November 2011 New Specialty Toys — Music

Over the course of his seven-year career as a music educator, Nick Deysher has developed a catalog of music that spans the decades and the globe. Parents will love the classic sounds and influences of such greats as The Beatles, Bob Marley, Sly and the Family Stone, Paul Simon, Dandy Livingstone and Woody Guthrie. Children will love the catchy rhythms, humorous lyrics, and sweet melodies. Educators will love the science math and self-esteem concepts which are conveyed in each song.

Learning to Play Piano is designed for the parent and child to experience making music together. The pre-primer method book is filled with active participatory activities: writing in note names, tracing hands, writing in finger numbers, clapping, singing and playing melodies. The pull-out Keyboard Tent (included) provides a fun visual reference to associate notes on the page to keys on the piano. Children learn to play familiar melodies with their right hand gain the readiness skills needed to graduate to any commercially available piano method. The full-color book is filled with words of encouragement and praise from the familiar Debbie and Friends cartoon character. 24 pages.

A celebration of popular music styles from the 1970's to today. Making Silly Faces is a family friendly album made for kids to enjoy with their parents. Launch date: 2011.

Baby Lullaby takes baby on a soothing journey with classical lullabies by Bach, Brahms and Mozart. Enjoy relaxing ocean waves, sweet puppet shows and tranquil images. Includes DVD, CD, and picture book. 30 minute run time. Other titles in this series include World of Rhythm and Neptune's Oceans. Launch date: February 22, 2011.

When renowned musician & songwriter Chip Taylor ("Wild Thing" & "Angel of the Morning") became a grandfather, he directed his creative energy to writing new songs with & for his grandkids. Golden Kids Rules melds the husky, time-worn vocals & the musical instincts of a seasoned performer with the charming artistry of his 3 young grandchildren. Taylor's brother, actor Jon Voight, offers an insightful introduction to the artist & the album. 13 tracks, 38 mins, 20+page booklet w/ lyrics. Launch date: October 18, 2011.
Awards: TDmonthly Top Toy Award, January 2012.
— Why it won: A great CD that tackles topics relevant to kids without being patronizing or sacrificing the quality of the actual music. Lovely tunes that parents and kids can listen to together.

Celtic Christmas follows previous successful Putumayo Christmas releases such as A Jazz & Blues Christmas, New Orleans Christmas and Christmas Around the World, which combined have sold over 1 million copies. Celtic Christmas offers Celtic interpretations of Christmas classics along with an original recording. The collection begins with the joyful singing of The Albion Christmas Band on “Here We Come A-Wassailing,” and moves into Charles T. Cozen’s instrumental version of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” Dougie MacLean closes out the collection with a soulful Scottish rendition of “Auld Lang Syne.” Launch date: 2011.

Spanish & English educational album for children 3 years old and up. With themes like "ABC", "Months", My Name Is", "Ice Cream", "Goodbye Friends" and many more. Includes lyrics and sing along instrumentals. This is a great tool for schools and homeschooling. "All kindergarten teachers from Puerto Rico adopted this album," Blanca Castro, director of Little Xavier, told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 2011.

Practically Ridiculous is the latest offering from award-winning kindie rock band The Jimmies! Featuring epic minivan ballads and swinging tea party hits, Practically Ridiculous is a celebration of the silly in signature Jimmies style. Launch date: September 2011.

This new family music release is the follow-up to Alastair Moock's award-winning debut family album, "A Cow Named Moock." These Are My Friends features many of Moock's old musical collaborators, including Rani Arbo, Lori McKenna, Mark Erelli, Vanessa Trien, Kris Delmhorst, Jennifer Kimball, Anand Nayak, Rose Polenzani, Scott Kessel and Paul Kochanski. Launch date: October 2011.

This CD features 19 songs varying in style from jazz, barbershop quartet, acoustic guitar, and more. A concept album for kids, Colonel Purple Turtle follows the band's previous, NAPPA Award-winning album, Pink!. Launch date: September 13, 2011.

Recess Music, a company that strives to awaken kids to the magnificence of our planet through albums of earth-friendly music, announces the release of Wild Child, the fourth in its award-winning “Celebrate Earth” series of CDs.  Singing the praises of African fauna, the 14 tracks of Wild Child showcase a variety of musical contributions by a sampling of today’s most gifted kids’ musicians, including Jack Grunsky, Anna Moo, and Danny Adlerman. "Sales of Wild Child will benefit Roots and Shoots, the children's division of the Jane Goodall Institute," Elizabeth Waldman Frazier, publicist at Waldmania PR, told TDmonthly. Launch date: August 2011.

15 fairy tales burst to life as joyful songs and colorful videos in this rocking new Parents' Choice Award Winning CD/DVD, Happily Ever Moey! A Fairy Tale Lark in Central Park. 65 children join Moey, New York City's "Pied Piper in Pink" to turn classic tales into songs and videos with new kid-power endings. "Little Red Riding Hood" rescues herself from the Big Bad Wolf. Snow White and Sleeping Beauty wake themselves up with their own magical kiss. Goldilocks is a parable to protect the environment. The true princess in Princess and The Pea gives her mattresses to the homeless and sleeps on a king-size futon! Entertaining, engaging, inspiring, and empowering, this award-winning DVD gets children and grown ups dancing to the beat.
Awards: 2011 Parents' Choice "Fun Stuff" Award

Parents' Choice® Award winning musician/composer Ted Jacobs is dedicated to presenting exquisite acoustic musical settings of the world’s most beloved poetry. His third studio CD, Back to the Garden,is a collection of songs based on poems from Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses.  More than ten years in the making, this album is a companion to Jacobs’ award-winning recording, A Child’s Garden of Songs. "Back to the Garden affords a perfect antidote to urgent schedules and electronic fascination, providing time and space for children to reflect, dream, and imagine while they nurture their creativity with music that’s an ideal match for Stevenson’s poems," Elizabeth Waldman Frazier, publicist at Waldmania PR, told TDmonthly. Launch date: September 2012.

Includes Little Pim French: eating and drinking (Disc 1), French Bop music CD, and an 8” Little Pim plush panda, all packaged in reusable see-through tote. Little Pim French: eating and drinking introduces over 60 words and phrases used at mealtime. French Bop features 15 songs, three by kid’s music star Milkshake.

Little Pim Spanish Bop music CD is a delightful way to enhance children's language abilities. 15 songs, 12 of which are sung in Spanish, can be enjoyed on their own or as part of the award-winning Little Pim DVD series. Each CD contains a 16-page lyrics book that highlights vocabulary taught on the DVDs, and an English translation of all the songs. Spanish Bop features three original songs by Milkshake, a popular band on the kid music circuit, and one song by Grammy award-winner Dan Zanes & Friends.

Known as "The Grateful Dead for Kids," this live album features Ben Rudnick & Friends performing their blend of bluegrass, folk, country, and rock at the Town Green in Lexington, Mass. The total running time of the album is 78 minutes.