Mama Lisa's Books

Chakma Wedding Custom in Bangladesh

Purabi shared this photo of symbolic rice and cotton from a Chakma wedding she recently attended in Bangladesh and talked about its symbolism... “Rice and cotton are used for giving blessings to the Couple. The elderly relatives and guests give blessings to the Couple by touching the [...]

Happy Bengali New Year!

Purabi Khisa Tandra wrote from Bangladesh about the Bengali New Year... “Our 3 day-long biggest social festival ‘Bijhu' starts on April 12th with ‘Phool Bijhu' (decorating homes with flowers) followed by ‘Mool Bijhu' (the feast) and ‘Nuo Bojhor' (the Bengali New [...]

Chrysanthemums are Wedding Flowers in Bangladesh

Purabi Khisa Tandra shared this lovely photo of chrysanthemums in Bangladesh and wrote... “These chrysanthemums are from my auntie's garden in my hometown, recently I took this pic. In Bangladesh, winter (November to February) is a season of weddings. Lots of chrysanthemums are used along [...]

Animal Sounds Around the World – A Video

Here's a video to hear animal sounds around the world... Bow Wow Meow – Animal Sounds in Different Languages from properniceinnit on Vimeo. The languages are: English, Mandarin, French, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Hindi, Canadian-French, Romanian, Japanese, Russian, Dutch, Bengali, [...]

Bengali Greetings and Customs

Purabi Khisa wrote to me about greetings in Bangladesh.  She wrote: "There is no common ‘word' for everyone to say ‘hi' in Bengali.  Usually Bengali Hindus say ‘Nomoskar' to greet each other. Bengali Muslims have another way of greeting.  Older people also [...]

Bengali New Year – Nôbobôrsho

Purabi wrote from Bangladesh: "The day after tomorrow is ‘Bengali New Year'. Wishing all of you a very prosperous, joyful life!" Mongol Jatra, literally ‘colorful rally', is enjoyed by people irrespective of race, religion etc. on the New Year. Mongol Shuva Jatra Pohela [...]

April Fools in Indonesia and Bangladesh

April 1st is April Fools Day which means that in the US, France and elsewhere around the world, people will be playing pranks on each other.  I was pleased and surprised to learn that it's also celebrated in Indonesia and Bangladesh!  Linda N. wrote from Indonesia... "The same in [...]

Mama Lisa's World News and Multimedia Features

A significant part of the Mama Lisa sites is a large collection of songs and nursery rhymes from around the world. We currently have about 750 songs from around 90 countries and cultures. When you consider how many languages there are in those cultures – that's a lot of information! In [...]

Can Anyone Help with a Cuban Rhyme/Finger Play that starts with “Chiquitica así”?

Jeannie Backer wrote to us for help with a Cuban Finger Play. Here's her note... My mother from Cuba used to sing a song/rhyme to usthat I only partially remember, maybe you have heard something similar. It's not a song as much as a cute thing that a child says to adult to ask for

The [...]