Holiday Gift Guide- Gifts of CDs and DVDs

What a RideGo across the universe and back with Eric Herman on his fifth CD of cool tunes for kids and families, What a Ride!. What a Ride! is an amazing musical journey through childhood and beyond that includes several catchy tunes that are sure to get stuck in your head (“Heartbeat”, “Stink Bug”, “Come Play”), interactive fun tracks (“Ants in Your Pants #99″, “How to Move a Monster”) and even songs that explore the meaning and size of life, the universe and everything (“What a Ride”, “How Big”, “Extraordinary”).  What a Ride! is $14.99 to purchase, $12.99 for MP3 download on CDBaby.

Funky KidzFunky Kidz is a CD of familiar kids’ songs with a New Orleans funky-jazz twist. Artists include Ivan Neville of the Neville Brothers; The Radiators; George Porter Jr. of The Meters; and Bonerama. What I love about this CD is how these familiar songs have been jazzed up to appeal to both kids and adults. You can definitely here the New Orleans influence in the songs. Our favorite tracks are Papa Grows Funk’s version of The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine”, Theresa Andersson’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, and Amanda Shaw’s version of “Garden Song”. You’ll listen to this one even when the kids aren’t around! $13.99 + S&H from Funky Kidz Music.

Fairly Odd Parents S2You get three discs of fun with The Fairly Odd Parents Season 2 . My 13 year old one chose this from a list of potential review DVDs because he thinks it’s one of the best seasons of the series. Highlights from the season include the anti-fairies wreaking havoc in Dimmsdale… Timmy trying to out-fool the April Fool himself… and Vicky kidnapping singing sensation Chip Skylark. Our favorite episodes on this box set include Christmas Every Day, Super Bike, Information Stupor Highway, and Scary Godparents. Well worth the Amazon price of $35.98.

Rock n Learn Life ScienceRock ‘N Learn Life Science is an exciting way to learn important facts and get ready for a life science test! Marko the Pencil and his friend Bailey take learners on a fascinating journey to Marko’s Super Science Station where it’s easy and fun to grasp science concepts and boost test scores. Topics covered include photosynthesis, plant parts, the life cycle of a butterfly, plant and animal cells, food chains, food webs, and more! After the main portion of the DVD, students can go back whenever they want to review any section. The DVD menu makes this easy. Finally, when students are ready, they can join Kevin, Marko, and Bailey to take a practice Life Science test in the Bonus Section of this DVD.  Marko even shares his secret website where students can download free study materials to complement this DVD. Rock ‘N Learn Life Science is available from Rock ‘N Learn for $19.99.

Chanukah FeverIn a spirit of outrageous fun, Mama Doni brings her special brand of “funky music with a Jewish twist” to the holiday season, with the November 24 release of her new CD, Chanukah Fever. The album, done in Mama Doni’s signature wild and wacky style, features 10 new original songs plus 4 favorites from last year’s EP, I Love Chanukah!. Chanukah lasts only eight days, and Doni Zasloff Thomas, aka Mama Doni, says, “Enjoy!” The popular singer/songwriter expands the horizons of traditional Jewish music, with a contagious and unexpected blend of reggae, rock, disco, Latin, klezmer and “Jewgrass” – all woven together with a hip Jewish sensibility. In Chanukah Fever, Mama Doni spices these eclectic, colorful elements with a razor-sharp, sophisticated humor that makes latkes, dreidels and Yiddish expressions cooler than ever. Buy Chanukah Fever for $15.00 on CDBaby.

World Music from Putumayo Kids

I’ve listened to a lot of CDs meant for children lately, and only a few have made it into regular listening rotation. Two of our newest favorites are from Putumayo Kids. We received Putumayo Kids Presents: European Playground and Putumayo Kids Presents: Picnic Playground for review, and the kids and I are enjoying listening to music from other countries.

European PlaygroundPutumayo Kids is “committed to introducing children to other cultures through music from around the world.”  European Playground has 15 songs, our favorites are Trampolin from Finland/Sweden, and Tudom En Mar, Mit Csinalok from Hungary.  We didn’t realize how the style of music from the Caribbean had influenced European music until we listened to this CD and heard steel drums in Trampolin and in Alles Uit De Kast from the Netherlands.

The Putumayo Kids Presents: European Playground website has samples of each song on the CD, a downloadable teaching guide, world map, PDF of the song lyrics on the CD, and a video from England’s Herbie Treehead. You can also find other Putumayo Kids CDs, videos, and teaching tools using the links on the side.  A portion of of Putumayo’s proceeds from the sale of this CD will be donated to the European Federation for Street Children (EFSC), a Brussels-based non-profit organization committed to the improvement of the rights and situations of street children in Europe and beyond.

Picnic PlaygroundPutumayo Kids Presents: Picnic Playground is twelve songs about food from ten countries.  This would be a fun CD to use along with lessons on food from other countries.  The song Bolitas de Arroz con Pollo, for example. I knew it was something with Chicken and Rice, so I googled “bolitas” and found out that it refers to a mixture of cornstarch and egg whites rolled into balls and fried in oil. My oldest son then remembered that in Spanish class they had talked about popular foods and that was one of them. Now he wants to make Bolitas de Arroz con Pollo together!

Download the lyrics to Putumayo Kids Presents: Picnic Playground from their website, plus watch Johnny Bregar perform “Shoo Fly Pie”. A portion of Putumayo’s proceeds from the sale of Picnic Playground will be donated to Vitamin Angels, providing essential nutrients to children in the U.S. and around the world.

The Putumayo World Music Blog has information on concerts, the link to their Facebook and Twitter pages, info on the artists, and photos. Pick up either of these terrific CDs to get your kids up and dancing along to world music!

B Is For Bob CD Review and Giveaway

edited to add: Oops, I was supposed to pick FIVE winners! Here are the other four winners of a B is for Bob CD:

#5 Janelle from http://www.brimfulcuriosities.com/

#21 Eloise C   @furygirl3132

#9 sushi_noem from http://andadelinetoo.blogspot.com/

#13 Stephanie  @stlyhu

Check your email!

This giveaway is closed. Congratulations to the winner, Dina from Just Another New Blog! Please check your email.

“My father’s music spans generations and with B is for Bob we give the youngest their very own Bob Marley record.” – Ziggy Marley

B is for BobI’ve been a Bob Marley fan since college, and I’m so glad that Bob’s son Ziggy executive-produced this new compilation of 12 of his Dad’s best known songs. 8 of the songs have been re-done to be more kid friendly. B Is for Bob has the classics “Jamming”, “Stir it Up”, “One Love/People Get Ready”, “Could You Be Loved”, and more.  Four-time Grammy winner Ziggy Marley infused his own musical tastes with Bob’s original vocal tracks to create a fun, laid-back sound that is great for listening to in the car or just chilling out to at home.

You can share the timeless jams of Bob Marley with your kids by entering this giveaway to win one of five B Is For Bob CDs.

WIN IT:

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment on this post telling me who you will share this CD with if you win. When you fill out the comment fields, you must use a REAL first name or blog name, and make sure your email address is correct.  Any comment that just says “thanks” or “I’d love to win” will be DELETED.

ENTER BY: Saturday July 25th at 11:59 PM. Winners will be chosen the following week.  Open to U.S. entrants only.

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Thanks for entering and good luck everybody!

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