“Bones” by Lila

“Skeleton” by Lila…

“Witch” by Sarina

“Graveyard” by Melisa

“Graveyard II” by Melisa

“R.I.P.” by Marisa

Have a Spooky Fun Halloween!

Mama Lisa

That’s the image I saw in my head every time I heard the song… until years later, when I became a teenager, it was dashed to the ground, and shattered upon being told that the song was about drug use. Somehow that tainted the song for me and made it less interesting… somehow mundane… not of a person’s own, pure imagination, but drug induced.

Today, my childhood image has been redeemed. I learned that the song actually came from a childhood drawing by John Lennon’s son Julian. You can see the drawing below. When John asked his son what the drawing was about, Julian said, “It’s Lucy in the sky with diamonds.” Lucy was Julian’s playmate in school.

The song “Lucy in the Song with Diamonds” was also influenced by Lewis Carroll. Paul McCartney said, “We did the whole thing like an Alice in Wonderland idea, being in a boat on the river, slowly drifting downstream with those great cellophane flowers towering over your head. Every so often it broke off and you saw Lucy with Diamonds all over the sky.”

That is a much more interesting origin of this song! What’s more, it lets me remember my original conception of it… and feel like that’s what it was really about… the feeling of the innocent, colorful, originality of childhood.

Oh happy day! To regain a childhood perspective!

Hattip: Steve Bunche’s Blog

*****
On a sadder note, the real Lucy Vodden (née O’Donnell), Julian’s playmate, recently passed away from Lupus at the age of 46.

The song below is called “Bonjour”. It’s a French hello song written and sung by Alain Le Lait. Sit back and enjoy the song by clicking the MP3 below. You can read along with the lyrics in French, followed by an English translation by Alain…

MP3 of Bonjour

Bonjour
(French Lyrics)

Bonjour, bonjour
Comment ça va?
Bonjour, bonjour
Très bien, merci
Je suis content d’être ici
Avec tous mes petits amis
Bonjour, bonjour
Comment ça va?

Merci, merci
Merci d’être ici
Merci, merci
Écoutez
Aimez-vous cette chanson?
J’espère que je suis dans le ton
Merci, merci
Merci d’être ici

Hello
(English Translation)

Hello, hello
How are you?
Hello, hello
Very well, thank you
I am happy to be here
With all my little friends
Hello, hello
How are you?

Thank you, thank you
For being here
Thank you, thank you
Listen up
Do you like this song?
I hope that I am in tune
Thank you, thank you
For being here.

The French and English lyrics to this “Bonjour” song are © 2003 Alain Le Lait.

Alain Le Lait is a French native who grew up near Paris, France. He moved to the United States in the 1970s and now lives in Colorado. Alain writes and performs easy to learn children’s songs in French, Spanish and English. Check out his site www.Yadeeda.com to hear samples of his music and to buy his CD’s or mp3’s. Soon we’ll be posting Alain’s version of Alouette!

Merci Alain!

Mama Lisa

PS Here are some other Hello and Goodbye Songs…

Enjoy!

Mama Lisa

The Wrangler’s music is cool. You feel like you’re sauntering in a Western town. I thought it had a bit of a bluesy feel to it. So I asked the Spanish Wrangler how he would classify his music. He said, “a word I’ve seen used (and sometimes use myself) to describe my stuff is ‘roots-based.’ I think that signals that the songs are blues & country with some folk thrown in…” The folk is where the stories come from.

Check out the Wrangler singing in the song below (he’s great with the children!). You can see how he teaches Spanish words…

You can hear the whole song, plus others, on his site at Spanish Wrangler.

Here’s a link to buy the Spanish Wrangler’s CD’s.

Thanks to Wil Thomas aka the Spanish Wrangler for sharing his music with us!

Mama Lisa

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the US. It celebrates the life of such an important American who had the courage to speak up for equal rights for all. Here are some activities to do with children to help them learn more about him…

You can listen to his I Have a Dream Speech online with your children. It’s his most well-known speech.

You can have your kids do an animated Martin Luther King Jr. Jigsaw Puzzle – choose Easy, Medium or Hard.

Let your school-age kid go to the site called America’s Story to read about Martin Luther King Jr. (with your help if needed).

Speech Accent Archive – If you’d like to hear or study accents in English check out this site. People from all over the world recite a paragraph in English.

Internet Slang Dictionary & Translator – also translates internet acronyms like lol

Nice Translator – Uses the Google translator, but displays text in a way that’s easier to read.

Verbix – Conjugates verbs in many languages

WordReference.com – online translation dictionaries translates words from English to: Spanish, Italian, Russian, German and French (translates in both directions).

Hello World – language resources for Kids

LanguageGuide.org – Visual Dictionaries in various languages

Feel free to mention any language tools or sites you like in the comments below.

-Mama Lisa

Listen to Vi play it when he was 11 years old!

Here are some of the ideas I wanted to point out:

-Give magazine subscriptions as gifts (good idea with the December holidays approaching)

-Collect simple recipes and allow your child to cook them. There are some good cookbooks available at the local library for kids.

-Always leave lots of notes for your kids. Put them in their lunch boxes, at different places around the house, etc.

-Play board games that encourage reading.

-Buy your child books about subjects s/he loves – even if it’s something like Barbie dolls or Pokemon. What’s most important is that your child is interested in the subject and wants to read.

-Read classic chapter books to your child at night. Better yet, read them to the whole family. My husband reads books like The Wizard of Oz, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Harry Potter to all of us. We all look forward to this special time together at night.

-Find internet sites and computer games about topics your child enjoys. My son has been interested in the weather since he was in preschool. (He’s in high school now.) He has checked the weather reports online since he was about 3 1/2 years old (no joke!). His interest progressed to reading and learning about the weather on weather related sites.

-If your child is singing a song and doesn’t know all the lyrics, look them up with him/her. Let your child see the lyrics onscreen and try to read them. Every chance you get to have your child read is excellent no matter what the reason.

-Buy your child books s/he’ll enjoy for the holidays.

Some books my kids have liked over the years are:

Captain Underpants Books
Henry and Mudge Series (younger kids)
Five Little Monkeys books by Eileen Christelow
Magic School Bus Books
Eric Carle/Bill Martin Jr Books
Amelia Bedelia
Fancy Nancy
Guinness Book of World Records
Ripley’s Believe It or Not
Harry Potter Books
Roald Dahl’s Books
I-Spy Books
Wizard of Oz Books
Dr. Seuss
Magic Tree House Series

Feel free to add any good ideas or recommended series in the comments!

-Mama Lisa

Heather sent me these Halloween songs and the following note:

Hi,

When I was little my Mom taught my sisters and me several Halloween songs. You have one on your website called “Five Little Pumpkins” and “Trick or Treat” that we know. Here is some others I thought you might like to add:

The Halloween Song

H, A, double L, O
W, double E, N
Spells Halloween

Jack-o’-lantern

Jack-o’-lantern, Jack-o’-lantern
You are such a funny sight.
As you sit there, at the window
Glowing on at the night.

You were once a yellow pumpkin
Growing on a sturdy vine.
Now you are a jack-o’-lantern
Glowing on at the night.

I am not sure what the titles are, but I have been searching for these songs on the internet and can’t find either of them. But I sing them to my daughter all the time. We are especially fond of Halloween and we like your website.

Thanks!

Heather

The second song sounds like it’s to the tune of Frère Jacques.

Thanks for sharing those wonderful Halloween songs with us Heather! If anyone else would like to post a song for the holiday, feel free to add it in the comments below.

Happy Halloween!

Mama Lisa

P.S. Thanks to Lila for the Halloween drawing! If anyone else would like to share their kid’s drawing with us, please email me. -Lisa