Good Reads Library
Mardi Gras Music
I have been using a lot more recorded music in my programs lately, and the kids (and their moms) seem to especially love dancing to a Cajun beat.
So, in honor of Mardi Gras let me recommend these two for starters:
I've just started using this one.There's a bit too many introductory tracks, but the music is fabulous. Lots of it is in English, so you'll be able to sing along easily.
And then there is this one, which I have owned and loved for years:
If you know Cajun music, you know Michael Doucet and his band Beausoleil. This album is for kids, but like any good recording (or book) for kids it's something your whole family will enjoy. In fact, you might find yourself playing parts of this even when the kids AREN'T in the car! Most of this is in French, but the liner gives you the English translation as well as the French lyrics.
There are counting rhymes, game songs, even the "Hokey Pokey" in French as "Le Hoogie Boogie". But a lot of the album is ljust lively dance music. I especially love "Johnny Peut Pas Danser" (Johnny Can't Dance), which is rip roaring, rock and roll Cajun fun!
My special song on this is the last song, a lullaby about the "p'tit poules" (chickens) who are going to lay eggs so my baby can "fais do do"-- -sleep.
JR loved that song when she was a baby. In fact, I sang her to sleep with it every night for years, and she still requests it occasionally when she needs a comfort song.
If I close my eyes when I listen, I can feel her skinny little body in my arms, curly head on my shoulder.........
Oh, never mind that. Get this, play it ,dance with your little ones and let "le bon temps rouler!"
Happy Mardi Gras, y'all....................
