REVIEW
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Title: An Advent Carols Countdown: Stories Behind the Most Beloved Music of Christmas
Author: Michael D. Young
Publisher: Shadow Mountain Publishing
Genre: Christmas, Music
Year Published: 2022
Number of Pages: 106
Binding: Hardback
ISBN: 978-1-63993-047-0
Price: $15.99 USD
Reviewed by Danielle Withers for the Association of Mormon Letters
An Advent Carols Countdown: Stories Behind the Most Beloved Music of Christmas is like those advent calendars that countdown starting on December 1 through December 24. However, instead of putting an ornament on a tree or maybe getting a Christmas gift or treat, it is all about Christmas carols or songs. Each day includes the name of a Christmas carol, the lyrics, a QR code, and a short story about the carol. Some of the songs included are Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and O du Fröhlich (“O Your Joyful”) to name a few.
I come from a fairly musical family—we call my mom “the walking jukebox” because she can find a song for pretty much anything that someone says. However, as I read through this advent book, I noticed some of the songs I recognized, but some I didn’t. Some were in English, and some were in other languages, such as German. This is where the QR code came in handy. I was able to scan it with my camera app, which then opened a web page or the YouTube app and played a performance of the song. This allowed me to listen to songs I wasn’t as familiar with or maybe didn’t recognize the song name at first and be able to hear what the song sounded like.
I was also grateful to see the lyrics included because then I was able to sing with the recording or be able to sing the song acapella. My favorite part of the book was probably the stories behind each carol. They were detailed, well researched (there is a bibliography at the back of the book with the resources), but still short enough that it didn’t make the book too long.
An Advent Carols Countdown is a hardback and seems to be nice quality and would hold up to multiple uses throughout December and over the years. I would say this book is targeted at families, those who like Christmas and music, and those who enjoy a little bit of history. An Advent Carols Countdown could be used as part of Christmas traditions and even spark conversations by being able to share fun facts about the different Christmas carols with people around you during the holiday season.