Walking Around with Giants performed by The Dilly Dallies
The Dilly Dallies, the California based duo of Steve Slater and Jenn Ekman return with a second album filled with songs that parents and children can relate to and the whole family can enjoy. New moms (or all moms and dads really) will be touched by the song “Little Tiny Toes” which talks about a parents’ love for a baby from head to toe. This song would make a nice intro or exit song to a Baby and Me type program. With repeating lyrics and easy to follow melody, caregivers will be able to sing-a-long in no time.
Parents will find the situations described in “I Get Up” very familiar. Told from a child’s perspective, it addresses the age old problem of a child not wanting to stay in bed at bedtime. Another song that provides the child’s point of view is the fun title song, “Walking Around with Giants” which gives the kids-eye-view (which in this case is knee height) when walking down a street filled with adults. Most of the songs are upbeat but the slower ones such as the pretty lullaby “Dreams Await” and “You Are Me and I Am You” showcase the complex harmonies created by Slater and Ekman.
All 13 of the songs on this album were written by Steve Slater. He and Ekman provide the lone vocals. The duo also plays all of the instruments – including the ukuleles and glockenspiel, carefully choosing those that best support the vocals on each song. Walking Around with Giants is a good album for family listening. The Dilly Dallies include on their website all of the lyrics and chords to every song on the album giving it an additional level of usability in storytimes and early childhood programs.
The first time I listen to a new album (I generally listen to each album at least 3 times), I like to go in “blind.” I don’t read the liner notes or any of the accompanying PR. I just listen. This was true of the first time that I listened to Backyards & Home Fronts. With barely a glance at the packaging, I popped the CD in, pressed play and bopped along while I sorted the mail and straightened the kitchen. At the end, I thought, that was nice. Kids will like the song about using your imagination while drawing on the car window with your finger. They’ll be able to relate to the song about playing with a refrigerator box. Many of them will understand the song about the child who is growing older along with a pet.
The first of the two children’s music concerts that I was able to attend over the weekend was held Friday morning at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. Sponsored by Kids Rhythm and Rock, Chicago’s own Wendy & DB performed two concerts to benefit the museum, VH1 Save the Music and Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots. These engaging, interactive performances had children up and dancing as they heard songs including, “Pink Flamingo,” “Watersong,” “Girl Superhero,” and the blissfully exhausting “HopScotch.” I don’t know about the little ones, but after those high energy performances, I was just about ready for a nap.
