Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton Collaberation: "Julie Andrews' Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies"

Posted by: Sing Books with Emily on: December 25, 2009

• In: Heartfelt Musings | Poetry | Singable Book Title | Singable Poem | Singable Poetry | Vocal Tracks
• 1 Comment

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:

Page		Song Title	Author Fname	Author Lname	Music Fname	Music Lname
42		Accentuate the Positive	Johnny	Mercer	Harold	Arlen
158		Afternoon on a Hill	Edna	St. Vincent Millay
14		All Things Bright and Beautiful	Cecil Frances	Alexander
84		And I’ll Be There	Alan and Marilyn	Bergman	Dave	Grusin
49		Be Like a Bird	Victor	Hugo
162		Book, A	Emily	Dickinson
47		Cockeyed Optimist	Oscar	Hammerstein II	Richard	Rogers
93		Duck’s Ditty	Kenneth	Grahame
49		Dust of Snow	Robert	Frost
36		Every Living Thing	Julie	Gold	Julie	Gold
91		Feed the Birds	Richard M. and Robert B.	Sherman	Richard M. and Robert B.	Sherman
186		Gift	John	Bucchino	Ian	Frazer
146		King’s Breakfast, The	A.A.	Milne
136		Laughing Song	William	Blake
29		Lazy Afternoon	John	LaTouche	Jerome	Moross
68		More I Cannot Wish You	Frank	Loesser	Frank	Loesser
78		My Bed is a Boat	Robert Louis	Stevenson
46		My Favorite Things	Oscar	Hammerstein II	Richard	Rogers
122		My Ship	Ira	Gershwin	Kurt	Weill
186		Nature Boy	Eden	Ahbez
75		Night	William	Blake
77		Not While I’m Around	Stephen	Sondheim	Stephen	Sondheim
28		Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’!	Oscar	Hammerstein II	Richard	Rogers
59		On My Way	Emma Walton	Hamilton	Billy Schlosser	Lisa Michaelis
112		Owl and the Pussycat, The	Edward	Lear
165		Picture Books in Winter	Robert Louis	Stevenson
118		Sea-Fever	John	Masefield
167		Singing Time	Rose	Fyleman
34		Something Told the Wild Geese	Rachel Lyman	Field
45		Sonnet 29	William	Shakespeare
157		Sunday	Stephen	Sondheim	Steven	Sondheim
90		Talk to the Animals	Leslie	Bricusse	Leslie	Bricusse
17		These Precious Things	Howard	Alexander
76		Vespers	A.A.	Milne
92		Wren, The	A.	S.	Liza	Lehmann
80		“Wynken, Blynken and Nod”	Eugene	Field
52		You Must Believe in Spring	Alan and Marilyn	Bergman	Michael	Legrand

 

For more information, you can visit: julieandrewscollection.com

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Tags: Diane Rehm, Emma Walton Hamilton, Julie Andrews, Julie Andrews' Collection of Poems, NPR, Songs