Joyful Noise: Songs of Faith and Fun for Children

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

This collection of 166 songs, range in origin from 12th-century European
medieval carols to late–20th-century sing-a-longs to African-American
spirituals and songs of Jewish, Latin American, West Indian and First
Nations origin. There are many old Christian campfire favorites (“Kum
Ba Yah, Lord” and “All Things Bright and Beautiful”) as well as
songs that are just plain plain fun to sing (“I Eat My Peas,”
“Hokey, Pokey,” and “The Very Bad Hair Day”). What holds this
volume together is its goal to create “a collection of songs with both
leaders and children in mind.”

Ann E. Turner, a classically trained musician, choral director, and
music arranger, assembled and edited the collection. Turner has stuck to
the basics. The music arrangements combine simple melodies with
easy-to-strum guitar chords that can be easy interpreted by anyone with
a basic level of musical training. The songs are also arranged in
alphabetical order for quick reference, and the spiral binding allows
the book to lie flat if singers are encumbered by musical instruments or
just want to clap their hands. At the bottom of each page is a
suggestion about when each song might be most appropriate, such as
“Epiphany,” “Singing the Seasons” or “Faith, Fun and
Frenzy.” A light scattering of prayers by Gertrude Leans completes the
text. Highly recommended.