Kim Bates wrote this review.
This is a refreshing change from those horrid holiday songs that blare out at folks in every public place here in North America, and a great choice for a family holiday soundtrack. The music is lovely choral arrangements that will not grate on adult ears, and will please those with chamber music leanings. This album will particularly appeal to families where the members sing themselves, particularly if the children are able to sing rounds.
From the first track, “A Christmas/Kwanzaa/Solstice/Chanakuh/Ramadan/Boxing Day Song” to “Good Night to You All” the voices blend beautifully. As you may have guessed from the titles, the mood is light hearted and mercifully free of those commercial Christmas standards that are the bane of so many holiday offerings. “Have you been eating scalloped Potatoes for the past three days (like we have?)” sounds dreadful on paper but it is actually quite funny, while “Allalujah/Amen” and “Dona Nobis Pacem” introduce some twists on lovely classical standards.
The album also includes several engaging stories, including the title tale. Another story, “Polkadot Pancakes” will appeal to adults and children alike, where two boys get their wish from a magical Christmas angel, and every meal tastes like polkadot pancakes, even when their grandmother serves creations like cabbage ginger tofu pudding pops or their parents serve dinners of mushroom and cilantro quiche, marinated artichoke hearts with stuffed prunes for desert.
As has been mentioned before in these pages, holiday albums can be dicey at best, and children’s holiday albums can be disasters that cause parents to twitch uncontrollably and head for the eggnog. But this offering is both refreshing and stands up to repeated listenings, pleasing both adults and children alike. Both multicultural and understated, this is a winner.
(Appleseed Recordings, 2003)
