Sharon, Lois & Bram’s Skinnamarink

Sharon Hampson, Lois Lillenstein and Bram Morrison were a key part of a surge of Canadian music and performers for children beginning in the late 1970’s. Their television programme, The Elephant Show, ran for five years on CBC; they did hundreds of live concerts across the continent; and they sold millions of albums. In 1996, they were ambassadors for UNICEF when that organization marked its 50th anniversary. The Toronto Star reported that they were “simply the best musicians for children in North America, and probably the world”.

“Skinnamarink” is a traditional song now forever associated with this trio, and Penguin/Random House has published a picture book version with extended text to draw in a new generation.
The book includes unfamiliar verses such as

I love you when you’re happy, and when you’re feeling blue,
And when you’re feeling grumpy, I’ll give a hug to you.

And:

I love you in the Arctic, the desert, by the sea…
…and on top of the mountain standing next to me.

It concludes with the touching sentiment

Be sure to sing this love song with everyone around,
When we all sing together, it’s such a lovely sound.

Sharon, Lois & Bram’s Skinnamarink is presented in a large landscape format. Throughout the lines of the song, children, adults and animals, play, work, dance, go to school and enjoy meals together. There is a lot of joy, a few tears to be mopped up, and hugs aplenty in the pictures by Toronto artist Qin Leng. Who could resist smiling at the picture of a toucan and a teddy bear waiting along with several eager children in anticipation of the tottering pile of pancakes being brought to the table by a bespectacled parent?

The watercolour-and-ink illustrations are in muted tones and have a somewhat misty quality, but the feelings evoked are very clear. Details include figures of a variety of ethnic origins and abilities, with Sharon, Lois and Bram, themselves, joining in the action from time to time.

Although “with Randi Hampson” appears on the cover and the title page, and there is a lawyer of this name living in Toronto, no information is offered about her on the jacket copy. We might assume that she is Sharon’s daughter, brought in as editor of the work. Also, curiously, there is no attribution for the additional text, although several stanzas that are included in the book are not to be found on any lyrics website or article about Sharon, Lois and Bram.

Sharon, Lois & Bram’s Skinnamarink is a treat for preschool teachers, primary libraries and parents or grandparents wanting to give a book gift to a younger child.