It’s Raining Cats and Dogs! Sing-Along Animal Songs. Performed by Connie Kaldor, Al Simmons, Michelle Campagne, Annick Brémault, Paul Campagne, Glen Bowser, Jessica Vigneault, Geneviève Toupin, Thomas Hellman and Emille Clepper. Illustrated by Marie-Ève Tremblay. Montreal, QC: The Secret Mountain (www.thesecretmountain.com), 2016. 36 pp., hardcover (includes CD, approx. 28 min.), $22.95. ISBN 978-2-924217-74-0. Subject Headings: Humorous songs-Text. Children's songs-Juvenile sound recording. Preschool-grade 3 / Ages 4-8. Review by Valerie Nielsen. ***½ /4

It's Raining Cats and Dogs! Sing-Along Animal Songs is a delightful collection of 10 catchy sing-along songs featuring various animals including cats, dogs, cows, kittens and mice. The songs are performed by accomplished musicians and well-known singers including Connie Kaldor, Al Simmons, Jessica Vigneault, Paul and Michelle Campagne.

I really want a dog
A dog that shakes a paw
I really want a dog
But one that doesn't gnaw!

When there's no one to come with me
To go play in the park
When there's no one to come with me
I'd bring my dog and we'd bark
My dog...dog...my dog

I think I want a cat
With Whiskers. Oh so chic!
Oh! Yeah! I want a cat
We'd play hide and seek

And in the night when I'm alone
And my dreams are cold and grim
In the night when I'm alone
I could cuddle up to him
My cat...cat....my cat

     It's Raining Cats and Dogs! features songs celebrating the above-mentioned animals in a variety of musical styles which include blues, country, folk and jazz. “Thelma the Cow and Bozo the Dog” is a cool blues number about unrequited love. “Twelve Kittens” is a jaunty counting song based on an Alan Mills tune, and “Three Little Mice Marched Merrily” will encourage a child to clap or march to the beat. The last selection in the book is a tender “Lullaby For My Sleepy Dog” which might well prove to be equally soporific for a young listener.

      Marie-Ève Tremblay is a gifted graphic artist who has illustrated several children's books. Her bold, brightly coloured artwork and quirky characters fit perfectly with the gentle, whimsical humour of the songs.

      The songs that have been selected combine rhyme and rhythm with simple lyrics that fit well with a young child's understanding of, and relationship to, animals. As well as perfect articulation, each singer manages to hit just the right tone for the mood of the song. It's Raining Cats and Dogs! Sing-Along Animal Songs surely does fulfil the claim the of the publisher who writes: "There can never be too many animal songs..." This latest CD-book published by The Secret Mountain provides an excellent opportunity for adults and children in the 3 to 6 age range to make joyful noise together. It would also be useful as resource for primary school music teachers who look for original tunes to share with their young students.

Highly Recommended.

Valerie Nielsen, a retired teacher-librarian, lives in Winnipeg, MB.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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