5 comments about Spooky Favorites.

1. ad that is what it is supposed to be. And it is done in a original way. My kids (2 resp 3) love it. They think it is funny, scary and Halloweenish. Exactly what it is supposed to be. If you are scary and you know it is an absolute favorite and they know the original by heart, and to hear this song with scary creatures just cracks them up. Yes, do not let you children listen to this alone, sing with them and explain the songs, and enjoy and laugh!!



2. My 4 year old son LOVES this CD! He wants to listen to it all the time, even now 3 months after Halloween! The Mean Old Witch is one of his favorite tracks. I have to admit too, that even I enjoy listening to this CD with my son--we sing along and sometimes act out the songs (especially the mean old witch). If your looking for somethign fun to share with your children, try this CD.



3. I have to add my 2 cents for the scariness of this cd. My 6 year old picked this out and we listened to it in the car on a long road trip. When the cd started my almost 4 year old covered her ears and started whimpering that it scared her. I told her "they were just being silly" so that my 6 year old could still listen to her cd. The 4 year old kept her ears covered for 4 songs all while I was trying to help her see how they were acting scary to be silly. After she had listened to the whole cd once she was not longer scared of it - and in fact now has most of the shorter songs memorized and constantly walks around the house singing "I'm a mean old witch with my hat... Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha". I'm glad I persevered and helped her overcome her fear so we now as a family have a blast singing Halloween songs together throughout the day. Now if you want to avoid any of this whimpering then definitely keep this cd for at least 5 year olds. My 6 year old wasn't scared of the cd at all and she loved how several of the songs have big "Boo"s at the end and other lightly suspensful moments.



4. I bought this CD for my son who was 4 at the time and he loves it! We listened to it all year long. Even as a parent I enjoy this CD and find myself sometimes listening to it when I'm in the car alone. My child didn't think it was too scary.



5. This cd is too *#@%# scary for me and I'm 38 years old!! If you are really into scaring kids, this will do the trick.

5 comments about Uni Verse of Song: Spanish.

1. This CD has Spanish and English. I love that you get to hear the Spanish part right after the English in many cases. Then they do a word review after each song. The music is fun and happy.



2. A must have for anyone with kids or grandkids. I really like Suni Paz, but I am glad I have both. Highly recommended.



3. I bought this music CD for my first child over 5 years ago. 2 more kids later I am buying it again. It has well-known songs in both English and Spanish languages. As a Spanish-speaking mother of three little kids ages 6, 3 and 1 I am very content with the way they translated the songs for the little ears. Despite the fact that my kids speak very well both languages, they love to hear the translation of frequently used words and I enjoy listening to the Spanish songs translated into English. It is absolutely a well spent money.



4. Lost my original copy on a road trip and ordered another. We can't live without this. Our kids are bilingual and the mixing of the spanish and English in the songs has not been a problem. They know the words without turning off one language to hear another. A true bilingual is not translating in the brain...but is associating in both languages. Arroz is the white granules we eat and so is rice. There is no confusion for our 2 daughters and 6 niece and nephews who listen to these songs (and ALL are bilingual). This is a fun CD and very helpful!



5. I love this CD. I bought it for my two grandsons. They love it. She has such a wonderful voice. She also explains at the end of each song what the words mean. It's GREAT!

5 comments about A Children's Celebration of Folk Music.

1. I too am a "concerned mother who ACTUALLY read the lyrics" (sniff!) and I'm extremely concerned that people who are that offended by such a playful, mild phrase are raising children. Please. Lighten up, or indulge in Barney.
   
   Beautiful, layered work on this cd: a pleasure to listen to, dance to, sing along with. From age 2 to 38 in this house, we're enthralled.



2. This is wonderful stuff, though I share some of the concerns below about the lyrics. Take "there may be lobsters on some of you mobsters"--that's just not logical. And if you said that to a mobster, he'd ice you, so you shouldn't teach your kids to say things like that. Otherwise, though, this is great.



3. My 3 y.o. loved it. The music is upbeat and fun, and you'll crack your kid up when you sing your own version of Ridin' in My Car. And Their Ain't No Bugs on Me is a great song. I don't know about your kid, but mine can handle a lyric like "How in the hell can the old folks tell ..." especially when sung so cheerfully and, um, innocuously. Mostly, it's a cd that you yourself will enjoy listening to ... even (believe it or not) the supplied version of Skip to My Lou.



4. Loved it except for the "Ain't no bugs on me" song. It uses the phrase "how in the (hell) can the old folks tell" In my opinion, that is not appropriate for young children.



5. Most of the songs are enjoyable and of the caliber I expected after reading the reviews posted. However, on Garcia's version of "Ain't No Flies On Me", there is a mild obscenity, which is fine for an adult compilation, but unacceptable for a compilation directed to children. As the rules for this forum prohibit obscenities, I cannot be more explicit about the exact lyrics. I am extremely disappointed in the editors and will be returning my CD.

5 comments about I Love My Toys.

1. The songs are catchy with lyrics children can quickly grasp and a sense of humor that will entertain parents, as well. A must-have for your kids!



2. Not having kids, I find most kids music annoying and I have very little patience. But putting in the CD I Love My Toys was actually NOT annoying as a grown up. I sent one right off to my 6 year old neice and told her to stop listening to that stupid dinosaur!



3. It's refreshing to hear a children's CD with such great songwriting. All the songs are catchy and I can't get a couple out of my head. I believe parents will enjoy the CD as much as their children, they'll be playing it a hundred times a day! Jesse Smith has created a FUN and ENTERTAINING children's CD with great lessons, and positive values.



4. A vampire singing about not being afraid of the dark, a reggae song about chocolate milk, an ode to a giant cardboard box, this is the great stuff of life, kids or not. The arrangements are catchy and adventurous,the lyrics are superbly witty & upbeat. The subtle "messages" are kid positive and tickle the child, still somewhere, in all of us.



5. I recieved this CD as a gift, and when I played it for my nieces and nephew, (ages 9,10 & 11) they were glued to the cd player listening to
   every word like old time radio. My nephew perked up when he heard IF I HAD A ROBOT, and the girls later wanted to her the very loud WILD
   TOYS...repeatedly again & again. I found myself humming the title song; I LOVE MY TOYS while cleaning the tub later in the day. Smith's use of sound effects with
   his music, turns this CD into a delight for the ears. Perfect for a long drive with the kids in the car, the CD is actually very long, you get your
   money's worth. Oh, and the NOT AFRAID OF THE DARK was very topical for the 2 girls, I think it eased their fears a bit about the basement
   guest room. If you have kids, get this CD! It is an evergreen, my kids always want to hear it again and again... it's not abrasive.

5 comments about Choo Choo Boogaloo.

1. This music is fun! Not your typical kids' music. My son requests it over and over! Good for dancing, driving, playing...



2. We love this CD. It has old favorites and new favorites. It's hard not to tap your feet and sing along!



3. I saw Buckwheat Zydeco live at a summer festival and they were a blast! I was even more excited to find out they have a children's CD out! My son is two and just adores the music on the CD. It's fun to dance to and easy to sing along with. I love the cajun twist on old classics and I think it's a really cool way to introduce a different culture into my son's life. Plus, it's a well appreciated break from the sappy, sugary children's music that tends to be out there!



4. I'm from Louisiana and can validate that Buckwheat is an authentic, well-known zydeco musician. He does not normally play children's music, so I was pleased to learn of this CD. I, as the parent, enjoy zydeco, and therefore enjoy this CD, which is fun and appropriate for children. My son loves it. I am pleased that he will grow up knowing the same songs that I sang as a child, and be familiar with rich Louisiana roots music. The Crawfish and Cotton Fields songs are especially nostalgic. They were my favorites growing up.
   
   Product arrived on time and with no damages.



5. After reading the reviews for this, I was soo excited to receive the cd. While I liked the idea of having narration introducing children to the music and the different instruments, I found the recordings themselves to be surprisingly flat. Where's the fun and excitement?? This is zydeco! This is zydeco for CHILDREN! The music and vocals didn't come from the heart, I felt no life in the recording. Even the Sesame Street zydeco song was better than this. My class (2 1/2 to 5 y/o) was not dancing around the room to it, either.

5 comments about Lullabies of Latin America.

1. This CD is excellent and I'm glad to have it in my collection. María del Rey has a beautiful voice and the men and children reciting poetry are refreshing.
   
   I am an educator who plans to raise my children bilingually and I find this CD to be an excellent addition to my collection of music in Spanish. As a native speaker of English who has learned Spanish to near-native ability, I am happy to have as many resources in Spanish as possible and look forward to singing and sharing these songs/rhymes (esp. the Spanish versions) with my child. While my baby has not yet arrived (he's on the way!) and I can't say what will put him to sleep, I disagree with several that have said the poetry and speaking by children and a man are disrupting. While some are slightly more upbeat than María del Rey's songs, I still find them very soothing (hopefully my baby will too!). I also disagree with a reviewer who said these are not traditional. I know I've heard some of these before and another reviewer mentioned that she remembered some from childhood.
   
   That said, my favorite lullaby CD is "Latin Lullaby" which has 17 songs (1 in Portuguese, 3 instrumentals and the rest in Spanish). Songs by "El Cri-Cri" and "De Colores" by José Luis Orozco are also in my collection (not lullabies, though.)



2. I am a grandmother who has given Maria Del Rey CDs to everyone in my family and to friends who have young children. It a gift that I love to give. Maria has an amazing and tender voice. I can feel her heart in every note. She is rare gem to have that kind of talent and share it with our children.



3. As an Educator and mother, I highly reccomend Lullabies of Latin America. In my family we have a long tradition of
   handing down music, books and stories. Maria has totally captured the beauty and warmth that I remember my mother and my abuela singing to me as a child. These are the classics, these beautiful lullabies brought such tender emotion in me when
   I first heard them. When I taught preschool for a few years
   the children always loved Maria's voice. The whole atmosphere was so peaceful in class during our nap times. When you work in the trenches with children everyday you need materials that work and I trust Maria Del Rey's work, she is just wonderful.



4. As others have noted, this turns out to be only a handful of lullabyes in Spanish sung by Maria Del Rey, plus nursery rhymes spoken by children and men (not very good for putting a baby to sleep), plus the whole thing repeated in English. In addition, I had been looking for traditional Latin American pieces and apparently all of these are contemporary. Don't waste your money...I'm planning on giving my copy away if I can figure out someone I know who could actually use it.



5. I had high hopes for this CD based on its rave reviews, but I was disappointed. Though the musicianship is excellent, a few of the songs are not lullabies, but rather are upbeat rythmic pieces that aren't helpful when we're trying to get our baby's eyelids to finally shut. Also, since the songs are repeated in English, you then get two doses of the same songs. This CD isn't bad, but for anyone looking for lullabies in Spanish, I'd recommend the "Latin Lullaby" CD.

5 comments about Cajun for Kids.

1. Thoroughly enjoyable music for children that the whole family will enjoy. As a teacher, I find it lively, interesting, captivating for kids, good short explanations given between tracks, and a surprise undisclosed track at the end with demonstrations of Cajun instruments and their names. Highly recommend it !



2. My 4 year old daughter who has never lived in Louisiana loves this CD immediately, and within minutes, she starts to sing along. The earthy cheerful attitude spreading with the dynamic music with funny narratives could certainly bring me back the good old memory of the cypress country.



3. This is upbeat fun music. It teaches a little bit about the Cajun culture as well. It is just the best, most sing along, most movement inducing cd. Our whole family loves it. It is a great cd for long trips because the songs are easy to learn and fun to sing.



4. My kids (5, 4, 2) love listening and dancing to Papillion's music. We saw him live at a mini-concert and bought the CD there. The stories between the songs on the CD are very interesting, and maybe after the kids start wearing the CD out, they may become old -- but what a great way to cary-on the Cajun tradition of storytelling (and most of the stories are about 1 minute or less anyway).
   
   This would be a great gift for your own kids or even a friend's child to introduce cajun music and cajun storytelling.



5. My kids (ages 4 1/2 and 6 1/2)and I just love this CD. We listen to it on drives all the time. We all sing along. The narrations between songs are very interesting. They've helped my children learn something about the Cajun heritage. I highly recommend this if you want something different and fun. But then again, my kids also enjoy the Beatles and Santana so they enjoy a wide variety of quality musical styles.

5 comments about Papa's Dream.

1. this is a great story. I grew up hearing about Lolo since he was a friend of my mom'm many years ago.



2. A wonderful imaginary and silly story of a Mexican-American family traveling to Mexico in a flying balloon to celebrate Papa Lalo's birthday. The versions of "La Bamba", 'Wooly Bully", and "Cielito Lindo" are great on this CD and the narration between songs adds a lot to this CD. A little bit of Spanish is a plus to follow the narration. You should listen to this CD from the beginning to the end, do not try to shuffle this CD, otherwise, you would miss the main theme of the album.
   
   We have been playing this CD for the last six years and we still enjoy it.



3. Asa long time fan of Los Lobos I had to buy this CD and what a wonderful surprise this little gem was. I highly recommend it to Los Lobos fans and lovers of Latin music. It's a fun, light collection of songs.



4. It was nice to find this collection of music that isn't just "baby songs". We can put this in on a drive and not regret getting the songs stuck in our heads all day. They are shortened versions of classic Los Lobos songs and the story is cute and helps little ones learn some Spanish words and phrases. Highly recommended!



5. Los Lobos teams up with Lalo Guerrero to take children on an extraordinary adventure and musical tour. I don't know who has enjoyed this CD more -- my children or their parents! We've been trying to learn Spanish as a family, and this has been a wonderful, fun supplement to our language lessons. Some of the songs are in English, but many are in Spanish, and all the lyrics are helpfully printed in the liner notes.

5 comments about A Child's Celebration of Rock 'n' Roll.

1. I loved this C.D. it has all the songs that my Mom and I listened too, my kids didn't like it so much, they only like 1-2 songs on the whole disk, I guess I am starting to get out dated with the new generation, my children are only 4 and almost 6 and I thought they would love all the catchy music, but not so.



2. Not only does my five year-old son love it, but I do too. I just turned fifty, so I can relate to these songs' heyday. My boy loves them because they're joyfully silly!



3. My five year old son and I both enjoy this CD. The songs are oldies but goodies and really get him moving. We've listened to it while stuck in traffic and ended up having a lot of fun! I recognize some of the songs from when I was a kid, like Monster Mash and Chewing Gum, and then there are ones from well before my day like Rockin' Robin.
   I highly recommend this CD!



4. As a mom, I am always on the lookout for music for my young kids. Our oldest wanted something he could keep in his room to listen to, but so many CDs these days have questionable lyrics. I wanted something he could listen to whenever he wanted. I found it!!
   
   This CD is so much fun for the whole family to listen to...kids, parents, grandparents...everyone will love it! I was amazed that I could get all of these fabulous songs by ORIGINAL ARTISTS on one CD for this price! Usually, you will pay this much for music done by immitation artists. This was great! The kids thought so many of these songs were funny...Yakkity Yak; Splish, Splash!; Willie & the Hand Jive. We all had a few laughs and some very funny dancing. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!!



5. A lot of the classic Rock and Roll songs of the late 1950s-early 1960s on this album. This is a great album to introduce to young kids and adults who love classic rock and roll songs.

5 comments about Gift of the Tortoise.

1. My 4 year old son listens to this CD everynight before going to bed. He has memorized all the songs, including the ones in Zulu. It got him interested in the world map, in Africa, and in various animals like cheetahs and lions. He took note of the boy who turned into a 5-legged cat for picking on and laughing at other people.
   
   He listens intently and sympathetically to the story/song about children who only see their fathers once a year. My son dances with joy, just as one would imagine the children in the stories, would do so upon a happy reunion, or upon receiving a precious dress or some treats that are hard to come by. It has helped introduce my son, at an early age, to be grateful for his situation, and also to admire children around the world who can do with so little.



2. My 5, 3, and 1 year old really enjoyed this CD. We homeschool and did a unit study on Africa and this was a perfect addition!
   I have bought and listened to 100's of CD's and this is one of our favorites. It gives African culture, described by the Tortoise (the narrator), in a fun and interesting way. There is an African game on the CD that we just added to our routine of games. It is so cute and is a nice change to ring around the rosie.
   I highly recommend this to anyone.



3. My 15 month old daughter listens to this cd each night while in her crib waiting to fall asleep. In the mornings when we are getting her ready for her day she hums/sings the songs and laughs when we sing along. This is a beautiful cd about South Africa and I am thrilled that she enjoys learning about such a meaningful place.



4. For anyone wishing quality for their children I've yet to find anything better. This is a magical CD. When it was stolen from the car, my son(now 18)requested I reorder it. The voice of the storyteller transports us to places and feelings we've rarely experienced and yet share a common human experience of joy and hope.If I could only purchase one CD for my child - this would be it...and I would be listening.



5. I put this on my 19month old daughter's Wish List for Christmas and we just listened to it today. She loved the animal sounds in the beginning and danced to some of the music. It's not something she'll sit down and just listen to as a storytime yet, but I think it will be a timeless addition to our CD collection. As an adult, I enjoyed listening to the stories and the music. A good buy for younger and older children as the music is very rythymic, but not too loud (I think my daughter would have liked it as an infant).