CLASSIC SONGS and RHYMES
FOR YOUNG CHILDREN!
Foreword by John M. Feierabend
Once upon a time, parents (and grandparents) soothed and amused their babies with songs that were sung to them when they were children. As those babies grew up and became parents, they would sing those same tunes to their children. In this way, wonderful songs and rhymes would be passed on orally, linking one generation to another through shared memories of comfort and joy.
Families today are more rushed and more geographically dispersed than ever before. Our cherished songs and rhymes, many of them hundreds of years old, are gradually being forgotten. They are being replaced by market-driven ear candy, tunes that may provide a temporary rush but exist mostly to help sell this year's hot new toys or trends.
The First Steps in Music series of books and recordings is an attempt to preserve the rich repertoire of traditional and folk literature; to enable today's families to remember and to learn songs and rhymes that have inspired wonder and joy in children for generations.
The rhymes and songs in this series have been gathered over the past twenty years. Many of the most interesting examples, not readily available in print elsewhere, were collected from the elderly, who often recalled songs and/or rhymes with great affection reminding them of loving moments they had shared with young people in the past.
It is my hope that the collections of songs and rhymes presented in this series will help parents and other loving adults comfort and inspire wonder in children for generations to come.
John M. Feierabend