Have I Mentioned Before....

that we love Putumayo Kids? Well fyi we do! Their newest cd "European Playground" is no exception. We've listened to it no less than 10 times in the car this week which is fine with me because if I have to listen to the mixed cd I made as party favors for Madison's birthday one more time I fear that it or I may jump out of the car at dangerously fast speeds. I really think my ears may bleed if I have to hear "Happy Birthday" one more time!

In typical Putumayo kids fashion they have not only given us more great music for kids but are making teachers lives a little easier too! Be sure to check out the teacher guide that goes along with "European Playground".

Anyone really wanting a copy of this cd for themselves. Would you like it for free? If so leave a comment about why you want the cd and if your kid has a song that is on the verge of making your ears bleed like "Happy Birthday" is doing to me.

Get a second entry by blogging about this contest with a link to the post.

Entries will be excepting through midnight 6/10. The winner will be randomly selected. Make sure you have left me a way to get back to you so I can send you the cd. If the winner does not contact me within 3 days of winning I will select a new winner. Good luck to all!

More Kiddy Tunes

We recently received another new cd for the kiddos and love it! Baby Loves Salsa produced by Aaron "Luis" Levinson and "features some of the biggest and brightest stars in contemporary salsa music including band leader and singer Jose Conde. It is the story of a group of kittens and puppies (gattitos y perritos) from the streets of new york city who go on to become the best salsa band in the land." Madison took instantly to this cd and "Bailar Rapido" has quickly become her new favorite song. I love that she has begun to sing along in Spanish even though her Spanish vocabulary is limited at this point. I am sure this is a sign of bigger and better things to come. We also love to read the board book that came with the cd. It is about a gato(cat) named Otis who lives in Nueva York (new York). He makes a special salsa for his birthday in Central Park which turns out to be a salsa band. Not only is the story entertaining and educational its illustrations are also brightly colored which even gets Stella's attention. This cd and board book set has been a hit all around! Make sure to check out Baby Loves Salsa's website where you can sample some of the songs from the cd.

Bass Fishing in Chile?

Nope they are Trout Fishing in America and this family is hooked! Several months ago while driving to school/work Madison and I were listening Kid Stuff on Sirius and a song called "Alien In My Nose" came on by Trout Fishing in America. It was just about the funniest/grossest song that I had ever heard. It was about a kid who thought there was and alien in his nose and he was going to do whatever it took to save the world from this little green, slimy guy. Any guesses to what the "alien" really was? Yep you got it!

Recently we were lucky enough to receive a copy of their cd Big Round World and we love it. Not only did the three-time Grammy nominee team of Keith Grimwood and Ezra Idlet come up with catchy tunes but the songs are funny while sending a message. Well most of them anyway some of them are just plain fun! My personal favorite is "When You Get Dressed" which if you read my christening post about certain people not knowing how to dress for certain occasions you'd know why that hit home with me! Madison's favorite however was "Curse of the Spinach". Whenever someone comes over she insists that they listen to this song so they can learn why spinach is so yucky.

You can count on us going to see them if they are ever in concert in our area. For now though we'll just keep listening to their cd's or downloaded tunes from their site. Oh and by the way if you purchase cd's directly from Trout Fishing in America they will autograph them free of charge! How cool is that?

New Tunes for Kids

We are a music loving family. Problem is the music our sweet little 3 year likes is not exactly what we enjoy. Any sane adult can only listen to "Hot Potato" about a million times before being ready to snap! I'm so excited because I think I found the solution! Putumayo Kids has music from all around the world that is even enjoyable for adults to listen to!

Putumayo Kids most recent release is Sesame Street Playground. It is the first globally distributed Sesame Workshop audio cd! This cd has been a huge hit in our home! Several of the songs that we know in love are in English but there are many tunes in different languages from other countries that have either Sesame Street or a slightly different version of it. It is so much fun to listen to a tune you recognize in a different language. Madison's personal favorite is "Zhima Jie" in Chinese better known to us as "Rubber Duckie".

Some other great new releases from Putumayo Kids are their "Hawaiian Playground" and "African Playground" cd's which both have free downloads for teachers on the website. There are also some interesting educational kits that can be purchased. I'm a huge fan of this because it is not always easy to incorporate music in everyday teaching but Putumayo Kids has already done the hard part!

I really can't say enough about how much I love Putumayo Kids!