Come learn and sing about the wonderful sea animals in this 14-track recording bubbling with fun. Whale Watching is Parent's Choice Award (1995) and Notable Children's Recording by the American Library Association. Mary Lee's beautiful voice is accompanied throughout the CD by many various instruments, including a keyboard, recorder, harmonica, accordion, kazzo, triangle, and tambourine. This music is appropriate just about anywhere, as it's sure to engage your little one.

Mary Lee favors no genre in this album, offering a little bit of everything, so listeners are sure to find what they like. Sea Lion Shuffle is a jazzy number featuring direct rhymes amidst finger snaps and the unique sound of a muted trumpet. Has your child heard a muted trumpet before? At The Codfish Ball is ragtime fun, including a kazzo and great lyrics; "There won't be a hook in site at the codfish ball. We'll be dancing tonight." Little Grandma sounds very Italian, utilizing an accordion, and singing about a grandmother who loves to make pasta. Baby Beluga is a popular song that is sung joyfully and includes the tambourine, flute, and bass. There is even an entire verse 'sung' with vibrating lips to make your little one giggle! While both Sardine Song and Row Your Boat are andante, Sardine Song features the keyboard and recorder, while Row Your Boat is a capella and Mary Lee loops her voice until she is singing rounds with herself. Dramatic tempo changes in Pelican Can Can makes the song suspenseful and fun; watch your little one to see how they adjust their movements from the high-energy fast beats to the sudden slow-down to adagio, then back up to allegro.

Humor that children can understand and appreciate is also present in many of the songs. For example, the very Italian sounding song, Squid Tarantella pokes fun at how people will eat calamari and think it's delicious but suddenly hate it when they find out it is squid; "Head and Feet, Feet and Head, these are the body parts of a squid. It's calamari, it's calamari, no longer a squid, it's calamari!" There are also plenty of fun lyrics for little listeners to sing along to, such as the Three Little Fishies chorus of, "Boop, boop, diddum, dahdum, whaddum, choo" or The Gooey Duck Song, "Well he hasn't got a front, and he hasn't got a duck, and he doesn't know Donald, and he doesn't go Quack!" Other songs will encourage imagination and visualization, such as a whale waving goodbye to you with his tail fin in Whale Watching. Tidepools, a relaxed song with synthetic sounds, tells of the amazing treasures of the sea that your child can envision as they learn about them in the song. Your little one will likely have all sorts of questions about Tidepools. You can amaze your child with stories of the multitude of life and color that can be found in these little ocean treasure chests.

My three-year-old friend, Sam, and I listened to this CD in two parts one day in the car. Sam was clapping along, bopping his head, and singing made up words to the song when he didn't know the actual words. He calmed down and was listening more intently to Otter Lullaby; finally, he asked me what an otter is. I explained as best I could and promised to show him a picture on the internet when we got home. Sam was fixated on the otter for the rest of the ride home, asking me all sorts of questions: where they live, what they sound like, what color they are, how they talk, what they like to eat, if you can pet them, how big they are...so on. Although I didn't know the answers to all of his questions, I was happy to see him so inquisitive and interested in learning about a sea creature. I'm sure that was one of Mary Lee's goals, and she would be proud to see it working in full force with this little one.

--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.