02/23/2008 03:22 PM

The Symbolism of the Egg

As Easter approaches, it’s natural to think a little about eggs! In days gone by the egg, due to its shape, was a symbol of the earth. Thanks to its obvious association with the beginning of life, it has also been the basis of many ancient creation stories. It has been a symbol [...]

12/29/2007 10:48 PM

Symbolic Foods Eaten Around the World for New Years

In many parts of the world, the foods eaten on New Years Eve and New Years Day have important symbolic meanings. These symbols seem to fall into several major categories. The first class symbolizes financial prosperity. This type of food is round like coins. Often, the dish will be round beans, like lentils, [...]

12/04/2007 12:29 PM

A Santa Lucia Day Song and Saying, plus why it’s a Festival of Light

Several days ago I wrote a post about the Santa Lucia holiday in Sweden and Scandinavia. A popular saying associated with this holiday is: Lucy Light, The Shortest day & The Longest Night. This saying celebrates the association of St Lucia’s Day, December 13, with the Winter Solstice which, under the old Julian calendar, used to fall on that day. This [...]

12/02/2007 09:55 PM

St. Lucia’s Day in Sweden and Scandinavia

Santa Lucia’s Day is celebrated on December 13th in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. It commemorates the life of Santa Lucia, who is also known as Saint Lucy. St. Lucy was born in Syracuse, Sicily around 283 and died in 303 AD. The myth is that her parents wanted her to marry a man [...]

06/22/2007 06:45 PM

Can Anyone Help with the Danish Song Hun ska leve?

Doug wrote: Mama Lisa, I am in USA but our family still sings a song called hun ska leve. This is a traditional Danish song. Does anyone know where to get lyrics and music for this traditional song? Please let me know. Thanks, Doug Hansen If anyone can help out with this song, please comment below or email me. Thanks! -Lisa [...]

02/17/2007 09:34 PM

Do You Know the Lyrics to The Sandman’s Coming in his Train of Cars?

Lee Shipton wrote looking for the lyrics to a lullaby… I am trying to find the full set of lyrics to a children’s lullaby which my father used to sing. The words are something like this: The Sandman’s Coming in his Train of Cars The Sandman’s coming in his train of cars With moonbeam windows and with wheels of [...]

01/06/2007 08:35 PM

How to Find Sheet Music, Tunes and MP3’s on Mama Lisa’s World

In addition to this blog, I also host Mama Lisa’s World. Mama Lisa’s World is a large collection of children’s songs and rhymes from countries all around the globe. Matt, a music teacher from Rhode Island, wrote a question to me, the other day, about Mama Lisa’s World: Hey Mama, I love the concept of your site. [...]

12/22/2006 10:39 AM

Free Online Language Dictionaries

While I have this link at hand, I’d like to recommend www.freedict.com. It’s a site devoted to free online language dictionaries. You can translate between English and the following languages: Afrikaans Danish Dutch Finnish French Hungarian Indonesian Italian Japanese Latin Norwegian Portuguese Russian Spanish Swahili Swedish I find that it can usually succeed at translating the words I need. Feel free to recommend other language dictionaries that you like in the [...]

12/13/2006 06:20 PM

The Origins of Some Scandinavian Toe Naming Rhymes

Julie and Beth wrote looking for the origins of two Scandinavian rhymes that are played with little kids while touching their toes. We’re wondering if anyone’s ever heard of these rhymes and perhaps knows what country they’re from and/or anything else about their origins. Here’s what Julie wrote: I have been searching for the [...]

12/11/2006 08:16 PM

Recipe for Pebernodder Cookies plus a Kids Game called Mouse

Pfeffernüsse is a traditional German Christmas cookie. Pfeffernüsse literally translates into English as pepper-nut. That’s because most traditional recipes for these cookies are spicy and call for pepper. I believe the “nut” part is because they were traditionally shaped like little balls or nuts. That’s where you get peppernut. These cookies are also [...]