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ANNOUNCER:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English. I'm________.

Songs for big people are easier to find than songs for littlepeople. But the market in children's music is growing. Today, FaithLapidus and Steve Ember tell about one company that is helping tomeet the increasing demand.

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VOICE ONE:

That's BB King, the great blues musician, and his famous blackguitar he calls Lucille. The song is "Rainy Day Blues." Later in thesong, he asks children to play a game called "BB Says." It is alittle like a game that a parent would play with a small child.

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VOICE TWO:

Babies learn about music from thesimple songs that their mothers and fathers sing to them. When thechildren are older, their parents might teach them songs as part ofa game. BB King's recording of "Rainy Day Blues" follows thistradition.

Most of his fans, though, may not know about his recordings forchildren. They only know that he makes very popular blues recordingsfor adults.

BB King recorded "Rainy Day Blues" for a company called Music forLittle People.

VOICE ONE:

It all began when a man named Leib Ostrow was looking for musicfor his children. He searched in stores, looked through books andphoned toy companies. He could not find anything he really liked.

So Mister Ostrow decided to begin a recording company of his own.He went to a bank and borrowed some money. He began the company inhis home. He used the part of the house where most people keep theirautomobile.

Soon he was recording music for children. Many parents thought itwas a great idea. So did many recording artists.

Music for Little People is locatedin northern California. It started as a mail-order business innineteen-eighty-five. Today it is one of the largest children'smusical and educational companies in the United States.

It has released more than eighty-five recordings. And it has wonmany awards.

VOICE TWO:

BB King is only one of the performers on Music for Little People.Others include country music stars Faith Hill and Charlie Daniels.There are also recordings by Taj Mahal, Maria Muldaur, Aaron Nevilleand Linda Ronstadt, and the rock groups Red Hot Chili Peppers andLos Lobos.

The members of Los Lobos are from Los Angeles and are of Mexicanancestry. Their songs on Music for Little People are in both Spanishand English. In one recording they had the help of Lalo Guerrero, aMexican-American singer.

Listen for a moment as Lalo Guerrero and Los Lobos perform "LaBamba," a traditional Mexican song. You may have heard it before. Itwas a very famous song in the nineteen-fifties.

"La Bamba for Little People" begins with Lalo Guerrero tellingeveryone -- not just children -- to dance!

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VOICE ONE:

Leib Ostrow, the man who startedMusic for Little People, says he wants children to hear good musicby great performers from around the world. The company sells manydifferent kinds of music. If a parent thinks a child might like rockmusic, they have it. If a parent wants music in French, Spanish,Swedish or Zulu -- they have that, too.

There are religious songs, dance songs, slow songs, fast songs,songs from movies -- just about anything a child might like.

Taj Mahal is another artist well known to fans of blues music.Here, he and Linda Tillery sing "Shake a Tail Feather." This songwon several awards, and was a nineteen-ninety-eight nominee for aGrammy Award for Best Children's Recording.

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VOICE TWO:

Dan and Kiley McMichael have a two-year-old daughter named Fiona.Fiona likes music. And, like most little children, Fiona wants tohear the same recordings over and over again. Her mother does notmind. She says she likes the Music for Little People as much asFiona does.

Here is one of the songs that Fiona likes. It tells a story aboutthe power of music to calm the fears of a little boy. The groupsinging is Ladysmith Black Mambazo, from South Africa. The song is"The Lion Sleeps Tonight."

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VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Paul Thompson and produced by CatyWeaver. Our studio engineer was Suleiman Tarawali. Music For LittlePeople can be found on the Internet at m-f-l-p dot com (mflp.com).I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for the VOA SpecialEnglish program THIS IS AMERICA. We leave you now with a song called"Three Sisters: Corn, Beans and Squash." It's performed by NativeAmerican singer Joanne Shenandoah.

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