So I like the melody of Hush Little Baby, but I've always been bothered by the words ("Daddy's gonna buy you"). Have you felt the same way? Well, luckily Sylvia Long has. Her version of Hush Little Baby I really like.
I'm going to assume she would be happy to have you sing this to your child instead of the materialistic one, and that you will want to go out and get the book with the pleasant illustrations once you read it. Here's a sample of the song:
Hush little baby, don't say a word,
Mama's going to show you a hummingbird.
If that hummingbird should fly,
Mama's going to show you the evening sky.
Isn't that great? I once tried to change the lyrics myself when I was rocking Maya to sleep, but mine were too snide, especially when I got to diamond ring. Long's words are so gentle.
The image of rocking a baby to sleep, singing a lullaby is one of those that brings up feelings of warmth, peace, and love. But we all know sometimes bedtime can be anything but peaceful. Maya, like all babies, is so beautiful when she's sleeping. But occasionally she sprawls herself out like a drunken frat boy. Here's a photo of my little cherub sleeping.
6 comments:
Larry,
I found your blog through the newspaper article and have really enjoyed reading through past posts. This book sure looks like a winner - I love singing the song to my 5 month old daughter, but have always hated the materialistic aspect of the song. I am looking forward to learning the new words. Thanks for keeping up the work that you do here.
Heather
Yeah, and don't forget to go out and buy the book (I don't want to get sued). And thanks for checking back with the blog. I know it's been pretty sparse lately.
Larry
Mr. Longard,
My boy's very first librarian! How are you and the fam? I miss you guys and think of you so often.
Maya is adorable. We appreciated the Christmas card. (we had just moved so were not very good at getting ours out last year)
I received your blog address from Kirsten H. and thought I'd check out your site. I love it! What great information.
Come on over to my blog to get the scoop on what we're up to. We can stay in touch.
Give Patty and Maya a hug for me.
:)
Hi Larry, we met at IFLA (just a few hours ago, as I post this!) Very nice blog. Gonna email my Children's Librarians back home. Cheers!
I used to sing this to my now 9 year old daughter when she was a baby. Then she sang it to her baby sister. It has such great memories for us that I wanted to add it to their scrapbooks. Thanks for saving me the trouble of rewriting the whole song. Our girls are getting this book for their new baby cousin expected in a few months. Ours is completely worn out, but we can't bear to part with our original copy.
I own and LOVE this book.
I am visiting CA and left my book in TX. I forgot the last couple of verses and googled the words to see if I could find them. And I did. Thank you.
BTW...bought this book 7 years ago for my oldest...still singing it to my 2 year old tonight...but the 7 year old still loves to come in and listen!
This book has been a BLESSING to our Family!
Peace and Grace,
CA girl now dwelling in rural TX.
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