...being replaced by a Wal-mart? What do you get when you ask Barry Louis Polisar (creator of such classic children's songs as I Use to Have a Sister, Sally Eats Shoelaces, Straw and String, Shut Up in the Library, Get Your Hand Off my Leg and Your Foot out of my Shoe, and My Name is Hiram Lipshlitz, among many, many, many others) to write a song for children about "The Laws of Commercial Zoning and/or Eminent Domain as They Impact the Small Business Model" to the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down. See for yourself.
It's a humor piece, but also an interesting exercise that really gets at the essence of what a lot of good children's music/literature does...talk to children in a simple way about ideas that don't always seem so simple to talk about. You don't necessarily dumb down the idea, you just find a way to talk about it using references kids can relate to (I hope kids can still relate to Lemonade stands these days.) Dr. Suess, who had the same kind of wonderful imagination as Barry, was a master at this.
Barry's tune about commercial zoning ends up being a lot easier to follow than London Bridge is Falling Down, but unfortunately, it doesn't work as well as play song:-)
For me, other than being a slightly creepy song which I thankfully never really understood until I had grown up (same goes for Ring around the Rosie), the tune London Bridge reminds me of many visits to the famous bridge as a child, in Arizona! Looking at the bridge I always thought, "Looks okay to me"...a sentiment later expressed much better by the late great Elliot Smith who sang London bridge is safe and sound no matter what you keep repeating.
(Whoa...time to step away from the computer when opening an e-mail from Tanja about a cute humor piece in the Washington Post ends an hour later with me making tenous connections between Lake Havasu's London Bridge and Elliot Smith on a blog ostensibly about kids' music and early childhood ed.)
hi there! just wanted to let you know that i've included a permanent link to your site under my new "helpful sites" section, and i hope to make an official post about it tomorrow.
love,
shannonsensei
Posted by: shannonsensei | April 17, 2006 at 07:35 AM
Great! Thanks Shannon-sensei!
Posted by: Devon T | April 17, 2006 at 08:02 AM