Mariah Carey Credits Her 'Messed-Up' Childhood For Her Love Of Christmas

It's no secret that Mariah Carey loves Christmas and spreading holiday cheer. What many people may not realize is that wasn't always the case for the "All I Want For Christmas" singer.

"Darling, look, I know a lot of the time people are like, 'Oh, yay! Look at her! She's, like, so festive and such a Christmas girl,' or whatever. But really, Christmas makes me happy," Carey recently told W Magazine. "People think I had this princess-style life or whatever, a kind of fairy-tale existence where I just emerged, like, 'Here I am!' And that is not what it is."

She continued to explain that her love of the holiday stems from a rough childhood. "But when you grow up with a messed-up life and then you're able to have this transformation where you can make your life what you want it to be? That is joy for me," she explained. "That's why I want my kids to have everything they can have. I want them to be able to understand that they can be anything they want to be."

While Carey loves Christmas, it wasn't her idea to do a Christmas album. The idea came from her record company in the early days of her music career. "It was very early in my career, and I thought it was a little early for me to be doing that, but I was like, 'Well, I love Christmas,'" she explained. "I had some very sad Christmases as a child, but I always try to find the bright light there."

In addition to her hit Christmas song, Carey radiates her holiday cheer through a children's book. "The Christmas Princess" was recently released just in time for the holiday. The book follows the story of little Mariah, "a mixed-race girl with no money and no one to come do her hair."

"She's like Pippi Longstocking or Harriet the Spy, but she's biracial," Carey said. "A lot of people who are my actual fans feel that they are 'other,' whether they're white, Black, Brown, whatever it is - you know, any race, creed, or color. If you feel 'other,' it's just a different thing."

The book is a fairytale about how being true to yourself is your greatest Christmas gift. Carey said that she's never called herself a Christmas princess. "I grew up in an all-white neighborhood, and when I was little, no one had my name. No one could even pronounce my name," she said. "So we call her Little Mariah in this story, because we're talking about a little girl who rises above her circumstances and ends up helping other people through music. Prince Charming doesn't save her. Music saves her."

Carey announced her new children's book release on Instagram and many of her friends and fans explained their excitement over it. Kris Jenner dropped into the comments to say, "I can’t wait for this!!!! 🎄🎄🎄❤️❤️❤️," and actress Kerry Washington added, "OMG OMG THE QUEEN OF CHRISTMAS! xo" 

One fan wrote, "So cute!! I’m going to read this to my students 🥰," and another said, "I am very excited for this book release 😁🌈"