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  • Archive for the 'Nursery Rhymes' Category

    Contents

    Tapent, tapent, petites mains – Clap, Clap, Little Hands – A French Pat-a-cake Song with a YouTube Video

    A Rain Rhyme that Involves Baking a Cake

    Dragon fly! – A Rhyme about a Dragonfly, Boys and Fish

    Cool Cuban Kids Song – Tiene Pinochito – Little Pinocchio

    Can Someone Help with a German Lap Rhyme?

    Pennsylvania Dutch Version of Dies Ist der Daumen – This Is the Thumb

    Does Anyone Know an Old Serbian Rhyme that Sounds Like, “Studda Bubba rumpa tee”?

    Birthday Chant and Jump Rope Rhyme – Apples, Peaches, Pears and Plums

    Can Anyone Help with a Czech Rhyme that Sounds Like “Hou-py, hou-py, hou-py”?

    Chanda Mama – “Moon” Video by Playing for Change

    Let’s see if any of you know this rhyme…

    Japanese Hand Clapping Playground Game

    Jane Taylor’s Poem about a Pussy-cat is about How Kids Should Treat Pets

    Did You Sing the Rhyme “Rubber Dolly”?

    Old Mother Goose Cartoon

    Can Someone Help with the Lap Rhyme, “Run run horsey with your long hair”?

    A Collection of Nursery Rhymes

    Can Anyone Help with a Norwegian Rhyme with the Line, “Kan du gleme gammel Norge”?

    Can Anyone Help with a Rhyme Sounding Like, “Oddly boddlee finga hoof”? It’s Most Likely German!

    Lyrics to Anna Banana and Hannah Banana with an MP3

    Posts

    Tapent, tapent, petites mains – Clap, Clap, Little Hands – A French Pat-a-cake Song with a YouTube Video

    Friday, November 20th, 2009

    Pat-a-cake songs can be found throughout the western world. They help teach children to use their hands…

    Tapent, tapent, petites mains
    Tourne, tourne, joli moulin,
    Nage, nage, gentil poisson
    Vole, vole papillon

    Clap, clap, little hands,
    Turn, turn, pretty mill,
    Swim, swim, nice fish,
    Fly, fly, butterfly!

    We’d love for you to share a Pat-a-cake song from your country in the comments below or by emailing me.

    Cheers!

    Mama Lisa

    PS I’m curious if there are Pat-a-cake Songs in Asia and Africa.

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    A Rain Rhyme that Involves Baking a Cake

    Thursday, November 12th, 2009

    Here’s a rain rhyme from Northumberland that reminds us that rainy weather is a good opportunity to stay indoors and cook!

    Rain, rain, go away,
    And come again another day,
    When I brew and when I bake,
    I’ll give you a little cake.

    Stay dry!

    Mama Lisa

    It's raining cake!

    PS You can tell it’s raining where I am and that I’m considering baking something yummy!

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    Dragon fly! – A Rhyme about a Dragonfly, Boys and Fish

    Monday, November 9th, 2009

    image 

    Dragon fly! Dragon fly!

    Dragon fly! dragon fly! fly about the brook,
    Sting all the bad boys who for the fish look;
    But let the good boys catch all they can,
    And then take them home to be fried in a pan,
    With nice bread and butter they shall sup up their fish,
    While all the little naughty boys shall only lick the dish.

    This rhyme can be found in Rhymes Old and New collected by M.E.S. Wright, (1900).

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    Cool Cuban Kids Song – Tiene Pinochito – Little Pinocchio

    Saturday, November 7th, 2009

    Jeanette wrote to us looking for the lyrics to a Cuban lullaby and I think we can help with this one! Here’s her letter, followed by the song she’s looking for…

    Lisa,

    There is a nursery rhyme or song that my grandmother used to sing to me (she has been dead about 8 years now) that I can only remember a few lines to… it could be a Cuban nursery song, I’m not really sure… I am dying to find the lyrics to the entire song, I now sing the parts that I can remember to my daughter and wish i could remember it.

    It goes something like this…

    Quien es me morena que habre su boca, en ella le caben dos mil calabasas un saco de higo y otro de pasas.

    I hope you can help me locate this

    Thank you so much!!

    Jeanette Duque

    Here’s a similar version we found in Spanish, with an English translation by Monique Palomares of Mamá Lisa’s World en español

    Original Spanish Lyrics

    Tiene Pinochito

    Tiene Pinochito
    tan pequeña boca
    que en ella le caben
    cien platos de sopa
    trescientos pepinos
    y mil calabazas
    un saco de higos
    y otro de pasas
    a la pobre niña
    le entró la viruela
    calentura mala
    y dolor de muelas
    el médico le receta
    sardinas a la parrilla
    a ver si le engordan
    esas pantorrillas.

    Which means in English:

    Little Pinocchio has
    such a little mouth
    that into it fits
    a hundred plates of soup,
    three hundreds cucumbers
    and a thousand pumpkins,
    a bag full of figs
    and another one of raisins.
    He caught the smallpox,
    a bad fever
    and his back tooth aches.
    The doctor prescribes him
    grilled sardines
    to see if his calves
    get bigger.

    This is a jump rope song.

    Monique said regarding the original question, “Jeanette’s grandma’s version must have been : ‘¿Quién es mi morena que habre su boca, en ella le caben dos mil calabazas un saco de higos y otro de pasas…?.’ The ‘quién es mi morena que…’ means ‘who is my little brown girl who opens her mouth, into it fits, etc.’ It could have been a version created by her grandma to fit the situation. Perhaps she could sing it to us to help us figure it out…”

    Thanks to Monique for providing the English translation and for helping with this song!

    Mama Lisa

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    Can Someone Help with a German Lap Rhyme?

    Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

    Gloria wrote to me:

    Hi, my grandma (born in Eisleben in 1875, emigrating to the Midwest in 1902, married her second husband (my grandfather) in St. Paul, lived most of her life in Wisconsin with her third husband), recited a rhyme when dandling a baby on her extended foot, either with legs crossed at the hips (or just straight out, but the dad’s were best at that). The rest of the family did it for every baby/little child, including myself. We never saw it in print, and we only have the phonetic sound from listening to it. Phonetically, it went something like what follows. I would dearly love to know exactly what it meant, although it is obvious based on what happened to the child:

    Grandma (and all the rest of us who had children) would cross her legs at her hips, sit the baby on her upper ankle, hold the baby’s two hands in hers, and bounce the baby lightly up and down, until the end of the rhyme, when she would let the child fall back, laughing, and then lift the child back up, and begin again!

    Scheckle, scheckle, reiderlein,
    Ven die kinder kleinerschein
    Reiden zie auf steckerlein,

    Ven zie greis auf verten
    Reiden zie auferten
    Zen zie verten,
    Klip, Klop, Klip Klop
    Reiden zi (then something like a scary word or sounds)

    “Boom stehl leckta!” really loud!

    The adult lets the child fall back, usually grinning happily. (Sometimes a baby didn’t like it but others wanted you to pull them up onto your ankle and do it again! Some kids got a little dizzy if you did this action too fast! But mostly they loved it. I don’t remember their doing it with me, but I am certain they did, that’s where the phonetic sound and rhythm of the lines as I remember them come in, as well as my mother’s saying it to me when I was older and wanted her to tell me what it was, but it would always have been a phonetic memory, since she never really learned much German except what was common… the words you aren’t supposed to say!) This was done several times, until either one’s leg was tired, or the child needed a rest. I just used the phonetic version when I treated my kids as babies to the fun game, but for some reason I never asked my grandma. I was told that it meant something like, “When a child is little it rides on a stick horse, but when it tries to ride a real horse, he will go faster and fall off.” Have you ever heard this? I possibly have some of the phonetics wrongly remembered, but the rhythm and sounds and actions are still in my brain.

    Thanks for any help you can give. I do like your website, I found it by way of BING. I think it is very interesting as to the German, lots of Germans settled in America. My father’s ancestors may have come from Austria, as well as Germany, but came to Wisconsin in the 1840’s, met and married, learned English, so they never spoke German at all when we knew them. A grandson, age 12, who has been learning German, took to it immediately, and loves it, as well as Norwegian, so there must be an inherited acclimation to the sound of a language.

    Sincerely,

    Gloria Koeser Laundrie

    Thanks for sharing your song with us Gloria! If anyone can help with the German version and/or an English translation, please let us know in the comments below.

    Cheers!

    Mama Lisa

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    Pennsylvania Dutch Version of Dies Ist der Daumen – This Is the Thumb

    Saturday, October 17th, 2009

    I’ve been asked several times for the Pennsylvania Dutch Version of the German rhyme Dies Ist der Daumen – This Is the Thumb. Today I received the version below thanks to Luke and Mary Martin. Here’s what Luke wrote…

    My wife and I are also familiar with many of the German songs. This morning while looking for them, I found the finger rhyme, and your question about the Pennsylvania German variation. This is the song my father used to sing to us – seven children. Pennsylvania German has many varieties of spelling, and perhaps you can sharpen up the spelling. (My wife, Mary, and I worked at the pronunciation and spelling of the Pennsylvania German Finger Song. Mary grew up speaking Pennsylvania German.) Here it goes…

    Des ist die Daume

    Des ist die Daume
    Der schittelt die Plaume
    Der laest sie ouf
    Der traught sie Haem
    Und des glae Bopplemaul
    Bopplet alles mit’n ahnna da Haem.

    This is the thumb.
    This [one] shakes the plums,
    This [one] picks them up,
    This [one] brings them home,
    And this little tattletale tells everyone at home.

    It was always spoken, not sung.

    Thanks for your work in collecting old songs.

    Luke Martin
    (Pennsylvania)

    If anyone would like to give other variations of the spelling, feel free to in the comments below. Many thanks to Luke Martin for sending this version of the rhyme to us!

    Enjoy!

    Mama Lisa

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    Does Anyone Know an Old Serbian Rhyme that Sounds Like, “Studda Bubba rumpa tee”?

    Thursday, October 15th, 2009

    Connie wrote:

    I was hoping you could help me with an old Serbian rhyme. My mother-in-law grew up in a Serbian neighborhood. She always remembered one old rhyme. Now that she has Alzheimer’s that poem is the only thing she connects too. Problem being we only know the beginning of it, don’t know how to spell the words correctly and don’t know what it means.

    It goes something like this… (forgive the spelling)

    Studda Bubba rumpa tee
    Polenta cookin poperdy
    Hoy hoy mommy say…

    That is all she can remember anymore, but it makes her smile and when we say it to her she joins in. I wish we could know how to finish it and what it means. If you have ever heard it and can help I would really appreciate it so much. Thanks for any help you could give me.

    Connie

    If anyone can help Connie, please let us know in the comments below.

    Thanks!

    Mama Lisa

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    Birthday Chant and Jump Rope Rhyme – Apples, Peaches, Pears and Plums

    Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

    My daughter and her friend Marisa taught me this birthday rhyme in the car the other day. They chant this in class to talk about birthdays and months of the year.

    Apples, Peaches, Pears and Plums

    Apples, Peaches, Pears and Plums,
    Tell me when your birthday comes?

    January, February, March, April,
    May, June, July, August, September,
    October, November, December?

    Some people only chant the first 2 lines and then another person will answer with their birthday.

    This is also a jump rope rhyme. Two kids hold a long jump rope and swing it around in a circle. They chant the rhyme. You jump in on your birthday month. Then the girls start counting 1, 2, 3, etc. until they reach the number of the day you were born on. Then you jump out.

    The other way to play the jump rope game is to skip the numbers. You still jump “in” when your birthday month is called. The other kids then repeat the rhyme and you jump “out” when you hear your birthday month the second time around.

    Enjoy!

    Mama Lisa

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    Can Anyone Help with a Czech Rhyme that Sounds Like “Hou-py, hou-py, hou-py”?

    Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

    Anna wrote:

    Do you know the nursery rhyme that begins:

    Hou-py, hou-py, hou-py,
    Ko-cka sue-dla krou-py
    Do-cour hruch

    I’ll try my best to write this poem-rhyme out for you. Of course, I will not be able to add the correct accent marks, punctuations marks, etc. The writing I have to copy is very small, so I hope my letters are accurate! Here goes!

    Hou-pa-cka

    hou-py, hou-py, hou-py!
    ko-cka sue-dla krou-py,
    ko-cour hrac
    na ka-mnach;
    ko-la-la se hue-va-ly,
    ze jim ta-ky ne-da-ly.
    hou-py, hou-py, hou-py!
    by-ly vsec-ky hlou-py.

    A friend of mine gave me a beautiful framed gift of this rhyme… he says his grandfather would sing it to him. But he doesn’t know what it means.

    My mother is Czech, Vlasta, but she no longer can help me with this.

    Your help would be very nice.

    Thank you, Anna Vdolek Bratney

    If anyone knows the correct spelling of the rhyme and/or if you can provide an English translation, please let us know in the comments below.

    Thanks in advance!

    Mama Lisa

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    Chanda Mama – “Moon” Video by Playing for Change

    Friday, October 2nd, 2009

    Chanda Mama is a song from India about the moon. Different versions exist in the various languages of India. This one is in the Telugu language, a language mainly spoken in southern India.

    Playing for Change made the Chanda Mama video with musicians around the world. Playing for Change creates music all over the world to make money to build music and art schools in communities that are in need of inspiration and hope. Music and art can have meaning across cultures and be appreciated by people of all economic classes and educational backgrounds. What better way to improve the world!

    The lyrics to the Playing for Change version of Chanda Mama (in the video) are something like this…

    Chanda maama chanda maama raavayyaa
    nannu yettukoni muddulaadu kovayyaa

    maaraalu nenenni cesinaa gaaraalu nive cupinaa
    maaraalu nenenni cesinaa gaaraalu nive cupinaa

    Chanda maama chanda maama raavayyaa
    nannu yettukoni muddulaadu kovayyaa

    If anyone can help with the meaning of these lyrics (and/or if you can verify or correct the original lyrics), please let us know in the comments below.

    We have another version of Chanda Mama which is a Telugu children’s rhyme, with an mp3. You can click the link to hear it and to read the lyrics in Telugu with an English translation.

    Enjoy!

    Mama Lisa

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    Let’s see if any of you know this rhyme…

    Thursday, September 10th, 2009

    Which one do you say? First is the worst, Second is the best, Third is the one with the… a) wedding dress, b) hairy chest or, c) treasure chest ?

    My kids and their friends were debating this one. They disagreed over which answer is the most popular… a, b, or c. Google seems to know b the most. Anyone out there know this rhyme? If so, which ending do you say?

    Inquiring minds want to know!

    Mama Lisa

    PS I asked my friends this question on Facebook and no one answered! Which makes me think it’s a new rhyme that this current generation says. I had never heard it before my kids taught it to me either.

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    Japanese Hand Clapping Playground Game

    Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

    Here’s a Japanese hand clapping game about making rice cakes. Cool motions!

    If anyone would like to send me the Japanese lyrics and/or an English translation, I’d love to add them here. You can add a transliteration or translation in the comments below or email me the Japanese text at lisa@mamalisa.com .

    Meanwhile, you can enjoy watching and listening… they repeat it so you can try to learn it by ear.

    Enjoy!

    Mama Lisa

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    Jane Taylor’s Poem about a Pussy-cat is about How Kids Should Treat Pets

    Monday, August 24th, 2009

    Illustration of Kids playing with a Cat

    The poem below by Jane Taylor (1783-1824) is about a child telling how gently she will handle her little pussy-cat. The 1st two verses can be found in many collections of nursery rhymes. If you read the whole poem, you can see how it could be a good one to read to children with pets… talking about how to treat them nicely.

    Little Pussy
    By Jane Taylor

    I love little Pussy,
    Her coat is so warm;
    And if I don’t hurt her
    She’ll do me no harm.

    So I’ll not pull her tail,
    Nor drive her away,
    But Pussy and I
    Very gently will play.

    She shall sit by my side,
    And I’ll give her some food;
    And she’ll love me because
    I am gentle and good.

    I’ll pat little Pussy,
    And then she will purr,
    And thus show her thanks
    For my kindness to her.

    I’ll not pinch her ears,
    Nor tread on her paw,
    Lest I should provoke her
    To use her sharp claw.

    I never will vex her,
    Nor make her displeased,
    For Puss doesn’t like
    To be worried or teased.

    MP3 of Little Pussy-cat

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    Did You Sing the Rhyme “Rubber Dolly”?

    Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

    Ann Marie wrote me looking for information about the “Rubber Dolly” rhyme…

    Hi Lisa:

    Are you familiar with the rhyme entitled “Rubber Dolly?” It starts out:

    My mother told me
    If I were goodie
    That she would buy me
    A rubber dolly . . .

    These lyrics pop up in an essay I am working on. Specifically, I need to know if this is an American Clapping Song, a Rhyme, a Jump Rope Song, or . . . something else!

    Thank for your time.

    Best,

    Ann Marie
    Cleveland, Ohio

    I found information that “Rubber Dolly” was a jump rope rhyme that was popular in the 1950’s.

    Here’s a longer version:

    My mother told me
    If I were goodie
    That she would buy me
    A rubber dolly.

    My auntie* told her,
    I kissed a soldier,
    Now she won’t buy me
    A rubber dolly.

    *Or sister

    Some kids also did hand clapping games to “Rubber Dolly”. (I think jump rope rhymes and hand clapping rhymes are often interchangeable.) There’s also a fiddle tune based on the melody of the rhyme. Ella Fitzgerald sang a jazz song based on “My Mother Told Me” too.

    If anyone grew up with the rhyme, please share your version if it’s different, also let us know if you played any specific game with it.

    Thanks in advance!

    Mama Lisa

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    Old Mother Goose Cartoon

    Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

    Here’s a cartoon from 1950 called Little Audry: Goofy Goofy Gander. It’s a strange mixture of Mother Goose, comic books, jazz and Hollywood, with the goose that lays the golden eggs thrown in…

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    Can Someone Help with the Lap Rhyme, “Run run horsey with your long hair”?

    Friday, August 21st, 2009

    Karla wrote:

    Hi, My name is Karla Wass.

    Recently my grandmother has passed, and as a child she would place us (15 grandkids + 10 great grandkids) on her knee and sing to us. Unfortunately, none of us could remember the name and she left so suddenly we were unable to ask her it. I would love to have the lyrics to the song or even some help finding how to sing, well just to know the words that she was saying would be great. She did sing it to us in English, and what i remember is “run run horsey with your long hair, the faster the horsey runs the short goes his hair”. She always said they would sing this while they were sewing.

    If you are not able to help i understand, after searching the web and talking with some family members no one can properly sing this song, Her service is next Tuesday and she will be laid to rest with our grand father the following Saturday.

    I appreciate and assistance thank you for your time.

    If anyone can help Karla, please let us know in the comments below. (Even if it’s after the date of the service, I’m sure Karla will be glad to find the song any time.)

    We appreciate it.

    Mama Lisa

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    A Collection of Nursery Rhymes

    Thursday, August 6th, 2009

    I’ve embedded this lovely book of nursery rhymes for you to enjoy! It’s A Collection of Nursery Rhymes… Nurse Lovechild’s Legacy (1916). Many of the illustrations are from the 18th and early 19th century Chapbooks. The book has been embellished by one of my favorite nursery rhyme illustrators: C. Lovat Fraser (1890 – 1921). You can click the arrow below to turn the pages or scroll with the other arrows on the side.

    If you prefer to have it on your own computer, you can download A Collection of Nursery Rhymes from Internet Archive ! Just go to the link and choose “PDF” to download it.

    Enjoy!

    Mama Lisa

    PS You can also come visit Mama Lisa’s House for a HUGE collection of Nursery Rhymes… many including illustrations, mp3s, midis and scores!

    A Collection of Nursery Rhymes

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    Can Anyone Help with a Norwegian Rhyme with the Line, “Kan du gleme gammel Norge”?

    Monday, June 22nd, 2009

    David Russett wrote:

    I’m trying to find the words to a Norwegian rhyme or song. The only part I know goes something like:

    Kan du gleme gammel Norge?
    O vey! Ya, ya, gleme kan!

    Or it may be:

    Kan du huske gammel Norge?
    Ove! Ya, Ya, huske kan!

    Does anyone know the rest of this little rhyme? Some of the old Norwegians when I was a kid knew this and would recite it. I know there is much more to it that those two lines.

    If anyone can help David with the Norwegian words and/or an English translation to this song, please let us know in the comments below.

    Thanks!

    Mama Lisa

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    Can Anyone Help with a Rhyme Sounding Like, “Oddly boddlee finga hoof”? It’s Most Likely German!

    Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

    David Stewart wrote:

    Lisa, maybe you can help me with a poem my mother (now 78) learned from her grandmother when she was a child. I believe it is German and she has no idea what it means but has asked many people the meaning and has never found out. Your help would be greatly appreciated. It goes something like this (of course the spelling is off):

    Oddly boddlee finga hoof
    Steck ta bow wow
    Also goot
    Katch s-mouse
    Bow wow schnauz

    If anyone can help David with the original words to this rhyme and/or a translation, please let us know in the comments below.

    Thanks!

    Mama Lisa

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    Lyrics to Anna Banana and Hannah Banana with an MP3

    Friday, June 5th, 2009

    A third grader named Marisa taught me a hand clapping rhyme called “Hannah Banana”. It comes from a jump rope rhyme called “Anna Banana”. The lyrics to “Anna Banana” are:

    Anna Banana
    Plays the piana.
    All she can play
    Is the Star Spangled Banner.
    Anna Banana split.

    “Hannah Banana”, on the other hand, is a hand clapping rhyme. What’s interesting to me is that “Anna” switched to “Hannah”. We have two theories about why this might have happened. The first is simply is that “Hannah” is now a more popular name in the US than “Anna”. Children on the playground may have heard “Anna” as “Hannah” since the names sound so similar, and switched it. Our other theory is that “Hannah Banana” is somewhat close to “Hannah Montana”, the popular character from the children’s TV show. Children may have switched the rhyme to “Hannah Banana” based on that similarity. We may never know for sure why there’s now a version of “Anna Banana” called “Hannah Banana”, but it’s interesting to speculate.

    Here’s the new rhyme “Hannah Banana”, with instructions for playing it and an mp3 of Marisa chanting it…

    MP3 of Hannah Banana

    Hannah Banana
    Plays the piana
    All she could play
    Is split she’s an idiot.
    (Repeat)

    Istructions for Hand Clapping Game:

    1st 3 lines of Rhyme:

    1. Clap your own hands
    2. Clap your partner’s hand diagonally
    3. Clap your own hands
    4. Clap your partner’s other hand diagonally
    5. Repeat 1 – 4

    Last line of Rhyme: Move feet out (like a little split).

    Keep repeating the rhyme – each time moving feet out more on the last line – whoever falls over first loses.

    Many thanks to Marisa for teaching me this rhyme and for chanting it for us!

    Enjoy!

    Mama Lisa Banana

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    Copyright ©2009 by Lisa Yannucci. All rights reserved.
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