"There was an old lady who swallowed a fly" presents the traditional version of a famous American folk poem first heard in the U.S. in the 1940's. Pete Seeger's favorite American folksong, "The foolish frog", about a vain bullfrog, will have everyone singing along. In "Chicka chicka 1, 2, 3" one hundres and one numbers race each other up the apple tree. Suddenly bumblebees come buzzing. Which number will save the day? The adaptation of "He's got...

Part historian, part activist, part autobiographer, part economic critic. W. E. B. Du Bois, in this fundamental look at the basis of the civil rights movement, attempts a scrupulous evaluation of the progress of African American cultural development in the United States. Du Bois insisted that there were three things indispensable to this progress: the right to vote, civic impartiality, and equal educational situations. He described the outrage of...

The popular spiritual, Standing in the need of prayer, has been reworked to chronicle the milestones, struggles, tragedies, and triumphs of African American people and their history. The text and illustrations of this inspirational book are informative reminders of yesterday, hopeful images for today, and aspirational dreams of tomorrow.

A cumulative all-holiday carol about a young girl who is trying to get a slice of Granny's sweet potato pie at a family gathering.

Illustrates the well-known American folk song about the courtship and marriage of the frog and the mouse.

With this collection, curator Jeff Place culls a cross-section of 26 classics from the Smithsonian Folkways vaults to tell an intriguing story of American signature sing-along. The songs' origins are as fascinating as the songs are fun: centuries-old European ballads, an American Revolutionary tune, Nineteenth-century American folksongs, African-derived game songs, a sea chantey, a railroad jingle, camp songs, and even an opera song.

"At a sparrow's urging, a young girl feels a mysterious trembling in her arms, a lightness in her feet, a longing to be free. Her mother tells her that her Granny Liza experienced the same, as did many of their people before her. Perhaps it's time, Mama says, to slip the bonds of earth and join the journey started long ago. To hold each other tight and rise. Drawing on lyrics from the song "We Could Fly" by Rhiannon Giddens and Dirk Powell, which...

"Songs of America explores the music of important times in our history--the stirring pro- and anti-war music of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, World Wars I and II, and the Vietnam War; the folk songs and popular music of the Great Depression, the fight for women's rights, and the Civil Rights movement; and the music of both beloved and lesser-known poets, musicians, and songwriters from Colonial times to the twenty-first century. Pulitzer Prize-winning...

Dr. Harvey jumps into the 20th century to demonstrate how Tall Tales reinforce the ideals of the cultures where they were born. After sharing the stories of "Pecos Bill," "Katy Goodgrit" and "Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox," Dr. Harvey delves into how ballads and folksongs served as a voice from those who couldn't speak. She presents "The Ballad of John Henry" and "The Ballad of Casey Jones."

In this adaptation of the folk song "The Twelve Days of Christmas," friends exchange such gifts as a piñata and "cuatro luminarias." Includes pronunciation and glossary of Spanish words and a description of Christmas foods and other holiday traditions from different Latin American countries.