These 26 songs, singing games, and spoken word poetry, were selected from over 200 outstanding recordings for children and presents a panorama of music performed for and by young children. The tracks are sung by folk greats such as Pete Seeger and Ella Jenkins, and by children in multiple languages. The sound is organic, using original recordings and often just the vocalist and a guitar or banjo. If you have never heard of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings or folkways before, this collection will reveal a whole world of sound. If you have heard some already, you will still be delighted by the breadth and variety of this collection. This package includes notes, song texts, and a complete list of recordings for children.

The educational value and opportunities in this album are vast, as history lessons are around every corner. The prelude to Hey, Coal Miner, has a child interviewing a former coal miner (in his 80s during the interview) about what it was like to work in the coal mine. The coal miner song continues to sing about the challenges of being a coal miner, with a repeating chorus that children can easily sing along to. The song notes in the cover booklet also supply information on the origins of the songs sung in other languages. Miwoe Nenyo is an African (Ghana) children's game song that begins with very simply rhythms and continues to add more rhythms until it's quite complex. Wolf Song and Turtle Song is an American Indian song, sung in the Apache language. A la Vibora de la mar and Los Pollitos are sung in Spanish, Sur le Pont d'Avignon is in French, and Oksn is in Yiddish. The cover booklet has some of the song printed in their original language as well as English so you can answer some of your child's questions of "What does that mean?" The spoken word on the album introduces your child to some famous African American poetry, including Bed Bug and the Langston Hughes poems, Dreams and Youth.

There are plenty of opportunities for your child to interact with the legendary folk singers, such as making animal sounds with Pete Seeger in I Had a Rooster, laughing the chorus of Ha-Ha This-a-Way with Lead Belly, or singing the alphabet with Ella Jenkins and Alan Mills. Your little one will enjoy naming the different East African animals with Jenkins in Pole Pole, and learning that the term 'pole' means "go slow" in Swahili. Can your little one say that? I'll bet they can! The upbeat tune of Seeger's Skip to my Lou, featuring the banjo, is guaranteed to get your child excited and dancing. Among the Little White Daisies is an old fashioned name game that parents can easily insert their own little one's first and 'second' name in to, personalizing the song. Jeanne Ritchie also counts to 24, so it can be used to help your child learn their numbers in order. Why, Oh Why is a fun Woody Guthrie song to sing along with, as the chorus of "Why, oh why, oh why?" is easy and catchy. Guthrie is poking fun at all the crazy questions children ask, but your child is likely to easily come up with their own questions to fill in the verses. There is humor in the song that your little one will understand, as some of the answers Guthrie gives for the questions don't fit in with the rhythm or rhyme of the song.

It took my two-year-old friend, Dano, two listening sessions to hear the entire CD, and he has clear favorites. He lit up when he heard the familiar ABCs and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and started humming along. Dano also giggled at the silly car noises Woody Guthrie made in Riding in the Car. Dano would copy the engine noise each time, rolling his lips and going, "bbbbbbbbb."

--Audra

Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) was a prolific and influential songwriter, whose best-known songs include, This Land Is Your Land and Roll On, Columbia. In the 1940s he recorded hundreds of songs for Moses Asch, among them dozens of songs he wrote for and sang with his own children.

Ella Jenkins is Folkways' best-known children's artist. She has appeared with Mr. Rogers and Barney, received dozens of awards, and travels unceasingly. You'll Sing a Song, I'll Sing a Song is the most popular recording in Folkways history. Each Ella Jenkins album has a theme and is targeted at a particular age group. Through her songs, instrumentals, and stories Ella instructs, entertains, and inspires children and teachers alike. Many of her songs involve children through call-and-response.

Pete Seeger is best known as a songwriter and inspiring song leader, but also recorded songs for children. He recorded most of his children's albums on Folkways when his own children were young, in the 1950s. His recordings include many activity and play-party songs.

Lead Belly - given name Huddie Ledgetter - (1888-1949) is an African American singer who learned a huge repertory of songs in his lifetime, and recorded many of them for Moses Asch. Among his best-known songs are Goodnight Irene and Take This Hammer. He also recorded many songs for children, drawing on his experience as a child in Louisiana.

Alan Mills is a popular Canadian folk singer who recorded six albums of children's songs for Folkways, in English and in French.

Smithsonian Folkway Recording is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. Their mission is the legacy of Moses Asch, who founded Folkway Records in 1948 to document music, spoken word, instruction, and sounds from around the world. The Smithsonian acquired Folkways from the Asch estate in 1987, and Smithsonian Folkways Recording has continued the Folkways tradition by supporting the work of traditional artists and expressing a commitment to cultural diversity, education, an increased understanding.