SING ALONG WITH PUTUMAYO

 (28 customer reviews)

An outstanding set of kid's music with folk scene stalwarts such as Arlo Guthrie, Taj Mahal and Tim O'Brien joined by bluegrassers Tim O'Brien and Rhonda Vincent and blues pickers Keb Mo, Guy Davis and Eric Bibb, as well as Americana-country types such as Rosie Flores... An impressive lineup, sure, but better still is the calibre of songwriting, and the actual kid friendliness of it all. This is a really fun album! Fun, as in, little kids might actually like it, and might even sing along if you played it for them. Plenty of silly songs like "Bling-Blang," "Bananaphone" and "Bellybutton Song." Some songs are perky, like "Red, Red Robin"; others are instructive, like "Man Named All The Animals," and others still model assertiveness and communication skills, like Taj Mahal's excellent "Don't You Push Me Down," in which various kids stick up for themselves in unpleasant situations. I like this album a lot, and plan to play it for my kid for years to come.

I picked this CD second hand. I work in child care in Toronto and am always on the lookout for tunes that are not in the insipid Barney-esk category. I think the staff love this CD just as much as the children. It has different styles of music and is not only great for dancing to it can also act as a spring board for discussions of various cultures. Apparently there is a guide that you can order to create lesson plans.
Unfortunately my favorite track is not one that you can sample here but Taj Mahal's "Don't you push me down" is the absolute number one favorite of everyone and is often put on repeat. It has actually cut down on pushing fights in our daycare, now if they would only make a song called "Don't you throw sand in my hair"....

My grandparents sent this as a gift for my daughter's 2nd birthday. We listened to it on a 10 hour road trip and none of us tired of it. In fact, it's been in my car's CD player for 2 years and we listen to it all the time. The songs are not like the Wiggles or other similar artists. Everyone can enjoy them and sing along.

I bought this for my friend's daughter. I know she'll love it as much as we have.