" or "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen", and "Deck the Halls" adds pure fun. "O Christmas Tree" fills the soul, and "Go Tell It on the Mountain" provides spiritual context to Jesus' Nativity. The book wraps up with "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", a happy way to punctuate our time together in these pages.

I view this book as a hardcopy chronicle of Christmas songs children have loved for centuries, generating cheer regardless of circumstance. Having the songs in a physical book, made even better by Tomie dePaola's charming artwork, is an asset the world may need someday. I'll rate this book two and a half stars; It's good to own a copy if only as a coffee table book for kids to paw through at the holiday season.

[Amanda Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hate to plug Amazon, I guess any app would do - actually YouTube has probably more variety - my point: when I read books about music it's fun to pull it up and give it a listen. Leave it to Tomie dePaola to have a diverse representation of Christmas Carols. Some I have never heard before - way out of my Episcopalian experience. I have this copy in my library and it needs some TLC - probably an original first edition. The students have loved it.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prolific children's author and illustrator Tomie dePaola presents thirty-two of his favorite Christmas carols in this collection from 1987. The musical notation for each carol is paired with dePaola's illustrations, with most carols taking up a two-page spread, but a few spreading over three-page fold-outs or two successive spreads.

The carols presented include: O Come, O Come Emmanuel / The First Noel / While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night / It Came Upon the Midnight Clear / Once In Royal David's City / Silent Night / Angels We Have Heard On High / Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow / The Friendly Beasts / What Child Is This? / Hark! The Herald Angels Sing / Away In a Manger / The Coventry Carol / I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day / Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming / O, Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste, Fideles) / I Saw Three Ships / O Little Town of Bethlehem / We Three Kings of Orient Are / Joy to the World! / God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen / The Holly and the Ivy / Deck the Halls / Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella! / Good King Wenceslas / O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum) / The Cherry Tree Carol / 'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime (Estennialon de tsonue) / The Carol of the Bells / The Wassail Song / Go Tell It On the Mountain / We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

One of a number of collections of this nature, gathering Tomie dePaola's favorite tales or songs—he also has collections of Bible stories and Mother Goose nursery rhymes—Tomie dePaola's Book of Christmas Carols is a title I sought out largely for is creator's artwork, as I do not read music. That said, I read and pored over this one, while listening to recordings of each song, so it was time well spent. I was familiar with all of the songs, with the exception of Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow, an African American spiritual I am happy to have discovered. If I had any criticism to make of this one, it would be that it didn't have all the verses of each song, but leaving that aside, this was a very appealing collection. Recommended to anyone looking for well-illustrated, child-friendly collections of Christmas carols.

[Jen • The ABCs of Motherhood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contents:
-O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
-The First Noel
-While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night
-It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
-Once in Royal David's City
-Silent Night
-Angels We Have Heard on High
-Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow
-The Friendly Beasts
-What Child Is This?
-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
-Away in a Manger
-The Coventry Carol
-I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
-Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming
-O Come, All Ye Faithful
-I Saw Three Ships
-O Little Town of Bethlehem
-We Three Kings of Orient Are
- Joy to the World!
-God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
-The Holly and the Ivy
-Deck the Halls
- Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella!
-Good King Wenceslas
-O Christmas Tree
-The Cherry Tree Carol
-'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime
-The Carol of the Bells
-Wassail Song
-Go Tell It on the Mountain
-We Wish You a Merry Christmas

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

These 32 Christmas carols are lavishly illustrated by DePaola, and include very familiar ones such as "Silent Night," and less familiar ones, such as "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" and "Twas in the Moon of Wintertime." In addition to the lovely illustrations, there are three fold-out pages, giving additional space for illustrations. There is no index, but the Table of Contents lists the songs in the order they appear in the book.

[SKP · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love anything Tomie DePaola illustrates, and this book, his Mother Goose collection, and his Nursery Tales collection are some of the very best he ever published. So many of his books should be considered classics. Highly recommended as a great resource for parents to share with their children when they want to teach them traditional Christmas Carols.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful art, and good range of songs. Some of them were new to me, but a out of sacred Christmas classics.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations, wonderful selections. And you can use it as a music book!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so pretty. It reminds me of books I had as a child, with music and lyrics inside. Recommended.

[Beth S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is our family's favorite caroling book. It is filled with classics and has beautiful pictures on every page.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Features over thirty Christmas carols accompanied by illustrations by Tomie dePaola. Some are very familiar like "Silent Night" and "O Come All Ye Faithful." Others are more obscure like "The Cherry Tree Carol" and " 'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime." dePaola's illustrations are beautifully done and enhance the carols. A lovely collection for the holiday season.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Tomie's illustrations, and how the origin of each song matches the style of its illustrations. It is fun that he has fold out pages and music for each song. Would be a good one to sit down at the piano with young kids for a sing-a-long and the really little ones can look at the pictures. I liked it.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated by Mr. DePaola, this is a collection of 32 Christmas carols - words and music. Six of the carols open out to be three beautiful pages each. Those are: Silent Night; Angels We Have Heard On High; O, Come All Ye Faithful; I Saw Three Ships; Good King Wenceslas; O, Christmas Tree.