So I’ve been falling in love with Mr. Rogers. My son’s Mastering Knighthood group studied him as a hero for January. Hence, we’ve been reading a book about him written by a Texan journalist, Tim Madigan, appearing in the video below. (He wrote the book for adults, so I’m paraphrasing some parts before I read them aloud to my son and my other kids.)

Tim kept up an email/mail/occasional in-person relationship with him. The relationship healed the journalist’s broken relationship with his own father. This book is so tender! I have found myself tearing up in a few parts.

As a kid I sometimes cringed at Mr. Rogers’ slowness, his emotional vulnerability, and occasional geekiness. His awkwardness, however, has faded away and he is now considered awesome. Not just by me, but countless others. He really was a cool guy. He wrote all the songs for his show and was just so kind. The world needs more Mr. Rogers. I have to say, I think he was cool because he really got who Jesus was and modeled his life after the Savior. He was an ordained minister, so I’m sure that helped him know Jesus.

I have a hunch that his mother also had a huge role in his life as a Christian, but I don’t know. Mr. Rogers treated everyone as a child of God and honored everyone’s feelings.

While I’m on the topic of his show, I will just vent that I also did not like the ugly curtains in his living room or the Lady Elaine puppet. She absolutely terrified me, with her harshly painted face and abrupt ways. I know she would not pass the Waldorf Education test for gentle-looking toys. I was afraid she was going to appear in my nightmares, call me Toots, and snatch me away to endlessly trap me for a ride on her merry-go-round museum.

Anyway, if you like jazz and Mr. Rogers, you will like the versions of these songs. Here’s the whole playlist. Enjoy! I’ve been reliving my childhood by singing the songs. My  mom bought the songbook before I was even born so the book was a permanent fixture around our house. I feel so nostalgic as I sing these. You can see all the lyrics to Mr. Rogers’ songs here. 

Here’s a bio of the singer, Holly Yarbrough. I love her voice singing these songs! She sings beautifully!