Lullabies from round the world

by Daniel Brown

Article published on the 2009-03-27 Latest update 2009-03-27 16:04 TU

The cover of "Comptines et berceuses du Baobab".
(Photo: Artists)

Down the ages, music and lullabies have been synonymous with moral lessons and guidance for our children. Michèle Moreau inspires herself from her own distant memories in directing an award-winning series of children’s books and records for the collection Didier Jeunesse. In the course of her twenty years at the helm of this company, she has brought out over 300 superbly-crafted works that collect lullabies from the five continents. In another register Nazal Rosunally composes children’s songs and publishes family magazines in his native Mauritius Island. Both entrepreneurs who have harnessed their creativity and childlike vision of the world … to telling effect.

Lullabies, and the messages they vehicle, are universally seen as a powerful way to teach children lessons about the world they are entering.

Michèle Moreau continues to explore what seems to be a bottomless well of lullabies and children’s tales.

The phenomenal output by her book company, Didier Jeunesse, is equalled by the quality of the publications. They are all accompanied by music CDs that ally professional musicians with parents and the children themselves.

Michèle Moreau.
(Photo: Nestor Lagneau)

Yet, there seems one book that has stood out in the past two decades, not least because it sold a remarkable 100,000 copies: Comptines et Berceuses du Baobab, or “Tales and Lullabies from the Baobab. This work brings together thirty stories one can read or listen to, while feasting one’s eyes on the evocative illustrations by Elodie Nouhen.

“It’s difficult to explain its success,” Moreau told me at the 2009 Salon du Livre in Paris, “but we’re very proud of this publication. I wanted the children who settled here from Africa to find something beautiful emanating from their native culture.”

But there is another underlying motivation for Moreau to publish this work:

“It’s a scandal that children from these countries who live in France are not considered as coming from other cultures. And Africa is the Mother Continent for us, with the French always linked to Africa.

Moreau and her team spent two years exploring and putting together this book. The accompanying CD, directed by Paul Mindy, and the elaborate commentary allow readers to follow the lullabies in their proper context.

The best introduction to the series is arguably Les Plus belles berceuses du monde, which collects 23 of the greatest lullabies in the world, or so claims the editors.

In the coming year Moreau has promised books/CDs, from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the travelling Roms.

Nazal Rosunally.

Nazal Rosunally was also at the March 2009 Salon du Livre, a long way from his Indian Ocean island where cultures and peoples have met as frequently as different currents in a swirling sea. Rosunally’s publication, Educational Tools Edition, does not have the budget or know-how of Didier Jeunesse, but it has a similar vision of teaching the young through words and music.

And that vision has also been promoted by Association Lire en Calédonie, which published a gem of a children’s book called Toutoute. The archipelago in the Pacific Ocean harbours 28 different languages. In 2007, it saw the release of a superb collection of 42 lullabies, that illustrate the linguistic vitality of the 200,000 people who live there.

Quiz of the week   What is the African proverb that links the village, children and their upbringing?   The answer is in the programme. You are invited to listen to it and send your answers to [e-mail].