Mabel Betsey Hill

Typical.

There are a lot of little songbooks for little people. Most have a few familiar songs and illustrations that are supposed to be inspiring. Or something. This one has a pretty typical set of illustrations, plus sixteen songs: "Now We Dance Looby," "Little Sally Waters," "Did You Ever See a Lassie?" "Did You Ever See a Laddie?" "Did You Ever See a Baker?" "Baker, Make a Cake," "The Muffin Man," "The Mulberry Bush," "The Way We Do," "The Farmer," "Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley," "Peas Porridge," "The Farmer in the Dell," "Jolly Is the Miller," "Go In and Out the Window." Most of these are familiar; the few exceptions are additional words for the familiar songs.

That's really it. No guitar chords. No piano parts. No source information, not even an indication that the song are (mostly) traditional. Other than songs and pictures, the only other thing is an instruction at the end of the book, "Choose a Song," which urges children to pick a song title and draw a related picture.

There is nothing wrong with any of this. But it really seems rather pointless -- and I say this as someone who loves old songbooks! But this one is so thin, and has so few extra features, that you would surely be better off with a modern songbook. It will have most of the same songs, the color printing will be better, and it might even have guitar chords or other additional features.… (more)