The Chenille Sisters
opened up a whole new area of their career when they released their first
children's
album,
1-2-3 for Kids
, in 1990. On that album, the three singers wrote seven of the 13 songs. On their second
The Big Picture and Other Songs for Kids
, they have taken an even bigger hand in the songwriting, contributing 12 of 14 tunes, with only a cover of
Shirley Ellis
' 1960s hit
"The Name Game"
and the 1910s hit
"The Aba Daba Honeymoon"
interrupting the flow of originals. As was true of
, this album is aimed at the nursery school and kindergarten set, and the trio --
Cheryl Dawdy
,
Connie Huber
, and
Grace Morand
-- have an excellent idea of what children that age are likely to find funny and entertaining, whether it's a song about drawing pictures that have some outlandish items in them (
Huber
and
Morand
's
"The Big Picture"
) or a child's eye view of the workings of
"The Washing Machine."
All is not silly and delightful, however.
in particular has a slightly darker taste, and she contributes both
"Max the Cat,"
a slightly scary story about getting lost, falling in a hole, and being saved by the family feline, and
"In My Heart,"
an account of childish melancholy. Those songs lend the album a depth unusual in
music, without getting too, well, icky. ~ William Ruhlmann