Wee Folk
Children's music, stories, and books
for the entire family

Len Graham, Garry Ó Briain, Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin When I Was Young [Shanachie 78019 (1998)] Established Irish musicians Len Graham (vocals), Garry Ó Briain (guitar, keyboards), and Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin (vocals) get together to perform Irish songs for children. Combining traditional tracks with self-penned songs, the trio offers up 28 selections (some from their own childhood): lullabies, nonsense ditties, supernatural stories, and ballads to entertain and enthrall the kiddies. Some light-hearted, others dark and creepy, these short but sweet wonders are classics that will appeal to just about any parents and their progeny. (SM)

Sharon Kennedy Irish Folk Tales for Children [Rounder Kids 8040 (1996)], Sharon Kennedy The Patchwork Quilt [Rounder Kids 8080 (1998)] Sharon Kennedy is a Boston-based Irish American storyteller. On her first CD for Rounder, Irish Folk Tales for Children, she tells four stories from her ethnic heritage and one that came down directly through her family. "The King of The Seals" is a new twist on an old Selchie story, and "Tig Tag" is a wondrous version of a tale from the great seanachie Seumas MacManus about a young girl's bravery against a wizard. Kennedy takes the Appalachian "Tailypo" back to its Irish roots in "Kevin McCullough's Supper." "Rory McDonnell and the Leprechaun" is a gentle, personal story that will have adults and children believing in the wee people by the end of it. Musical interludes are suppled by Johnny Cunning ham on fiddle, Barbara Russell on harp, Van Harlan on accordion, and Grant Smith on bodhran. The Patchwork Quilt expands Kennedy's stories to encompass other cultures. The title story takes a fragment from the African-American storytelling tradition and turns it into epic and wonderful proportions. "The Peddler of Tunes" draws on Russian-Jewish traditions about a child whose love of music causes dreams to come true. Kennedy returns briefly to Celtdom with "The Princess & the Sea Serpent," a Scottish tale of a liberated and brave heroine. From the Central American traditions, Kennedy sets "La Bruja Means Witch" in Puerto Rico and spices it with details of Hispanic culture and a witch with gourmet tastes. Kennedy concludes this vastly entertaining CD with her version of a chant, turned here into the "Jazzy Three Bears." Once again she is backed by a fine collection of musicians playing music ethnically appropriate to each story. (LB)