Review: You Are My Flower - Elizabeth Mitchell

Elizabeth Mitchell helped found the rock band Ida with her husband Daniel Littleton. Unlike children's artists who have given up their "adult" careers or artists like They Might Be Giants, who are now doing both under the same name, Mitchell has kept her "adult" and "children's" careers separate. I have never heard Ida, so I have absolutely no idea what they're like, but You Are My Flower, the children's CD the two of them recorded together, is wonderful. If you like simple folk tunes polished up just a bit to take the roughest of edges off, you probably will enjoy this CD, which includes renditions of a couple Woody Guthrie children's songs. They also cover a song by the blues artist Leadbelly and two by the Carter Family, so you know it¹s not a typical kid's CD. (In fact, this was one of the first children's music CDs I would play even if there were no kids around. The entire album is pretty mellow, but lots of fun (my favorite songs are "This Little Light of Mine" and "Freight Train"). The CD is appropriate for kids from birth to 5 or so. My only complaint is that the CD is only about 25 minutes long (but, hey, it makes up for the kids' CDs that are way too long). You can find more information on Mitchell, this CD, and their follow-up at http://www.youaremyflower.org.