This is one of the few albums where children sing all of the lead lyrics, and adult voices are heard sparingly, and usually just as back-up. Your child will be familiar with most of the songs, and enjoy hearing them presented through voices just as little and excited as their own. There are many lines in the songs that parents will recall singing in their own childhood; for instance, at the beginning of Farmer in the Dell, the children decide who gets to be the farmer by chanting, "One potato, two potato, three potato, four....my mommy told me to pick the very best one..." In each song, the children take turns singing verses or lines, so you hear tiny voices of varying pitches, volumes, and speech patterns (some have trouble with those darn 'r's). In She'll be Coming Around the Mountain, an adorable child does his best to mimic a cowboy drawl, and children join in "Whoo hoo" each time she 'comes 'round the mountain'. Sound effects also add fun to many of the songs; Skip to my Lou includes a horn honking and a cat meowing, BINGO has a dog barking, and The Mulberry Bush involves clapping your hands and patting your knees as well as stomping your feet.
The lyrics on each track encourage movement and participation. Jump Rope Melody is almost chanted to the beat, giving the clear impression that the little girls are actually jumping rope while they sing. Listeners can pretend they are jumping double-duch too, when the little girl on the CD yells, "Okay, next person jump in!" In Miss Mary Mack the little singers are playing a hand slapping game with each other while they sing. Go ahead and make one up with your little one so they can play too. It gets really fun in the third verse when the little girls are singing and slapping hands has fast as they can! Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes and Hokey Pokey are fun ways to get the whole family joining in on the fun, while wearing everyone out with the activity and laughter.
My two-year-old friend, Dano, lit up like a light bulb when I put this CD on. He really liked the sound of children's voices singing. We boogied to the songs together, and he would watch me for movement queues before imitating them. We clapped, stomped, twirled, and giggled our way through the whole CD together.
--Audra