Customer Reviews

Songs To Grow On For Mother And Child

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Songs to Grow on for Mother and Child" is aptly titled. The first listen disappointed me sorely. The second pass through wasn't much more satisfying. Now, I love it.

Sometime between "Did I waste my money?" and now, I crossed the barrier to "Hey, hey, hey/Little Sack of Sugar/Ho! Ho! Ho!/Little sack of sweet." At first you will tolerate the songs, but in time, you'll catch yourself, as I have, humming the tune, mumbling the lyrics under your breath. Other songs, like "Swimmy Swim" will sneak into your heart. So will "I want My Milk (I Want it Now)."

Woody Guthrie's relaxed rural voice does his songs justice. These aren't "This Land is My Land" songs with the flavor of patriotic pride. These are children's songs with a folk-tint. Guthrie set out to write children's songs and accomplished that. They sound as if Woody himself took a recorder out to his porch some sunny Saturday and sang to his own children.

Fans of "The Wheel on the Bus" will love the repeating lyrics, and the simple music behind the songs. In fact, in many of the songs, like "I'll Eat You, Ill Drink You" have only a soft drum. It could just as well be a cardboard box he is strumming. Any parent will find singing these as afternoon a cappella playtime songs comfortable.

I fully recommend "Songs to Grow on for Mother and Child."

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

I was looking for fun songs to sing with my 7 month old, and was tired of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I igonored the "4-6 year old" recommendation on this, and I am so glad! My baby loves to listen to this, and we dance and sing along. The songs are easy to learn and fun to sing, with a beat that he can bounce to. When we dance to "I want my bottle" he laughs and laughs! I totally recommend this!

my children are 23 and 25 years old now. when they were wee ones, i used to dance them around the room to THIS ALBUM! somehow, along the way, it disappeared into the ether. now i have found it just in time to send to my 1-year old nephew. throughout these past 20 years or so, my husband and i have often burst out singing "swim, swim, swimmy, i swim" while in the shower or other appropriately wet places. these tunes stay with you for life! i'm getting my saka sugar a copy of this for our 32nd anniversary!

I grew up with this album, and have long wished I could get another copy - am I ever glad to see it back! I loved these songs as a child, and still remember them after 30+ years! They're fun to sing to, and even the youngest kids can pick up on their words and sing-song melodies, while they also remain fun for adults, time and time again. Not dated at all - they're absolutely timeless. And great for road trips! I can't wait to share these songs with my kids.

This album is beautiful as well as extremely entertaining! Enough plastic barney garbage already. Why prepare you kids to be the mindless candy eating morons disney craves as viewers! Give them something of sincere quality. This is a spontanious and light hearted music that is enjoyable by all! Finally an album I don't mind playing 100 times a day!

I had the chance to compare various baby songs by different singers before buying this one. This particular one by Guthrie had an amazing effect on my wife and myself. It is excellent: the songs are not only lovely and easy to learn, but also entertaining and educative. I highly recommend it.

My brother and sister-in-L are expecting twins in the UK and asked me to send this to them so that they can learn some of the tunes before the babies arrive. I was curious, so bought an extra copy for my music loving children (2 year old and 5 month old). My bro, as usual, was spot on. The CD is top notch with wonderful songs that we all love to listen to over and over again, both my children respond to it as do all my friends who I have given this to as a shower gift.

I originally purchased Songs to Grow on when my daughter was born . . . way back in 1978. I continue to sing many of those songs to her today. "Grass, grass, grass, tree, tree, tree, leafy, leafy leaf, 1-2-3." I purchased three CDs so I could give them to my grand-nephew, grand-niece, and soon to be grand-daughter. The songs are not your typical children's songs, but they are much fun to sing and the kids love 'em!

Like other reviewers, on the first listening, it was rough going for me. In retrospect, I can say I thought it too hoakey. But I, like many others, treasure Woodie Guthrie, and wanted my children to be exposed to him. So last night I brought the CD along in our car and played it for our boys, age 6 and 4. I expected them to not like it, to find it too old-fashioned and corny, but I was happy to learn otherwise. They both loved it because, quite simply, it is simple, silly, fun and catchy. As we were shopping, our six year old was singing "Why, oh why" after hearing it only once. The lesson learned is Woodie wrote this for children, and did a wonderful job. Children don't care whether something is old-fashioned as long as it engages and entertains them. I too am beginning to "play" some of the songs in my head, just as my boys sing them out loud. To further illustrate the impression this has made on my boys: our older son is tweaking the lyrics to bring the songs home, such as "Why is my brother a silly-head, why, oh why, oh why . . ." This is a gem, which now holds a solid place in our sons' CD collection.

I am a huge Wilco fan, and they had a huge influence on my also becoming a Woody Guthrie fan. Woody was such a wonderful songwriter and had a special talent with kids' songs. My kids love the songs, and so do I. His music is a nice change from all of the contemporary kids' music out there (which we also listen to).