philadelphia chickens

do you have little ones in your lives? then you need to buy these three books!

philadelphia chickens was given to isaak by my dad’s cousin and her husband when they sent a baby gift to aaron. it was the hit of our weekend in vermont. we enjoyed them so much, susanna went out on monday, while i was lying in bed with my weird head pain, and picked up the other two books for isaak, and bought all three for david and me. what a nice surprise that was! ’cause who doesn’t want to hear the bacon brothers sing about not wanting to go to sleep? or kevin kline sing a gilbert-and-sullivan-esque ditty about being busybusybusy? or, on dog train, hear a duet about needing a nap by ‘weird al’ yankovic and . . . kate winslet? yes, you read that right.

david’s and my favorite lyrics come from “faraway cookies,” in which a young pup (claire mcewan) sings:

oh, chocolate chip cookies,
so high on the shelf,
hiding inside of the jar—
i’m not tall enough
to reach you myself.
so near, and yet,
so very far.

and

the reach wouldn’t matter
if i had a ladder.
if i were much taller,
we’d be fine.

the book/cd sets are the creation of sandra boynton and michael ford, and they are wonderful! not only did isaak enjoy them, but we adults got a kick out of the lyrics and the illustrations. chickens and train showcase the talents of musicians and musical actors, and you might be surprised—eric stoltz has the sweetest voice, but who knew?—while rhinoceros is sung solely by adam bryant, for whom i can't seem to find any information.

go buy them. really. GO.