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Enrich your holiday celebrations as you discover the incredible stories and the inspiration behind the Christmas songs you know and love.

Jingle Bells Mary
Did You Know?
The First Noel
O Holy Night
Silver Bells
White Christmas

The songs that you've sung since you were a child continue to bring Christmas to life each year. Now, you'll learn how your favorite Christmas songs came to be. Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas reveals the surprising and fascinating origins of over thirty of your favorite Christmas songs and carols, both secular and religious. Along the way you will uncover spiritual insights, heartwarming stories, and tales of the humble men and women of the past who wrote what remain the most beloved Christmas songs today. Discover how:

Iconic artists such as Judy Garland and Nat King Cole were influenced and inspired to record instant classics like Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and The Christmas Song.God-inspired words given to an unlikely musician became Mary, Did You Know?One of the oldest Christmas songs still sung today, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, changed from a hymn sung in Latin only in Catholic masses to a carol embraced by every Christian denomination in the world.

From the rollicking appeal of Jingle Bells to the tranquil beauty of Silent Night, the great songs of Christmas contain messages of peace, hope, and truth. Each song in its own way expresses a facet of God’s heart and celebrates the birth of his greatest gift to the world—Jesus. These stories will warm your heart and bring extra significance to the carols you sing each December.

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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Zondervan (October 6, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0310115906
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0310115908
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.11 x 0.78 x 7.41 inches
Reviewer: joang
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great BOOK
Review: Very INFORMATIVE AND I LEARNED SO MUCH FROM THIS BOOK . I'm so glad I read this will enrich singing these songs

Reviewer: Ani
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Loved
Review: Great stories, many of which I hadn't heard.

Reviewer: Soozie4Him
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: What a fascinating book!
Review: I heard about this book by listening to WMBI in Chicago the week before Christmas. They had the author on, telling one Christmas carol song per day. Immediately I purchased the book, and am thoroughly enjoying it!Ace tells the stories of 31 favorite Christmas songs. They aren't all traditional carols, but include "Mary Did You Know", and a couple of secular-based Christmas songs such as "Silver Bells" and "Rudolph". I would love to know where Mr. Collins got all his information - there is no Bibliography.The book itself is very attractive - you can see what the cover is like above, but inside, the print is a deep blue, and there are simple drawings and borders using the same blue. This makes it very visually appealing.The best way to read "Stories Behind the Best-Love Songs of Christmas" would probably be to read one chapter per day for the 31 days before Christmas. But you can also read it straight through, or dip into the chapter that talks about YOUR favorite Christmas song.As a perfect companion to Ace Collins' book, I recommend "Christ in the Carols" by Christopher and Melodie Lane. In this book, the emphasis is on finding Christ in the carols and how these carols express so beautifully the glorious and mysterious incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ!Take the time out this Christmas to enjoy the history and meaning of these beloved songs of Christmas! This book would make a wonderful gift!You might be interested in checking out my other reviews of Christian books adn music.

Reviewer: Rose DelParto
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The history of Christmas carols and songs
Review: Christmas day is one of the most enchanting times of the year. Author Ace Collins adds another dimension to understanding the holiday season by providing the back-stories behind 31 of the most beloved carols and songs that many young and old have sung each year. Stories Behind The Best Loved Songs of Christmas tells of the history and inspiration of each one, and also, shows the power of music during challenging times.The book is enlightening and informative and each song spans centuries and decades apart. But most of all what each one have in common, they reflect upon the composers and the period in which they were written. Two of the oldest carols date from the ninth and tenth centuries, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”, writer unknown and “Good King Wenceslas (originally Wenceslaus) by Priest John Mason Neale – relevant to charity and kindness, but most were composed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and had their origins from Europe and the United States during times of conflict, especially between and during the Civil War and World Wars; symbolic of time and place, times of strife, words and music that flow much similar to folk songs. Several of the songs fall within these categories, Unitarian Minister Dr. Edmund Sears wrote “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem” composed by Phillip Brooks in 1868 but began its inception thousands of miles away from the US but in Jerusalem and Bethlehem in 1865. Other insightful stories tell of how a song did not become a classic over night but took reworking and countless times of airplay to become legendary. The following songs became the most revered during World War II, originally written for the film Meet Me in St. Louis “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by composers Hugh Martin and Ralph Bane and sung by Judy Garland appeared to be a somber tune when Garland first sang it, the melody was slightly rearranged in 1944 with a more upbeat opening, it became a favorite to American troops when Garland performed it, Kim Gannon and Walter Kent wrote the most listened to song during the war on the homefront and in Europe and the Pacific “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” which basically shares the sentiment of the period of soldiers that were away from home, and who can forget Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas,” which epitomizes the holidays of home, snow covered landscape, and Christmas on one’s mind. The book contains much detail, and as a side note, it may have been helpful to have an appendix or bibliography for reference of each song.After reading Stories Behind The Best Loved Songs of Christmas, there may be much more meaning and understanding to what inspired the composers of each song to have written in musical history that has transcended through culture and geography. But most of all the songs have left a lasting impression on thousands that have not forgotten their lyrics and melodies.

Reviewer: Marilyn
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great Book about Christmas
Review: So many examples of many Christmas past to add to many stories and examples of how Christmas has been over many Christmas years. A great book!

Reviewer: grlnxdr
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good information behind the songs
Review: I received this book as a Christmas present years ago in the stocking. I pulled it out every year and really enjoy the stories. This year I purchased it for friends as a gift

Reviewer: A Boatner
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great book!
Review: I listened to this book on audible and bought two others to give as gifts, it's that good. Gave one to our music minister and one for another gift. Great stories about the songs origins and their authors and others who sang them. You'll love it if you love the history of songs.

Reviewer: Shari
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Well researched and written
Review: This book provided great insight to Christmas songs I've been singing for years. Gives them more meaning. I shared some of the stories among friends at a recent Christmas luncheon and they all wanted to know where I got the book. Highly recommended.

Reviewer: Ladymary
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I found this book so interesting to know the stories about Christmas songs,

Reviewer: Jonah David
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This product is great help in telling stories of Christmas carols

Reviewer: MrMagic
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Brilliant And insightful and told me things I never knew about these stories

Reviewer: Mrs T A Carmichael
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Arrived quickly and in great condition

Reviewer: ralph_allan
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Slightly lightweight book but OK insights.