The Neighborhood Sing-Along

As with The Neighborhood Mother Goose, Crews pairs traditional songs and nursery rhymes with vibrant photographs and digital collages of children in a fresh urban setting. A boy plays with a toy train while waiting with his mother on a subway platform on a spread that displays the lyrics to "I've Been Working on the Railroad"; three tiny children play near an enormous ceramic teapot for "I'm a Little Teapot"; and a young "Miss Mary Mack" (wearing the requisite black dress with silver buttons) watches elephants fly amid Fourth of July fireworks. A jubilant and contemporary treatment of well-known classics. Ages 3-8. (May)

K-Gr 3--Crews's compilation of mostly familiar children's songs is a follow-up and companion to her well-received The Neighborhood Mother Goose (Greenwillow, 2004). Lyrics are set against full-page photographs of urban streets, parks, and playgrounds--interiors and exteriors, recognizable and obscure--and are peopled with a multicultural array of smiling children. Some of the photographs show scenes from ordinary life (these are the most effective); others have been digitally manipulated with collage effect in order to better reflect the lyrics. Among the 30-plus selections are popular and even ubiquitous tunes such as "The Alphabet Song," "The Wheels on the Bus," and "Miss Mary Mack," along with the more obscure "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and "Down by the Riverside." The selections are not organized in any specific way; it would be helpful to have an alphabetical index as was done in the Mother Goose book. These comments aside, a valuable collective cultural inheritance resides in these songs, and though there are other, more comprehensive volumes available (some including the music), this bright, attractive package is a good introduction. A helpful listing of resources for more songs and help with the tunes of those included appears on the copyright page.--Lisa Egly Lehmuller, St. Patrick's Catholic School, Charlotte, NC