Fans Can Travel Over the Rainbow With Judy Collins

For more than 70 years, the song "Over the Rainbow" has inspired starry-eyed idealists to follow their dreams. Written for the MGM film, "The Wizard of Oz," and sung by Judy Garland, its heartfelt lyrics have made it one of the most beloved songs of all time.

Fans will have the extraordinary opportunity to revisit this timeless musical classic thanks to the release of "Over the Rainbow," a children's book that comes complete with a CD featuring a new version of the title song by legendary singer/songwriter Judy Collins.

Collins, who will appear at Book Revue at  7 p.m. on Thursday, said that the collaborative process for the book was set into motion about a year-and-a-half ago when old friend and fellow folksinger, Peter Yarrow, invited her to record the song for his imprint of Imagine Publishing.

Collins' book is already a New York Times bestseller. In addition to "Over the Rainbow," the CD includes "White Coral Bells" and " I See the Moon," in which Collins' ethereal voice melds with the bell-like tones of a children's chorus.

Given Collins' serendipitous ties to the movie and the song, it appears that she was destined to someday render her own interpretation of the beloved song whose meaning has permeated her life. (Collins was born in 1939 – the same year that Wizard of Oz was released – and was named after Judy Garland.) The movie was an instant sensation with her parents, she remembered.

"They loved playing the song 'Over the Rainbow' in our home, and it practically became my lullaby," Collins said. "In the years since, I began to play the piano and sing. No song has captured my heart in a way that 'Over the Rainbow' has. It flies through the years untouched, unblemished, unchanged. It lifts my heart today as it did the first time I heard it. The song has followed me, like a bluebird, all my life."

To their delight, fans will learn that the book's text and Collins' melodious rendition include the lost introductory verse, written by composer Harold Arlen and lyricist E.Y. Harburg that was eventually omitted from the film.

Adults and children alike will also take great pleasure in perusing the book's illustrations by noted French artist Eric Puybaret as they listen to Collins' CD. Puybaret's use of color and attention to detail can only be described as extraordinary. The pure visual poetry of his illustrations is such that it delights the eye, ignites the imagination, and sends the soul soaring.

As a way of making Collins part of his creative process, Puybaret sent Collins color sketches of dreamy landscapes populated by anthropomorphized moons, suns, clouds and of course, rainbows.

Collins, in turn, was so enthralled with Puybaret's work, especially those "extraordinary bluebirds," that she said that she purchased one of his original paintings.

Collins, who has been criss-crossing the country as part of her book tour, said those who come to Book Revue on Thursday are in for a rousing good time.

"I will be mixing up the book-signing with bits and pieces of songs and plan to sing rounds with the audience," Collins said.