Sing the Christmas Story: A Collection of New Carols

The plan behind this book was to provide a whole range of new carols, especially suitable for children, which would follow the Christmas story step-by-step. We chose a group of writers and composers who are experienced in writing songs for children and gave them extracts from the Bible as starting points. From Geoffrey Winters' straightforward use of biblical language in "Fear Not, Mary" through the cheerful colloquialism of Robert Hyman's innkeeper, to Martin Palmer's simple but powerful expression of faith in One Small Baby, the words are very different. Similarly, the music ranges from the medieval feel of the opening song to the relaxed Come-a-Riding and the melodically-stark and rhythmic The Gleaming Light.