My Aunt Came Back

Adapted by John M Feierabend
Illustrated by Melanie Champagne

This story is based on a classic folksong, “My Aunt Came Back”, written in 1704, with a new melody in 1751. The story begins with a group of ants at an anthill, and continues with an ant at different locations. Timbuktu shows a camel and a wooden shoe, and an ant carrying the wooden shoe. On the following page, the Aunt goes to Old Japan and then brings back a waving fan. Each page after an Aunt goes to a different location, and brings back a different item.

The illustrations are soft color, highly detailed, and enlarged to encompass the full page; also, showing how one ant can carry multiple times its own weight. Included within the book is a link to a free download of an mp3 recording of this folksong. It is Mr. Feierabend’s lifelong goal to preserve American musical heritage for future generations. A fully notated version with all the words is included at the end of the book. I respect Mr. Feierabend’s dedication to the preservation of American folksongs; however, I feel this is a very limited market.

BIBLIO: 2008, GIA Publications, Inc., Ages 3 - 6, $16.95
REVIEWER: Debby Willett
FORMAT: Picture Book / Music Education
ISBN: 978-1-57999-680-2

REVIEWED FOR: Children’s Literature, Online Version, 11-5-09