New Music for the Younger Set

It’s that time of year when summer is but a distant memory (although for many the temperature has been saying something different!) and librarians and teachers are refreshing their storytimes and lesson plans as they dive into a new school year. Here are three albums to assist in that refresh.

First up, Australia’s Fabulous Lemon Drops (real life husband and wife duo Dez and Vanessa Staunton) provide listeners with a traditional kindie rock sound with their ninth studio album, Songs to Learn and Sing. Created especially for parents and teachers, the fifteen pop songs in this collection feature simple melodies and lyrics containing lots of repetition. Movement songs such as “Ready Steady Go” and “Hop the Bunny”  learning songs like “Let’s Sing the Alphabet,” and “The Colour Song,” and life skills songs “What Do You Say? (Please and Thank You),” and “Tidy Up,” make this album a solid addition to library, preschool and kindergarten classroom settings.  

Next we have the debut family album from Mr. Ages (Sage Price), Quality Music Intended for Children. This eleven song collection is filled with amazing instrumentals that evoke the sounds of everything from a country fair to jazz poetry. The melodies perfectly complement Price’s vocals as his songwriting skills shine. Each song is cleverly crafted to tell a story by taking traditional nursery rhymes and turning them on their heads. For example, on the jazzy “Jack,” Price combines facts from several nursery rhymes featuring a Jack including, “Jack and Jill,” “Jack Sprat,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” and even Jack Frost to tell a new tale. Slightly older children will enjoy the flute-laden “Humpty Dumpty” where Price doesn’t shy away from the fact that Humpty, well, he died. After all, he was an egg-man who didn’t have any bones so he shouldn’t have been on that wall to begin with. Share this one with children who are fans of alternative versions of folk and fairy tales. In addition to fresh takes on nursery rhymes, Price also updates standards such as “I Had a Little Nut Tree” and “Mary, Mary Quite Contrary.” 

 

And last, but never least, is the newest album from Laurie Berkner titled, Walking with the Penguins. Some of the songs in this collection will be fun for family listening and focus on common subjects such as that snack time favorite – string cheese, bananas, the four seasons, and the fascinating octopus. Some of the songs will be perfect in the classroom like “A Rainbow in the Sky” which teaches the concept of ROYGBIV and “Count to 100” which teaches listeners to count from 1-20 then 1 to 100 by 10s. Finally, there are tracks that would be right at home in any storytime. “Big Baby Go Boom” would work well in a toddler storytime and encourages interactions between the caregiver and child while “Walking with the Penguins,” “My Bunny Goes Hop,” and “Let’s Make a Shape” are perfect songs to get children up and moving. From beginning to end, Walking with the Penguins is a joy to listen to at home, in the car, or in the classroom.