Sing Books with Emily, the Blog

I got a real holiday treat Christmas Eve morning.  While cleaning up from the Christmas cookie mess my children and I made, I turned on my radio (always tuned to NPR) to discover Diane Rehm interviewing Julie Andrews and daughter Emma Walton Hamilton about their recent collaboration, “Julie Andrews’ Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies.”

Luckily, I have the book already, bought during a “Sing Books with Emily” gathering at Aladdin’s Lamp children’s bookstore in Arlington, VA.  I admit to buying the Singable Books anyplace I can find them, but I feel that supporting local bookstores is important.  Local, independent bookstores are places to cherish as they are warm and unique businesses that support the community through economic development, personal social interaction, unmatched product knowledge and community programs (like “Sing Books with Emily” and the many other artist, author, story and music times hosted by the store).

Julie Andrews’ anthology is so jam packed that I’d been waiting to dive in during the less frantic days after the holidays.  The terrific interview got me all excited…

This morning’s show was a rebroadcast from the live interview on November 19, 2009. 

Click here for a link to hear the interview online:
http://wamu.org/programs/dr/09/11/19.php

An interview with Emma Walton Hamilton online:
http://www.playfulearning.com/Playful_Learning/Blog/Entries/2009/12/7_Entry_1.html

The book is an absolute treasure and brimming with songs and lullabies and Singable Poems.  The fanciful watercolors are painted by James McMullan, who’s images you may know from his many posters for Lincoln Center.  

My only disappointment is that the book is missing an alphabetical index of titles, so that if you want to search out or song  a specific poem, you have to hunt through the headings to find it.  The poems, songs, and lullabies are broken out into sections, each one personally introduced by Andrews or Walton Hamilton.

Though the book comes with a CD that includes the mother and daughter team reading 24 of the collection’s poems, I excitedly bought the unabridged CD.  I’ve heard selections from both the CD included in the book and the unabridged audio book. I can’t wait to listen to the whole of both works!  The CD comes with a digital booklet that includes James McMullan’s watercolors unaccompanied by the texts.  Without the text, the paintings take on a poetry of their own, standing alone as art of beauty, humor and warmth.  The pictures are charming and lovely.

Readers need to be aware that through some accident, Julie Andrews no longer sings.  She and her daughter read the poems, lovingly introducing each one.  Though there is no singing, but they perform the selections with such affection and feeling that listening is deeply enjoyable.

The Following is an alphabetical index of the poems, songs, and lullabies from the book, which can be sung.  There may be others, but so far this is what I know or can confirm:

For more information, you can visit: julieandrewscollection.com