November 2010 Notable Toys — Music

Jeff Jones and the Earthtones inspire kids to “Sing a Little Song, Do a Little Dance” on this 14 track CD. Latin, Caribbian and Asian musical styles influence many of the songs, including “La Bamba,” “Je Je Kule” and “Cumbia del Sol.”
— Gayle Geise of Parents’ Choice called the CD “an exciting, musical journey” that gets kids “twisting, dancing, singing, responding to calls, moving faster and slower as they ride their ponies-all while successfully introducing a number of general music lessons.”
— Daniel Freidman from Raising Arizona Kids referred to the songs as “sophisticated fare.” Daniel especially enjoyed "Night in Wulanbatuo," a “soothing, melancholy song that features Chinese lyrics and a Tibetan melody.”

Grammy Award winning children’s musicians Cathy and Marcy team up with human beatbox Christylez Bacon to combine folk and hip-hop styles. This eight track CD is filled with new songs and children’s classics like “Froggie Went A Courtin’” and “Syncopated Washboard Rhythm Song.”
— Mark S. Tucker of Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange described the CD as “very Sesame Street-ish.” Though the recording quality is “somewhat amateurish” and the CD is “only a half hour,” Mark recommended from “Banjo to Beatbox” as “a nice little addition to the catalogue of discs for kids.”
— Caroline Holt from Our Kids listened to the CD with her kids as well as four other adults. Caroline and her children preferred the beatbox songs on the CD, while the other adults greatly favored the folk songs. As a whole, they “found it annoying that it flip-flops between beatbox and folk songs,” though Caroline felt the low price tag made the album a worthy purchase even for only half the songs.

Parachute fitness routines set to diverse music and original songs address mobility, fitness, directionality, body identification, imaginative play and important concepts. Parachute play can be used for circle time, arrival and departure activities, recess and indoor/outdoor play.

Monkey Monkey Music offers a deep commitment to putting the child back into children’s music with Meredith LeVande's second album, What Are the Odds? The album finds the middle road between baby songs and pop band songs where kids’ lyrics are simply added to music that would otherwise be played for adults. Meredith’s music is not only child-friendly, it’s truly child-appropriate, having been created with the healthy growth of the child in mind. "Her songs are joy-filled expressions of pure, childlike fun. One listen is all it takes to recognize that Meredith really loves being around children," Waldmania PR Publicist Elizabeth Waldman Frazier told TDmonthly.
— “As soon as I pushed play, my 19-month-old son started bopping to the music,” reported Shonda of The Knowlton Nest. Shonda was struck by Meredith’s “happy, upbeat and friendly child-like voice” throughout “music that was contemporary, yet simple” and “appealing to kids and adults.”
— Toni Morton of Toni’s Treehouse provides a track-by-track analysis of the CD, highlighting the knock-knock joke based song "Who's a Knockin'?" and “the surprising sounds of a banjo and dobro” in the food pyramid song "Frogs Eat Butterflies."

More games for pre-K through 2nd grade by the arranger of the Boomwhackers® Games CD.

This album features 20 original songs that aim to help children build vocabulary in both English and Spanish through active multisensory participation. The songs are a combination of new compositions and updated versions of early Hap Palmer favorites along with new translations into Spanish. The lyrics and activities were developed in conjunction with Spanish language educational expert Laura Radchik, PhD.
Awards: Parent's Choice Foundation Audio Award Fall 2010, Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010