One hundred and sixty years ago in the fanciful world of Edward Lear, there was an Owl and a Pussy cat, a Duck and a Kangaroo, and many more delightful characters who had bold adventures.

Uncle Arly, who traveled the world with Cricket on the end of his nose, and the green-headed Jumblies, who went to sea in a Sieve,  are but two of the ten works presented in Suzanne Birrell’s “Calico Pie.”

Suzanne is a storyteller at heart. In “Calico Pie,” the album, Suzanne breathes new life to these charming age-old children’s fairytale favorites with melodies as beautifully hypnotizing as they are memorable.

Bringing her considerable stage and screen actress skills to this project, Suzanne acts the stories out in character voice with expressive feelings from great pathos to humor.  She will captivate your imagination as she enthralls children and adults alike.

One of Suzanne’s musical stories is entitled “The Owl and the Pussycat.”  It is based upon “The Owl and the Pussycat,” a nonsense poem by Edward Lear, first published during 1871 as part of Lear’s book Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets.

Lear wrote the poem for a three-year-old girl, Janet Symonds, the daughter of Lear’s friends, poet John Addington Symonds and his wife Catherine Symonds. The term “runcible”, used for the phrase “runcible spoon”, was invented for this poem.

Suzanne brings fresh vision in her 2D animation as well.  I marvled as I watched her first select the unusual papers she uses for the different organic collage pieces, and then a second time as the actual backgrounds and characters took shape.

In days doom and gloom from the political front coupled with Covid-19 pandemic madness, I hope you enjoy watching this piece as much as I have enjoyed helping Suzanne put it together.

 Suzanne’s childrens album “Calico Pie” CD is available for $15 from Suzanne@SuzanneBirrell.com.  Please tell your friends and your children you like Suzanne’s work. Enjoy!!

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