The post Can Anyone Help with a Cuban Rhyme/Finger Play that starts with “Chiquitica así”? first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>My mother from Cuba used to sing a song/rhyme to us that 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 something:
1. Chiquitica así. (“Little girl like this/this big” * Holding thumb and pointing finger to show small.)
2. Pensamiento aquí. (“Thinking here.” * Pointing to temple.)
3. Carita linda. (“Pretty face.” * Point to face.)
4. Now this line is the one i am not entirely sure about… something about hands like:
Manos abiertas. (“Open hands.” * Here show open hands.)
Manos limpias. (“Clean hands.” * Here show clean hands.)
Manos vacías. (“Empty hands. * Show empty hands.)
5. Then the last line asks for something for being a little, pretty-faced child. The first one is what we would usually say:
Dame un quilito aquí. (“Give me a little penny here.” * Holding out hand, palm up.)
Dame un dulce aquí. (“Give me a sweet here.” * Holding out hand palm up.)
Dame un beso aquí. (“Give me a kiss here.” * Indicating cheek.)
If anyone can help with this rhyme, please comment below…
Thanks in advance! -Mama Lisa
The post Can Anyone Help with a Cuban Rhyme/Finger Play that starts with “Chiquitica así”? first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post About the Song “Cooma Lotta Veesay” first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>“In the late 1950s, we lived near a community of Italians whose antecedents had emigrated from Italy in the early 20c, arriving at New Orleans. They were farmers who had come under contract to a man who promised them land and jobs, but he abandoned them on arrival. A local man took a barge from Natchez down to New Orleans, where he loaded the immigrants up (about 20 extended families) and brought them back to Natchez. He owned several former plantations lying fallow and set them up there, where they established extensive truck farms that supplied the area for decades. Later generations opened businesses, and to this day, local Italian place names are common.
Here’s the song I learned as a kid from the Italian kids; I always assumed the lyrics were Italian:
“Cooma lotta, cooma lotta, cooma lotta veesay,
[repeat],
Oh, no no no not the veesay
[repeat].
Veesay, Veesay!
Ola meany, nola meany,
Sola meany, ding dong,
[repeat]
Elderberry, chop cherry,
huckleberry, veesay,
[repeat]
Oh, no no no not the veesay.
Veesay! Veesay!
[repeat whole]
In each case, the repeated verses are sung at a diminished dynamic, almost like a whisper or echo of the first.
I suspect the last verse was contributed by local Southern kids, since huckleberry was a common local delicacy that grew wild on the hills that lined the Mississippi River to its east. But this is the song as I learned it and we sang it, in about 1955.”
We think this is mainly a nonsense song.
It’s interesting to see how songs mutate from state to state, from town to town, and even within a community.
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
The post About the Song “Cooma Lotta Veesay” first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post Does anyone know this version of Catalina Matelina? first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>“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 light green she am the prettiest ever seen for Catalina matelina dinger binder dinkster am her name.
Her mother she’s a daisy
Her sister she is lazy,
Her fader he is clazy but vat makes me nothing out, I luv her just like life and I make vat girl mine vife, now shiminy gracious ain’t that nice, don’t you wish you were me?”
Is anyone familiar with this version (or even a similar version) of Catalina Magdalena? If so, please share in the comments below, including what state you learnt it in.
Thanks in advance!
-Mama Lisa
The post Does anyone know this version of Catalina Matelina? first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post Make a Dragon Card for The Chinese New Year first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>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 blank cards from sites like Amazon and Michaels. They’re great to have, so you can always make homemade cards whatever the occasion. It’s a lot of fun and people really appreciate them.
Here’s a link to the online tutorial for drawing a dragon from a site called Art Projects for Kids. I made the spikes on the dragon gold because it’s an auspicious color in Chinese culture. It symbolizes wealth, longevity and happiness. Red is a lucky color and symbolizes good fortune and joy. Both gold and red are important colors for the New Year.
Here’s a link on Mama Lisa’s World to learn Songs for the Chinese New Year.
Enjoy & Happy Chinese New Year!
-Mama Lisa
The post Make a Dragon Card for The Chinese New Year first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post Most Popular Christmas Cookies by State in the USA first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>Here’s a link to our Recipes for Christmas Cookies from around the World.
Happy baking!
Mama Lisa
The post Most Popular Christmas Cookies by State in the USA first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post Some Riddles in French and English first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>Here are some French riddles with English versions that were shared by Monique in France. Answers can be found by scrolling down…
1. For me, yesterday comes after today, what am I?
In French: Pour moi, hier vient après aujourd’hui, que suis-je ?
2. What can you catch and never throw?
In French: Qu’est-ce qu’on peut attraper et jamais lancer ?
3. What can you hold in your left hand but never in your right hand?
In French: Qu’est-ce qu’on peut tenir dans sa main gauche mais jamais dans sa main droite ?
4. What can be found once in a minute, twice in a moment but never in an hour?
In French: Qu’est-ce qu’on trouve une fois dans une minute, deux fois dans un moment mais jamais dans une heure ?
Scroll Down for Answers
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*
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*
*
*
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*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
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Answers:
1. A dictionary (Un dictionnaire)
2. A cold (Un rhume)
3. Your right elbow (Notre coude droit)
4. The letter M (La lettre M)
Many thanks to Monique Palomares for sharing these riddles with the English versions! Monique works with me on the French and Spanish versions of Mama Lisa’s World.
Enjoy!
-Mama Lisa
The post Some Riddles in French and English first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post The Power of a Song first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>Sometimes the Universe Gives Back
From the start of my Mama Lisa’s World site, one of the core values has been fostering connections through song. Early on I experienced the value of this while trying to remember a childhood song called, “The Worms Crawl In, The Worms Crawl Out”. When I was very young, all the neighborhood kids would go outside to a field behind my house. There we’d form a human chain with the person on one end putting their arm straight out until their hand touched a tree. The person at the other end of the chain would direct the line to lead all the kids to pass under the arm of the child touching the tree, all the while singing the song. I was so happy to reconnect with this memory, and finding the song made it really come alive.
It was 25+ years ago that I created the site and it’s grown leaps and bounds since, featuring over 7,000 songs and rhymes in over 250 languages from around the world. During that time, we’ve helped countless people (tens of thousands or more) find their childhood songs. They could then sing them with their relatives. It’s a connection that is priceless.
I experienced this a couple of weeks ago. I was speaking with my 84 year old mom. Her response to what I was saying was “Que Sera Sera” or “What will be will be”. It’s a phrase I’ve heard many times by both her and my grandmothers.
According to Wikipedia, the expression comes from the song “Que Sera Sera”. “’Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)’ is a song written by the team of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans that was first published in 1955. Doris Day introduced it in the Alfred Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)…” The movie and the song came out when my mom was a teenager.
After my mom said the expression recently, she started singing the song! The next time I saw her I was able to play it right on my phone through Spotify. This time, with the lyrics scrolling on my screen, we were able to sing it together along with Doris Day. After that, Spotify kept playing similar songs from the 50’s. My mom knew many of them and with the lyrics on my screen we were able to sing them together too. Now every time I see her, I play “Que Sera Sera” followed by more songs that Spotify finds. I’m so happy I can connect with my mom in such a joyful way. I’ll always be grateful for the power of a song!
The post The Power of a Song first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post Can Anyone Help with this Belgian French Song? first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>“I write to you in the hope of finding out if you know of a children’s song that my grandmother (born, Milene, Belgium) use to sing to me and my cousins as little children. Please bear with me as I try to write the lyrics, which – phonetically – go something like…
Ye, ye, da, da, da,
Seta a cheval grandpa-pa,
Grandpa-pa ne pa sai sei,
Le pac tee,
Ya pari,
No, no, eh la pa tee seeeee!
I have also attached a recording of my aunt who remembers the song as such. You can listen to it here.
I write this email as well because I am in an MFA program and one of the projects is to design a children’s book, of which I am to do about this song sung to me as a child.
Thank you so much in advance.
Sincerely,
-Roger Greiner
Monique, who works with me on the French and Spanish versions of the site, worked out the following spelling with me:
In French:
“Hi, hi, à dada
Sur le cheval est grand-papa (We’re not sure of this line in the recording)
Grand-papa n’est pas ici,
Il est parti à Paris.
Non, non, il est ici.”
In English
“Ya, ya horsie!
Grandpapa is on the horse.
Grandpapa isn’t here,
He’s gone to Paris.
No, no, no, he’s here.”
Is anyone familiar with this song? If so, please help us out with any info by commenting below.
Thanks in advance!
-Mama Lisa
The post Can Anyone Help with this Belgian French Song? first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post A Riddle first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>Answer below…
Answer: An onion
The post A Riddle first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post Would Anyone Know a Norwegian Song that Sounds Like, “Baby Bana Mama kishakana”? first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>“I found your website and was hoping you could help. My great grandmother was Norwegian and there is a lullaby that my family always sang. Now that I have a baby daughter of my own I have been searching for it as I don’t know the origins or real words.
Excuse my spelling or words here as I don’t speak Norwegian but was wondering if you’ve ever heard it or can identify it?
Baby Bana
Mama kishakana
Papa kishka yingapoor
Yingapoor a shishapoor
I’m just a poor boy
Haven’t got a penny
Lol I know it sounds made up and maybe it is but didn’t know if it was familiar to you.
Thanks in advance!
Gibson
If anyone can help, please comment below. Thanks! -Mama Lisa
The post Would Anyone Know a Norwegian Song that Sounds Like, “Baby Bana Mama kishakana”? first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post Can Anyone Help with a German Rhyme that Sounds like, “Otza Botza Mopa Decke”? first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>I am looking for the nursery rhyme my grandfather used to sing to me. It’s a knee/lap rhyme that you are bounced along to and I believe it to be German – passed to him by his grandfather. We do have relatives from current day Austria/Switzerland so potentially this may be something from there?
It’s supposedly about a white horse, galloping through the woods. I don’t think it’s the Hopp, Hopp, Hopp/Hoppe, Hoppe, Reiter song as it doesn’t quite have the same beat either. The way we said it is most likely nonsensical sounding as it was passed down through the family quite a bit, but the phonetic sounding version I still recall would have been something along the lines of:
Otza Botza Mopa Decke
Squanda Labya
Quandi Pecke
Ota, ota, ota
If anyone could help me in finding this it would mean the world- everyone on that side of my family has passed and I don’t want to let this little game/tradition die as well.
Thank you so much,
Hannah
If anyone can help, please comment below. Thanks! -Mama Lisa
The post Can Anyone Help with a German Rhyme that Sounds like, “Otza Botza Mopa Decke”? first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post Can Anyone Help with a Polish Song that Sounds Like “Vee Gee Mama”? first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>I am Polish but never learned the language although it was used all around me growing up.
My grandfather used to bounce me on his knee and sing a song. He passed in the 70’s. I remember the tune but the words are beyond me… If I give them to you phonetically, perhaps you would recognize them? I have no more Polish speaking family. Any help would be appreciated. The song keeps going around in my head. (It could well be just a piece of Nonsense!)
Vee gee mama
Vee gee mama
Yak tosh leh
Shish ke pano
Hopsu myo
Ah nya nye
I know it looks odd but that’s what is going around in my head… and it’s OK to laugh!
Karen
If anyone can help with this rhyme, please comment below. Thanks! -Mama Lisa
The post Can Anyone Help with a Polish Song that Sounds Like “Vee Gee Mama”? first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post A Tribute to the Queen first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>We were so sorry to hear about the passing of Queen Elizabeth. One of the first pages we created on Mama Lisa’s World was for the following rhyme…
Pussycat, pussycat,
Where have you been?
I’ve been to London
To visit the Queen.
Pussycat, pussycat,
What did you there?
I frightened a little mouse
Under her chair.
You can hear our recording here…
View our Pussycat, Pussycat Rhyme page on Mama Lisa’s World.
The post A Tribute to the Queen first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post Does Anyone Know an Irish Lullaby called “Ah, Bonny Boo”? first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>Hi, here’s a family lullaby that was sang to my family since before the 1940s. Based in Dublin, Ireland.
Ahh Bonny Boo
Ahh Bonny Boo,
I love you, if you only go a sleepy for your Mammy,
I’ll put in the sack and give you away to Jack, and I’II bar up the door with the poker.
Thanks
Ann
Is anyone familiar with this lullaby? Ann wasn’t sure if it’s unique to her family or if other people sing it. If you know this lullaby, please comment below.
Thanks in advance!
Mama Lisa
The post Does Anyone Know an Irish Lullaby called “Ah, Bonny Boo”? first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post The Boogeyman Will Get You if You Don’t Watch Out! first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>As a child, I remember hearing the expression, “The Boogeyman Will Get You if You Don’t Watch Out!” The phrase recently popped into my mind and I was wondering where it came from. Was there more to the expression?
It may originally come from the James Whitcomb Riley poem “Little Orphant Annie” (circa 1890). Instead of a Boogeyman, it’s about a Goblin. Each verse ends with:
“An’ the Gobble-uns’ll git you
Ef you
Don’t
Watch
Out!”
Then there was the “Stereoview card series from the 1920’s titled ‘The Goblins will get you if you don’t watch out’, after the 1885 poem ‘Little Orphant Annie’ by James Whitcomb Riley.” (Quote from Pinterest)
There’s also a movie from 1942 called, “The Boogey Man Will Get You,” starring Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre. It’s about a mad scientist who’s trying to use electricity to create a race of Super Humans.
Does anyone know more about this topic? Is so, please share in the comments below.
Meanwhile, don’t forget that, The Boogeyman will get you if you don’t watch out!
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
Credits for Movie Poster: May be found at this website, fair use.
The post The Boogeyman Will Get You if You Don’t Watch Out! first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post Can Anyone Help with an Italian Rhyme that Starts with “Tratra, Tratola”? first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>Here it is along with a recording…
Tratra, tratola
Faruma a la bascola
La bascola, la muleta
La muleta la strambolá
Cuater pare sin masá
Si masá una cuarentena
Viva, viva! Madalena
Madalena Sosulé
Que cantaba en sodamé,
sodamé le cuarentitrí
madalena le fou morí
le fou morí le mora,
faruma a la casa nova,
nova, novanta,
faruma a la casa yenta,
yenta, yentaia,
faruma a la casa paia
paia, paiú,
Merda shutta al bú!
If anyone can help, please comment below.
Thanks in advance!
Mama Lisa
The post Can Anyone Help with an Italian Rhyme that Starts with “Tratra, Tratola”? first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post Tanabata Star Festival in Japan first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>Learn more about Tanabata and a Tanabata song.
Many thanks to Ayako Egawa for sharing this with us!
-Mama Lisa
The post Tanabata Star Festival in Japan first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post Happy Vyshyvanka Day first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>Vyshyvanka Day is a holiday that celebrates traditional Ukrainian embroidered clothing called vyshyvanka. The holiday is held the 3rd Thursday of May every year. Ukrainians wear vyshyvanka shirts to honor their heritage. A weekday was specifically chosen to show that vyshyvanka clothes are “a component of the life and culture of Ukrainians, and not an ancient artifact” (per Ukrinform).
The holiday was started in 2006 by a student of Chernivtsi University. It quickly spread to the whole country and in Ukrainian populations abroad.
Image: By Vladimir Yaitskiy – Flickr: Girl wearing traditional Ukrainian dress, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The post Happy Vyshyvanka Day first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post The Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The Mid-Autumn Festival has been celebrated in China for over 3,000 years. It’s held in autumn when the moon is thought to be at its fullest and brightest, specifically on the 15th day of the 8th month on the lunar calendar. It was traditionally a harvest festival.
Recently I asked Ray Lee, who grew up in Hong Kong in the 70’s, if he remembers how people celebrated the holiday there. He replied, “People ate mooncakes. Kids played with lanterns. That’s it. Businesses and schools stopped giving their workers and students a day off when I was in 4th or 5th grade. But I looked it up and found out that people have the day off again.
One thing that people do on Mid-Autumn Festival is 賞月, i.e. they look at the moon and admire the moon.
People also eat mooncakes. Inside the mooncake is lotus seed paste. It’s sweet. Some mooncakes also have an egg yolk in it.
Now, there’s a story, which I am not sure is true about the Mid-Autumn Festival… The story says that secret messages were passed inside mooncakes to coordinate the revolution that overthrew the Yuan Dynasty (where China was ruled by the Mongols), and started the Ming Dynasty. It seems it’s not true. It’s just a story. (Learn more here.)
We used to go to a park and would walk around with our lanterns at night. They were made of paper and wood or bamboo sticks. We would light a candle and put it inside the lantern. It was cool because you would see other kids in the park. So you got to see many, many other lanterns of different sizes, colors and shapes.”
Many thanks to Ray Lee for sharing this tradition with us!
-Mama Lisa
Image 1: Mid-Autumn Festival Lanterns in Hong Kong, cc 3.0.
Image 2: Yummy Moon Cakes at Golden Bakery in Chinatown (San Francisco), cc 2.0.
The post The Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>The post Everybody Loves Saturday Night first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>Written by Deanna deCampos, Director of Curriculum Development and Educational Services, Music Together Worldwide
I’d like to provide some feedback on your post about Everybody Loves Saturday Night. Our Song Advisory Board has done research on this song as it’s in one of our Music Together song collections. The “common” story about it being a song about curfews is a myth. Our research traces the song to Ghana, not Nigeria, and it was a popular hit of the “highlife” genre. The first mention of this song in print that we can find is from 1932 when a dance club opened, called Tommy’s:
A very enjoyable time was spent at Tommy’s Club on Saturday night last… It is just the place where one should go to enjoy himself on Saturday night after all the toils and worries of a busy week. This, no doubt, inspired all to sing and dance so merrily to the tune played by the Orchestra entitled “Everybody Likes Saturday Night.”
The first recording of this song that we’ve discovered is from 1942, well before the era of curfews imposed by the British Empire in the 50s. There is no compelling evidence that this song had anything to do with those practices. It’s unfortunate that this myth remains in print and continues to be perpetuated by many well-meaning educators.
The lyrics are actually Yoruban, according to our research. We believe “Bobo waro…” is a westernized simplification of the Yoruban lyrics. The more accurate spelling of the lyrics would be:
Gbogbo eniyan feran ale Satide
Gbogbo eniyan feran ale Satide
Satide, Satide, Satide, Satide
Gbogbo eniyan feran ale Satide
I hope this feedback is helpful. There are so many songs in children’s music that have been inaccurately described. As we learn and educate ourselves on these songs let’s hope we can shift the discourse and correct past inaccuracies.
The post Everybody Loves Saturday Night first appeared on Mama Lisa's World Blog.
]]>