Mary Lee, winner of six Children's Music Awards, presents three complete sets of well established children's classics. The songs all have a folk feel to them, as Mary Lee presents them upbeat and supported by guitar, dobro, recorder, and occasional accents from small percussion instruments. The thirty-three songs on this album offer enough variety to provide entertainment all afternoon, whether playing at home or singing along in the car.

Mary Lee does not hold back in this recording, offering songs to entertain and engage your little one through a variety of song styles, tempos, instruments, and activities. Smile and tap your knee to the folksy feel of What'll I Do With The Baby-O?, dance a jig with To Market, To Market, march to the snare drum in The Nobel Duke of York, or slow down with Wash the Dishes. Mary Lee even puts a familiar children's story-game to music with a dobro, recorder, and tambourine in This Little Pig Went To Market. Many songs on the album involve repeating choruses, helping little listeners learn the lyrics faster and have time to join in. For example, Trot, Trot to Boston and Mother and Father, and Uncle John consist of just one simple verse repeated twice. Little Flea is a slightly more complicated verse, but the tempo is slow and the entire thing repeats to give listeners another chance to join in the fun, yelling "Gotcha!" at the end. Some of the tunes are also borrowed from other well known songs to help with recognition and memory; Today is Baby's Birthday is the same tune as For He's a Jolly Good Fellow, and The Elevator Song is the same tune as Turkey in the Straw. You can hold the listener's attention by making each verse a little story with cute word changes that a child may use, like "whalies" instead of "whales" and "bookies" instead of "books."

Many of the songs include activities and games. The youngest listeners will love Peek-a-Boo with their adult listener, while toddlers are sure to get a kick out of finding their Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes, and rolling their arms and kicking their feet in Clap Your Hands. Here We Go Uppity Up is similar to the hokey pokey, with all the fun of putting body parts in, out, and shaking them all about. Feel free to add more body parts for your little one to make it even more personal and fun. You Ought to See My Baby is a fun song to act out with your little one, "You ought to see my baby, my baby loves to clap, and every time we sing this song we clap, and clap, and clap." You can make up new verses singing about whatever your baby likes to do - dance, wiggle, giggle, high-five...anything! The other obvious interaction for children is singing along! A quick favorite will surely be Acke Backa Soda Cracker's repeating chorus of, "Acka Backa Soda Cracker, acka backa boo, acka backa soda cracker, I love you!" Shakin' Eggs Blues begins with a fun "Oomp ah, oomp ah" tune, and Mary Lee encourages listeners to repeat after her, "Hey hey hey", "Ho ho ho", "hee hee hee" and "ha ha ha" in a call-and-response style.

My two-year-old friend, Kyle, was in a silly mood when we listened to this album together for the first time. He would dance when the beat picked up and move his mouth like he was singing without making a sound. My giggles only prompted him to do it more. Kyle had me laughing out loud during I Have A Little Bicycle, because his movements coincides with the tempo and lyrics of the song; when the bicycle came to a yellow light, the song would slow, and Kyle continued his same dance motion in slow-motion. When the bicycle in the song came to a red light and the words stopped, Kyle froze like a dear in the headlights until the song began again.

--Audra

Mary Lee Sunseri is the winner of two American Library Notable Children's Recordings and four Parents Choice Awards. She has produced and performed 16 CD's of traditional and original music. Mary Lee has performed with the legendary Burl Ives, opened for Bill Cosby and Lily Tomlin, recorded the title song to Walt Disney's movie The Apple Dumpling Gang, recorded nursery rhymes for Mattel Toys' See 'N Say, toured as a member of "Randy Sparks & The Back Porch Majority,"and appeared in the MGM Elvis Presley movie The Trouble with Girls.

Mary Lee received her certificate of study in Musical Theatre from London Drama School with distinction in singing. She performs at festivals, concerts, folk clubs, and corporate and academic groups. She is a frequent performer at public schools and　libraries throughout California, Massachusetts and Washington, and gives workshops on music and infant brain development.

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