TDmonthly's ToyFair 2006 Preview--Audio & CD Product Category

Educated Kid by HIP KID MUSIC

Two-time Parents Choice winners, The Hipwaders, offer smart, upbeat, fun, power-pop music in Educated Kid. The high-energy Bay-Area group plays a wide range of musical styles, from 1950s rock to 1960s pop melodies and techno tunes from the ‘80s, highlighted by jangly guitars, crisp harmonies, strong melodies and kid-friendly lyrics.  Wrote “A Family Runs Through It,” “You have to love a kids' band that is so clearly influenced by artists like The Beatles, XTC, Devo, and Fountains of Wayne.” Launch Date:  September 4, 2007. 6/29/2007 (Price: $11.97)

Peter and the Wolf by MAESTRO CLASSICS

Part of the Stories in Music series, this CD features the London Philharmonic, conductor Stephen Simon and narrator Yadu. In this new version, Peter and the Wolf is beautifully framed with additional information about the work, the composer and the influence of Russia. The CD also includes a 24-page program book, complete with information and fun activities. Launch date: June 2007. 6/27/2007 (Price: $16.98) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Rockabye Baby! 30 Unit Counter Display by ROCKABYE BABY!

A deluxe wooden counter display FREE with purchase of a 30 count pre-pack featuring eight of our top selling Rockabye Baby! titles including the Beatles, U2, Coldplay, Metallica, Pink Floyd, Bob Marley, Green Day and Led Zeppelin. 6/26/2007

Rockabye Baby! 12 Unit Counter Display by ROCKABYE BABY!

A deluxe wooden counter display FREE with purchase of a 12 count pre-pack featuring four of our top selling Rockabye Baby! titles including the Beatles, U2, Coldplay and Metallica. 6/26/2007

Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of U2 by ROCKABYE BABY!

The music of rock band U2 is transformed into a soft lullaby for little ones. The record trades guitars and drums for mellotron and bell, and lowers the volume fromm an eleven to a two. Toni Swann-Pardigno, national account manager of special markets at Rockabye Baby! told TDmonthly. This product is a 2007 iParenting Media Award winner. Launch date: January 2007. 6/26/2007 (Price: $16.98)

Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of The Beatles by ROCKABYE BABY!

Golden slumbers await your little pride and joy at the end of lullaby road. The Beatles are the most famous songwriters of the twentieth century. Their songs are known by people of all ages here, there, and everywhere. The dreamy quality of their later work provides the blueprint for these beautiful lullaby interpretations. It will glide your little one out across the universe, through an octopus’s garden, and lay them down in a slumberland of strawberry fields. 6/26/2007

Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Pink Floyd by ROCKABYE BABY!

We couldn’t think of a band more deserving of the lullaby treatment than Pink Floyd. Their songs are musical journeys to the bright side of the moon and beyond. Your crazy little diamond is going to shine on in dreamland and you’re going to wish you were there. 6/26/2007

Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Radiohead by ROCKABYE BABY!

These versions of Radiohead are sophisticated enough for people of all ages, but sweet enough to introduce your child to rock’s smartest band. Their album Kid A imagines the scope and power of music created by a newborn child. What will your baby dream about while drifting off to these serene interpretations of Radiohead’s best-loved songs? 6/26/2007

Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Coldplay by ROCKABYE BABY!

Using Coldplay’s gorgeous melodies and imagery, these gentle recordings are sophisticated enough for everyone to enjoy. Introduce the apple of your eye to these essential masterpieces of rock’n’roll. 6/26/2007

Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Metallica by ROCKABYE BABY!

On this album, they’ll enjoy Metallica’s biggest anthems without the pesky earplugs you didn’t bother to wear growing up. We’ve turned down the volume from an eleven to a two, and made the bed ourselves. Say your prayers little one. Tonight the sandman will be gently rocking you to sleep with these essential masterpieces of rock'n'roll. 6/26/2007

Siente: Night Songs From Around the World by YELLOW TAIL RECORDS

This album, featuring award-winning classical guitarist Hilary Field and vocalist Patrice O’Neill, presents a collection of lullabies from Basque, Irish, Spanish, Italian, French and other traditions. It also features master mandolinist Mike Marshall, Grammy award-winning English hornist, Nancy Rumbel, and principal musicians from the Pacific Northwest Ballet orchestra. “Warm vocals and lush instrumentals bring these songs to life while soothing the world to sleep,” Andrew Ratshin of Yellow Tail Records told TDmonthly. “A wonderful gift for new parents, ‘Siente’ offers a sense of peace and calm to those of all ages.” The album received a 2007 iParenting Media Excellence Award. Launch date: April 17, 2007. 6/25/2007 (Price: $15.98) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Charlotte Diamond: The Christmas Gift by HUG BUG MUSIC INC. — CHARLOTTE DIAMOND

This American Library Association Award Winner can serve as a classic holiday collection of international music for the whole family. It includes “Feliz Navidad,” “Zulu Carol,” “Petit Papa Noel” and “Silver Bells.” “Charlotte offers families an eclectic seasonal treat, with the lilting purity of voice that is her trademark. The instrumental production is excellent, which ranks this CD as one of the finest family albums to come along in years,” a representative of Hug Bug Music told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 1990. 6/25/2007 (Price: $14.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Charlotte Diamond: Nous sommes tous comme les fleurs by HUG BUG MUSIC INC. — CHARLOTTE DIAMOND

This album — Charlotte Diamond’s fastest-selling French CD and Juno Award nominee — includes “Di, Di Dinosaure,” “Tout le monde aime les bananas,” “Dix belles carottes,” “Petit Papa Noël” and the traditional “À la volette.” It is “a valuable educational tool for French immersion and French language programs,” Diamond told TDmonthly. 6/25/2007 (Price: $14.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Charlotte Diamond: Charlotte Diamond's World by HUG BUG MUSIC INC. — CHARLOTTE DIAMOND

This collection of songs for children, parents and teachers celebrates nature and our cultural mosaic. Tracks include “Leave the World a Little Better,” “Look Through the Kaleidoscope,” “Splishin’ and Splashin’,” “Singin’ in the Rain” and more. This JUNO Award nominee received a Parents’ Choice Honors Award and an Our Choice Award from the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. “This CD inspires children to create a better world by the simple choices that they make everyday,” artist Charlotte Diamond told TDmonthly. “Schools will find many of songs on this CD useful for assemblies and performances.” Launch date: October 2000. 6/25/2007 (Price: $14.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Charlotte Diamond: Diamonds and Daydreams by HUG BUG MUSIC INC. — CHARLOTTE DIAMOND

This album includes “Everyday Angel,” “One Dream,” “My Favourite Things” and several traditional lullabies such as “All Through the Night.” It received a Parents’ Choice Approved Award, an Our Choice Award from the Canadian Children’s Book Centre and a National Parenting Publications Award. This CD is “calming for those chaotic days!” Charlotte Diamond told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 1996. 6/25/2007 (Price: $14.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Charlotte Diamond: My Bear Gruff by HUG BUG MUSIC INC. — CHARLOTTE DIAMOND

The product received a Parents’ Choice Gold Award. This album offers a whimsical look at life and nature with “All the Nations Like Banana,” “Listen to the Water,” “Five Little Sparrows” and more. Tots are sure to enjoy the title song about Gruff, a bear who’s “not very handsome, but handsome enough.” “This CD features some of Charlotte Diamond’s best song writing,” a Hug Bug Music representative told TDmonthly. “[It is] singable and fun!” Launch date: October 1992. 6/25/2007 (Price: $14.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Charlotte Diamond: Diamonds and Dragons by HUG BUG MUSIC INC. — CHARLOTTE DIAMOND

This JUNO Award nominee and Parents’ Choice Honors Award winner includes songs “Dicky Dinosaur,” “Slimy the Slug,” “Lucky Streak” and “Rubber Blubber Whale.” “‘Diamonds and Dragons’ is an uplifting CD with catchy rhythms and themes that celebrate nature and the imagination of children,” Charlotte Diamond told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 1988. 6/25/2007 (Price: $14.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Charlotte Diamond: Qu'il y ait toujours le soleil by HUG BUG MUSIC INC. — CHARLOTTE DIAMOND

Kids can learn French easily through songs such as “Je suis une pizza,” “La belle pieuvre,” “Les sandwichs” and “Donne-moi la main.” Lyrics are included. “It’s the perfect language-learning tool in French schools or immersion programs. The clarity of [the] lyrics makes the songs easy to sing along,” Charlotte Diamond told TDmonthly. This album was a JUNO Award nominee. Launch date: May 1988. 6/25/2007 (Price: $14.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Charlotte Diamond: Diamond in the Rough by HUG BUG MUSIC INC. — CHARLOTTE DIAMOND

This CD features children’s favorite “The Hug Bug” and other songs that build self-esteem, including “Metamorphosis,” “The Laundry” and “You Never Praise Me Enough.” This product received the CARAS West Coast Tribute Awards and was a JUNO Award nominee. Launch date: October 1986. 6/25/2007 (Price: $14.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Cool Tunes by THE SAFE SIDE, LLC

This CD combines the educational and entertaining messages from Julie Clark and John Walsh’s video “Stranger Safety” video with a team of top-notch songwriters and musicians, resulting in clever and fun songs that will have kids singing and learning important lessons that can help them be safer around people they don’t know and only kind of know. Launch date: April 2006. 6/25/2007 (Price: $9.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Robbi K & Friends: Music Makes Me Happy by BALIDALI PRODUCTIONS INC.

Featuring singer and songwriter Robbi K, the 11-track “Music Makes Me Happy” includes jazz, pop, folk, world beat, classical, blues, Broadway and calypso tunes — performed by guest artists ranging from roots-rocker Brady Rymer to “Riverdance” fiddler Eileen Ivers to jazz trumpet legend Jimmy Owens. The enhanced CD can be played on a computer. “Robbi K is one of the few African American women to have achieved national recognition in the field of children’s music. In her ‘other’ life, Robbi sings backup for stars such as Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Mary K. Blige, Jewel, Rod Stewart and Harry Belafonte,” Elizabeth Waldman Frazier of Waldmania! told TDmonthly. Launch date: July 17, 2007. 6/25/2007 (Price: $14.99)

Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There by NAXOS OF AMERICA

This three-CD set covers the enchanting conclusion to Alice’s adventures. It is narrated by David Horovitch and Jo Wyatt, and the cast includes Richard Wilson, David Shaw Parker, David Timson, Teresa Gallagher, Sean Barrett and others. This product was named to the American Library Association’s Notable Children’s Recording List in 2007. 6/25/2007 (Price: $22.98) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Rent the Musical: Karaoke CD+G by STAGE STARS RECORDS

Idina Menzel starred in the original cast of Rent when it debuted on Broadway in 1996.  The show has continued to garner praise over the years; a movie version of the musical was released in late 2005. There are 22 tracks on this album: Tracks 1-11 contain the background tracks and guide vocals; tracks 12-22 contain the background tracks alone.  This album is a re-recording in the original show key and show tempo. 6/25/2007 (Price: $23.95)

Wicked the Musical: 2-Disc Karaoke CD+G by STAGE STARS RECORDS

Winning three Tony Awards in 2004, Wicked is becoming an instant classic.  Composer Stephen Schwartz was already well known for his movie work, as well as his prior Tony-nominations for Best Score for the musicals Godspell and Pippin. There are 30 tracks on this album: Tracks 1-15 contain the background tracks and guide vocals; tracks 16-30 contain the background tracks alone.  This album is a re-recording in the original show key and show tempo. 6/25/2007 (Price: $29.95)

Monty Python's Spamalot: Karaoke CD+G by STAGE STARS RECORDS

Featuring 13 songs from the Broadway musical Monty Python's Spamalot, this album is a new recording with fully-orchestrated accompaniment tracks. Spamalot, which is based on the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, won the Tony Award for best new musical in 2005. There are 26 tracks on this karaoke album: Tracks 1-13 contain the complete recording with background tracks and guide vocals; tracks 14-26 contain the accompaniment tracks alone. This album is recorded in the original show key and show tempo. "The budding Monty Python fan will appreciate these whimsical and entertaining songs,” Malinda Boothe of Stage Star Records told TDmonthly. 6/25/2007 (Price: $23.95)