Tomie Depaola's Book of Christmas Carols by Tomie Depaola (1987, Hardcover)

After Our Lord, and, as he has written so well of in another book, the three kings, Tomie DePaola would get my vote as the other "king of Christmas." He so adeptly envisions such a great mix of carols that you would have to be a scrooge not to be enchanted by this work. He so easily mixes songs celebrating the season of Christ's birth from so many times and places, including spirituals, that you are exposed to the universality of the feast without being beaten over the head with a artificial multiculturalism.
As a priest, I am moved with how well Tomie DePaola ballances the profundity of the solemnity of the event with the playfulness of the childlike wonder one must have when faced with God coming to Earth as a mere baby. He is respectful of the traditions of people of faith but also helps us discover something new in the familiar.
I think that this book is for children of any age who want to celebrate the fact that God, Whom all the universe cannot contain, became a baby so that we may be His sons and daughter.