Music

When you live abroad with kids, how do you keep your heritage and language alive? In addition to speaking Swedish at home, attending Swedish School and SWEA events, we play a mix of Swedish rock, pop, jazz and classical music and songs for kids in the car. A few days ago, a friend who is a wonderful singer asked me to suggest some CD’s with Swedish songs to sing with her grandkids (age 3 and below) and I thought there might be others out there who’d like to know.

So here are our personal favorites:

Majas Alfabetssånger – CD and Book
Wonderful lyrics with creative and varied music to 26 songs about plants, one for each letter of the Swedish alphabet (almost). A wonderful way not only to share the language and music with kids, but also the love for nature that is so much a part of Swedish culture.

The Mamma Mu songs by Jujja and Tomas Wieslander make great entertainment for little quirky minds. Sing along in the car or at home. Get the packages with CD and booklet with suggestions for motions (“rörelsehäfte”) to go with the songs. The motions make it even more fun but they also help kids connect the words to body parts, motions and everyday toddler activities. “Min lilla kråksång” has the song about ants and moose clapping that I mentioned in the moose blog post last week.

Alice Babs did not just sing with Ulrik Neumann, Svend Asmussen, Charlie Norman and Duke Ellington, but also lent her versatile voice to enchant generations of Swedish kids with a number of records/CD’s. If you’d like a good singer along with the kid’s music, this is better than you can dream of. The much loved Alice Tegnér songs are available in a traditional version from 1963 (Sjung med oss, Mamma) and with a more modern twist from 2003 (Sjung med oss Mamma, vol II). Our favorite, however, is the “Hej du måne”, a collections of songs that take advantage of the range of Alice Babs’ mesmerizing voice. Those songs can be found on the second half of “Den olydiga ballongen” CD.

Lennart Hellsings’ Krakel Spektakel has been around for a while, but the songs are are still going strong. His books and tongue twister lyrics are fun to share and  a great source for intriguing discussions with preschool kids. Do you remember “Sudda, sudda” or “Min Ponny” by Gullan Bornemark? She just keeps coming up with lyrics and music that kids love, so there are many, many recordings to choose between. The CD “Klang i Bygget” has mostly newer songs, but also some of the older favorites. The Real Group singing “Hösten hälsar på” is of course a treat. There is also one about moose 🙂 The CD also has tracks with the band but no vocals for those who want to sing along on their own.

Several of the CD’s are available at Amazon.com, but most seem to be out of stock right now. So you might want to pick them up in Sweden during your next trip or ask friends or relatives to send or bring them.

Kerstin Andeby,  who composed the music to “Majas alfabetssånger” is now working with Peter Wanngren to create “Musik för barn”, about eight CD’s from Naxos with the 100 most loved children’s songs.  Listen to a radio interview here (in Swedish). The two first are about to be released. Something to look out for during future visits to Sweden!

Enjoy and please let us know what we missed!

Elisabeth