Little Miss Ann - Music for Tots

Ann Torralba's Music for Tots is exactly that: tunes your littlest music fans can recite, sing with and dance along to.

Ann Torralba is an alumnus of Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music. Old Town School has created a whopping six compilation CDs chock full of traditional folk songs, and is home to the celebrated Wiggleworms children's music program. Torralba and her husband recorded their own collection of traditional and original songs for kids on Music for Tots, featuring warm and intimate production and lots of killer harmonies.

The album begins with Torralba's quietly welcoming "Hello", and follows with Arthur Hamilton's "Sing a Rainbow" from the movie Pete Kelly's Blues, but Torralba's arrangement could seriously have been a soda pop commercial in the early 70s. Next is "Pirate Ship," a great Toddler Time movement song, then comes Torralba's funky take on the traditional "Dance with Your Daddy," followed by a completely original arrangement of Jimmie Davis' "You Are My Sunshine."

The silly "Edamame," based on the traditional "I Had a Rooster," offers an international buffet for the listener (who knew tortillas and latkes grew on trees?), and the simple but extremely catchy adaptation of "There's a Little Wheel" could have been a hit for Linda Ronstadt back in the mid-70s. The album ends with Torralba's "Moon Jelly," Elizabeth Cotten's "Freight Train," and the traditional "Golden Slumbers."

Little Miss Ann's Music for Tots is a cozy and fun CD worthy of any preschooler's music collection. While you're at it, buy a copy for your kid's daycare or Kindergarten classroom, as well. Solid kids' music debut.

Released October 12, 2006; Little Miss Ann