The CD’s title song, “My ‘Magination,” is very visual. Once you are in the mood, it’s easy to imagine “growing striped tomatoes” or exploring “a planet made of cardboard” (give a kid a large cardboard box and watch the imaginative possibilities unfold). By the end of the song, it’s you who “can go anywhere” and “be anyone.” It’ll make kids dance.

A child left alone in the kitchen…. The outcome could be very messy, and almost certainly not edible. “Making Dinner” is a child’s desire for self-actualization…and a parental nightmare. Do not try this at home!

♫ Listen to “I’m Making Dinner” and follow along with the lyrics ♫

Every child has terrible days from time to time. I wrote “The Worst Day of My Life” to let kids see that even if “every single thing went wrong, wrong, wrong,” the day can still turn out great when a little love is added. Thank you, Grandma.

♫ Listen to “The Worst Day of My Life” and follow along with the lyrics ♫

Counting backwards from ten to one, “Marshmallows” demands participation as more marshmallows are found in the unlikeliest of places. And you get to yell “YUK!”

♫ Listen to “Marshmallows” and follow along with the lyrics ♫

What could be better than a day at the seashore? “I See What I See at the Sea” is a trip to the beach…interpreted as only a child could. This song has been used in pre-school and kindergarten as part of a nature curriculum.

♫ Listen to “I See What I See at the Sea” and follow along with the lyrics ♫

I actually wrote this song while eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. My original manuscript has the smears and stains to prove it! “PB&J” celebrates (with a not-too-loud, but very lively lead guitar) the unavoidability of stickiness. The reality of Lunch.

♫ Listen to “PB+J” and follow along with the lyrics ♫

I first heard this tune when I was four. I memorized it …and never forgot it. Its title says it all. I think it helped me form my view of the world and my relationships with others. It was on an album entitled “Little Songs on Big Subjects” (out-of-print for decades).

♫ Listen to “I’m Proud to Be Me” ♫

This song celebrates kids who like what they do…even if what they do doesn’t look like what everyone else expects. It was inspired by a three-year-old who, after a playmate disparaged a picture she had drawn, told me it didn’t bother her. “She said it was ugly, but I didn’t care because I think it’s beautiful.” I like that spirit.

♫ Listen to “Buttering Bread” and follow along with the lyrics ♫

Some families have dogs. Some have cats. Some even have hamsters or mice. Every kid wants a pet. “If I Had a Pet” tests the waters with a primate, an insect, a marsupial, and a fish. And lets the child figure out why Mom and Dad might be rejecting the suggestions.

♫ Listen to “If I Had a Pet” and follow along with the lyrics ♫

I wanted to sing about how good life can be. “Wonderful World” is a medley of two terrific tunes. Snippets from the song Louis Armstrong made famous are wrapped around another song from “Little Songs on Big Subjects.” I’d be proud to have written either of these.

♫ Listen to “Wonderful World” ♫

“Can’t I watch TV until this is over?” “Please read me another book?” “I need a drink of water.” Every parent has heard why their kids don’t want to go to bed. As the non-sleeper in this song states, “All that stuff is easy. I do so much more!” “I Don’t Sleep Anymore” takes the excuses and explanations to imaginative heights.

♫ Listen to “I Don’t Sleep Anymore” and follow along with the lyrics ♫