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.
Be Mindful, Be Kind
Beautiful Beats
Regional Superstars You Should Know
Rockin’ Rhythms
Unique Musical Stylings
Visiting with Old Friends
With a Little Help From My Friends
March roared in with the arrival of music from two evergreen children’s performers – Laurie Berkner and The Wiggles. Not one to let something like a pandemic slow her down, on March 5, Laurie released her 14th album, Let’s Go! Filled with her signature style these 16 songs, running a brief 33 minutes total, will not disappoint. Tracks like “When It’s Cold,” “Time to Eat,” and “Jumping Jack” would be welcome additions to storytimes as they encourage children to wiggle, jump, spin, clap, and knock while “Happy New Year” is the perfect way to end this year’s Noon Year’s Eve events. Reminders of the times in which we live are evident in “The Superhero Handwashing Song,” “The Superhero Mask Song,” and the opening track, “Let’s Go!” which celebrates the building excitement as everyone gets ready to go outside. In addition to all of this fun, there are also some quiet moments, times for mindfulness and reflection in “Listen to the Sounds,” and “Beautiful Light.” 
Laurie Berkner’s latest picture book adaptation is for her song, “
If you’re not familiar with 
GRAMMY Award winner Tim Kubart released his first picture book in May. Oopsie-Do! is a delightful story about a young girl who rather than fretting when things go wrong proclaims, “Oopsie-Do!” and with the help of her friends and the grown-ups in her life work to make the things going wrong, go right. Lori Richmond’s charming illustrations include a diverse cast of characters that embody all of the ups and downs that the children go through in a day. This is a great storytime book as well as a good title to share one-on-one. Pair this with Tim’s adorable full-length 
What a great month March is turning out to be for the release of picture books by the fantastic folks in children’s music. On March 7, we said hello to Thousand Star Hotel by the GRAMMY winning duo The Okee Dokee Brothers. This retelling of “The Fisherman and His Wife” illustrated by Brandon Reese features Mr. and Mrs. Muskrat who live near a big river. An accompanying CD includes the audiobook for the story as well as 11 songs performed by The Okee Dokee Brothers.
Also making a splash on March 7 was Dive In! by 2017 GRAMMY nominee Recess Monkey. Illustrated by Rob McClurkan, this interactive undersea adventure will delight young ones as they participate in the escapades of Burt the Blobfish and Sir Sebastian Stockingbottomham.
Mark your calendars! March 21 is the date for the release of the amazing Laurie Berkner’s new book, We Are the Dinosaurs. This combination of the lyrics from Laurie’s hit song “We Are the Dinosaurs” and adorable illustrations by Ben Clanton is sure to be a hit!
And in a #FBF Flashback Friday, I’d like to highlight Zar and the Broken Spaceship by children’s music extraordinaire, Dino O’Dell and illustrated by Santiago Germano. This is the story of three friends who meet the alien Zar, learn a lot about team work as they help him fix his spaceship and make a new friend along the way. One of the librarians who works with me has been using this book in her preschool visits this winter. The fun, interactive aspects of the story have made it such a hit with the preschoolers that it quickly became the finale of each storytime.
It has been eight years since Laurie Berkner released an album of all new music, but it was certainly worth the wait. Superhero is packed with 21 brand new songs that will delight and engage young listeners. The overarching theme of self-empowerment is evident in tunes like the title song, “Superhero” and “I’ve Got So Much To Give” while emphasis on using your imagination is featured in “Bubbles” and “Tea Party.” Special guests, Ziggy Marley, Brady Rymer, and Kira Willey add to the fun.
