Too Much Kissing and other Silly Dilly Songs About Parents by Alan Katz. Illustrated by David Catrow.
As a kid I was completely enamored with goofy songs that were a twist on original ones. Like 'This Land is My Land, it Sure Ain't Your Land' and 'Batmobile Lost its Wheel'. So what kid wouldn't love a book full of goofy songs that make fun of their parents? The sequel to I'm Still Here in the Bathtub, Too Much Kissing is full of good humor and great pictures. Most of the tunes I knew, although there were one or two that I was unsure about. For the most part the songs fit in nicely with their appropriate songs, all the beats falling where they were supposed to. There was a song or two that didn't exactly fit. The most obvious one being 'Disgusting Things' to the tune of "My Favorite Things". Perhaps I am just not singing it right though. To give a preview, but not the full songs:
My Mother Just Rushes Through Bedtime
(to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean")
My mother just rushes through bedtime.
With stories, she sure cuts them short.
If she keeps this up, you can bet I'm
Taking her to fairy tale court.
Mother, Mother,
I know that down deep you do care, do care.
But, oh brother,
Goldilocks met more than one bear!
Dressed Up Is Messed Up
(To the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic)
My mom says there's a party, and I know just what that means:
I'm gonna have to change out of these soiled, hole-filled jeans.
No question it will lead to one of those annoying scenes.
I hate to wear nice clothes.
They're Full of Beans
(To the tune of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game")
Mom and Dad just drink coffee.
They both live on caffeine.
Each has a pot before starting work,
while at their jobs they are on auto-perk,
and it's brew, brew, brew after dinner.
It's like a java monsoon!
It's no wonder they haven't slept
a wink since June!
Anne Spencer Lindbergh was the daughter of the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh and author Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Anne was one of six children born to her famous parents, born almost eight years (1940) after the notorious kidnapping and killing of her brother Charles A. Lindbergh Jr. She grew up in Connecticut. After studying at Radcliffe College for three years, Anne decided to move to Paris to finish her education. While there she met and married a fellow student Julien Feydy, who became a political scientist and university professor. Their marriage did not last though. She later met and married Jerzy Sapieyevski, a composer and conductor who moved back to the states with her, but their marriage was also not to be. She started writing books just like her mother, almost all of them for children. In her career she wrote 14 books including Th
e People of Pineapple Place, The Shadow on the Dial, Three Lives to Live, and Bailey's Window. She was the recipient of several honors for her works, including an award for the International Reading Association. Many of her books were set in places that she had lived with scenic backgrounds. Anne moved to Vermont in 1987, and the next year married Mr. Perrin, a writer and professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth. Anne continued to teach for several more years until she developed cancer. Many of Anne's books are still in print today, but the one I remember the best was Three Lives to Live, a fascinating time travel tale that will make your head swim in all the fun ways.
