Mama Lisa's Books

Malanka – A Ukrainian Holiday Celebrated in January

Malanka is a Ukrainian holiday that's celebratedbetweenJanuary 13th and 14th. It celebrates the New Year according to the old Julian calendar. (Nowadays the Gregorian calendar is used.) The holiday involves lots of good food, parades, caroling and even pranks! Malanka is a figurefrom [...]

Can Someone Help with a Kids Song that's either Belarussian, Russian or Yiddish?

Martin wrote: Hello from a sunny but quite COLD New York City! I am wondering if anyone knows the answer to this. Not being too knowledgeable about the Belarusian language, I'm assuming that this song my maternal grandmother used to sing to me when I was in my single digits was in Russian or [...]

May Day – Labor Day Marches and Rallies Around the World

In an earlier entry, I wrote about the history of Labor Day. In case you were wondering, here are some of the countries where demonstrations were held or where Labor Day was in some way honored around the world today (in some cases against the wishes of the government)... Russia Belarus Japan [...]

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 [...]

About the Song “Cooma Lotta Veesay”

We received the note below with the song “Cooma Lotta Veesay”. Many variations of this song exist, including “Kumala Vista”. It also shares lyrics with the action song called “Flee, Fly, Flo“. Here's the email: “In the late 1950s, we lived near a [...]

Does anyone know this version of Catalina Matelina?

Dennis Lytle wrote to us asking for information about a rhyme: “Any info on the rhyme my parents taught us would be appreciated... I tell you bout vat girl of mine vat looks so sveet and dress so fine, vat come from Dootchland on the Rhine a couple of veeks ago. Her eyes are blue [...]

Make a Dragon Card for The Chinese New Year

The Chinese New Year is on February 10th this year. It's the year of the Dragon! The dragon symbolizes power, nobility and ambition. Since dragons are so cool, I decided to make homemade cards featuring them. Fortunately, there's a free tutorial online showing how to draw one. You can purchase [...]

Most Popular Christmas Cookies by State in the USA

Google Trends has released a map of the Christmas cookies most searched for by state. It's interesting how popular Italian Christmas cookies are along the east coast. There's more variety in the westward states. Though interestingly, and perhaps unsurprisingly, the favorite cookies in New Mexico [...]