Little Baby in a Manger
#1209 Hymns—For Home and ChurchLyrics
The Story Behind “Little Baby in a Manger”
Expecting a baby in South Korea with no piano at home, Traci Law walked to the chapel several times a week to write a lullaby Mary might have sung.
A Lullaby Written on Borrowed Keys
In 2007, Traci S. Law was living in South Korea and expecting a baby. Waiting for her own child, she found herself imagining another mother and another baby — what might Mary have sung to the infant Jesus? She wanted to write that lullaby: a song anyone could use to tell the Savior they love Him.
There was one problem: no piano in her apartment. Her bishop solved it with a key to the chapel, and several times a week Law walked to the meetinghouse to compose. She imagined angels singing the chorus's alleluias.
First Place
Law submitted the finished song — originally titled simply 'Little Baby' — to a Church music contest, where it won first place in its category. Years later she settled in Spanish Fork, Utah, where she helps direct the Utah Valley Children's Choir.
Her hope for the song reaches past the manger: 'I thought of how He came to save us, all of us. Christ loves us no matter where we are on our path.'
A Christmas Hymn for the Whole Church
'Little Baby in a Manger' was released September 18, 2025, as hymn #1209 — one of two Christmas additions in its batch, alongside 'Go Tell It on the Mountain.'
Like the best carols, it is small on purpose: a baby, a manger, a mother's voice — and inside that smallness, as the scriptures it cites insist, the Savior of the world.
Did You Know?
- Law wrote it in South Korea while expecting a baby — walking to the chapel several times a week because she had no piano at home.
- Her bishop gave her a key to the meetinghouse so she could compose.
- The song won first place in its category in a Church music contest.
- She imagined angels singing the chorus's alleluias.
- She now helps direct the Utah Valley Children's Choir in Spanish Fork, Utah.
Scripture Connections
- Luke 19:10 — 'The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost' — why the baby came.
- John 3:16–17 — God so loved the world — the lullaby's quiet doctrine.
- Helaman 14:5–8 — The signs of His birth promised on the other side of the world.
Talk About It
Questions to spark a conversation with your family or Primary class:
- What do you think Mary sang to baby Jesus? What would you have sung?
- Traci Law walked to the church several times a week to write this song. What are you willing to walk that far for?
- The song says Christ loves us 'no matter where we are on our path.' Why is that good news at Christmas especially?
- Could your family sing this as an actual lullaby this December?
Teaching Resources
Attribution
Music by: Traci S. Law, 2007; arr. 2025
Text by: Traci S. Law, 2007
Audio files from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints