Songs in the Shade of the Oak Tree: Lullabies and Nursery Rhymes from Ireleand

A sweeping collection of 14 songs from Ireland that invites children to discover a rich tradition of hopeful and heartfelt music, filled with pride and passion.

This celebration of sound and storytelling abounds with a blend of lively and heart-wrenching tones. Popular favourites passed on from generation to generation are performed by men, women and children accompanied by talented musicians playing a wide array of instruments, including the fiddle, bodhrán, flute and Celtic harp.

Lyrics appear in English and Irish, followed by notes describing the cultural background of each song, along with a QR code to access the recordings.

Nathalie Soussana is the author of several musical picture books, including Songs from the Vanilla Trail, Children’s Africana Book Award-winner Songs in the Shade of the Cashew and Coconut Trees and Parents’ Choice Gold Award-winner Songs from the Garden of Eden. Anouck Fontaine studied at the Ecole Supérieur des Arts de St-Luc in Brussels before becoming a children’s illustrator. She recently illustrated a Grimm Brothers’ fairytale, Le jeune fille et l’hibou, that was very well-received in France. Elodie Coudray began as a freelance illustrator in the textile industry after graduating from the school of Arts Decoratifs in Paris. She has since published children’s books with several established French publishers including Auzou, Didier Jeunesse and Petit à Petit.