Never Smile At a Crocodile - Kimbo Educational

Hi, folks - Boyhowdy here, host of folk cover blog Cover Lay Down. As a teacher and a parent of two girls ages two and five, I'm always on the lookout for good kids music, though I'm usually suspicious of any company which claims to be "educational" -- too often, the word belies a set of creative choices which sacrifice quality and care for curricular relevance and namby-pamby sappiness. But the other day I discovered this wonderful version of the Peter Pan classic Never Smile At a Crocodile on SIX LITTLE DUCKS, a CD from a company called KIMBO EDUCATIONAL, which might just change my mind.

The songs on Six Little Ducks are typical preschool sing-along fare, heavy on the tune and rhythm, light on the kind of nuance which most adults would look for in a "good" song. But that's not a bad thing, in the context of a playroom or family car ride. The whole point of music for the tiniest tot set is to introduce the simplest songs to another generation, and provide an opportunity to engender movement and enjoy the simple pleasure of a good tune.

In the case of Never Smile At a Crocodile, this means an upbeat acoustic guitar and clear, uncredited storysong vocals, supported by bouncy synthesizer, percussive sax, and a crisp drumbeat. It's a perfect setting for this playful tune, one which exposes its silly-yet-honest moral without crossing the bar into cheesiness. In short, for what it claims to be, this is one of the best songs around.

Amazon reviewers -- all parents and preschool teachers -- universally describe Six Little Ducks as the best CD in their collection, both for its breadth and its catchiness. And a quick browse through the Kimbo Educational catalog shows a bevy of other Disney tunes on their other CDs, too. If you're a parent, or just a serious collector of Disney tunes wherever you can find them, I can't recommend the Kimbo Education series highly enough.

Looking for more coversongs for kids? Then head over to Cover Lay Down, where our regular kidfolk feature compiles the best coversongs for cool moms and dads in a variety of folk styles.

Never Smile at a Crocodile Kimbo Educational 2000

Never Smile at a Crocodile - Fred Penner

One of my childhood memories of growing up in Canada and in the eighties is coming home after school to watch Fred Penner's Place on CBC. He was a very entertaining performer and he fit right in with my other tv friends, Mr. Rogers and Mr. Dress-Up.

I'll talk about FRED PENNER when I post another Disney cover song of his in the future, but right now I want to tell you about this song.

Never Smile at a Crocodile can be found on his 1993 release, POCO. The tune is heard as an instrumental piece in Peter Pan whenever the Crocodile is getting close.

The tune was written by Frank Churchill who wrote most of Disney's music in the 30s and the early 40s. Walt had planned to make Peter Pan in the early 40s and asked Frank to start writing the music for it. But when legal rights got in the way, the feature, and its music, was shelved.

Years later, Walt was finally able to make Peter Pan and asked Jack Lawrence, who was working on Sleeping Beauty at the time, to write some lyrics for the tune that Churchill wrote. Although the words were never heard in the movie, the song has gone on to be a popular children's song, especially in Australia.

Never Smile at a Crocodile Fred Penner 1993