Storytime Singalong Vol. 1 - Emily Arrow

Album: Storytime Singalong Vol. 1

Age Range: 4 through 8

Description: While she isn't the first artist to make an kids' album based on children's literature -- and not even the hundredth to make a kids' album about reading -- the Los Angeles-based Arrow might be the first to blend the two relatively seamlessly. Most of the first half of the album are based on individual books, such as The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds and The Curious Garden by Peter Brown. The songs generally work even if you've never read the book. In fact, the songs based on the books above are, respectively, inspirational and gorgeous in a way that might remind the parental listeners of someone like Vanessa Carlton.

The second half of the album, while not entirely book-less, deals less with stories and more with the structures of stories. "One Day, The End Song," based on a book, talks about filling in the gap, story-wise, between "One day" and "The End." "Poem In Your Pocket Song" is a groovy song with lots of fill-in-the-blank singalong rhymes -- it's not the first time I've heard such a song structure, but it's probably the most ear-wormy one. Even "Peanut to My Butter," in its simple citing of common colloquial phrases, requires a certain bit of reading comprehension.

The 29-minute album floats by quickly and pleasantly even without a book in a kid's hands. (If you want listen to some of the songs and hear more book-based songs, check out Arrow's music page.) Just as simply playing Mozart for your baby won't make your child smarter, merely playing Storytime Singalong Vol. 1 won't make your child a reader. But as part of a broader culture that celebrates literacy -- in school, in the library, or at home -- the album will fit in quite nicely. Recommended.

Note: I was provided a copy of the album for possible review.

Sleep Softly - L'Ensemble Agora (The Secret Mountain)

Artist: L'Ensemble Agora (The Secret Mountain)

Album: Sleep Softly: Classical Lullabies by Brahms, Schubert, Satie, Debussy...

Age Range: 0 through 3

Description: The latest book/CD combo from Canadian publisher The Secret Mountain turns to music decades -- OK, mostly centuries -- old to produce a classical lullaby album. L'Ensemble Agora is a French sextet known for setting children's literature to music, so they know their way around playing for kids, though one would hope that in a concert setting they're trying to engage their audience, rather than put them to sleep.

There are dozens -- hundreds? -- of classical lullaby albums, so what's distinctive about this one? Well, these are mostly short pieces (in some cases mere excerpts, I believe), and many of them are specifically lullabies (as opposed to relaxing pieces of classical music). It's also distinctive in that it's a book, though the book is geared more towards the adult than the 18-month-old who just won't fall asleep -- Elodie Nouhen's detailed, dream-like illustrations will be appreciated more by older kids and adults, and the explanatory notes are definitely for adults. I suppose that's not surprising, as that target audience of 18-month-olds can't read, so why provide kid-focused liner notes? But in its chief task, of calming and reassuring the child (and, to some extent, the parent), Sleep Softly succeeds -- everything else is just bonus. Recommended.

Songs from a Journey with a Parrot - Various Artists (The Secret Mountain)

Artist: Various Artists (The Secret Mountain)

Album: Songs from a Journey with a Parrot: Lullabies and Nursery Rhymes from Brazil and Portugal

Age Range: 0 through 6

Description: The latest book/CD combo from Canadian publisher The Secret Mountain heads to a couple Portuguese-speaking countries for a selection of lullabies and nursery rhymes. The selection (originally published in France in 2003) is well-produced and diverse in its musical stylings (the songs were collected by Magdalene Lerasle). Unlike the Putumayo disks, which are typically compilations of previously-recorded material from a wide range of artists, each Secret Mountain production tends to keep itself to a narrower range of artists. Here arranger Paul Mindy leads a handful of vocalists. The adults may want to turn to the detailed liner notes (lyrics, translated lyrics, song backgrounds, credits) in the back while the kids will probably stick with the front half and Aurelia Fronty's vibrant illustrations and brief lyrical snippets.

The 45-minute album is a lot more uptempo than the subtitle "Lullabies and Nursery Rhymes" might suggest, so if you're looking for a lullaby album, look elsewhere. But for a playful collection of Latin melodies (and non-Spanish-language ones at that), this is an excellent introduction. Recommended.

The Return of Phineas McBoof - Doctor Noize

Artist: Doctor Noize

Album: The Return of Phineas McBoof

Age Range: 5 through 9

Description: As one might surmise from the title, this is the second album from Doctor Noize (AKA Colorado-based Cory Cullinan) featuring the titular music savant who throws it all away at the height of his fame... wait, that's actually kind of the plot of the whole album. The late 2011 album tells the story of how Doctor Noize joined the International Band of Misunderstood Geniuses through a variety of musical genres (hip-hop, soul, opera). It's a fun story and there's a lot of thought and care put into the production. (Also, I kinda want to make "For The Children" required listening for anyone thinking of making music for kids.) You can stream the 63-minute album here; there's also an accompanying book that tells the story in rhyming form. Those of you who are familiar with Doctor Noize's work on Grammaropolis or the first Phineas McBoof album know that the albums throw in everything including the kitchen sink to entertain with the ulterior motive being to educate. The new album is no different -- an amusing story well-told and -sung. Recommended.

Listen to the Birds: An Introduction to Classical Music - Ana Gerhard

Artist/Author: Ana Gerhard (music selection) / Cecilia Varela (illustrator)

Book/Album: Listen to the Birds: An Introduction to Classical Music

Age Range: 4 through 11

Description: Another book/CD collection from The Secret Mountain , this one uses bird-themed excerpts from classical music to introduce readers to some famous classical melodies and classical terminology. Older readers will get a fair amount out of Gerhard's text (which also includes biographical info); readers of all ages will probably enjoy the charming illustrations of Varela. I was impressed that the music Gerhard selected spans literally 500 years. Be forewarned that the 20 selections from artists such as the London Symphony Orchestra are in many cases just excerpts. So you might have to explore further, which wouldn't be the worst thing, right? Recommended.

Book Review: Tito Puente: Mambo King / Rey del Mambo (Monica Brown / Rafael López

Author: Monica Brown

Illustrator: Rafael López

Age Range: 4 to 8

Book: Tito Puente: Mambo King / Rey del Mambo

Description: In bright, vivid colors and words to match the well-beloved Latin music legend, Brown and López tell the story of Puente's childhood and eventual decision to become a musician. In this retelling, it's not so much a decision as it is a calling -- "Before he could walk, Tito was making music. He banged spoons and forks on pots and pans, windowsills and cans." It's not a terribly detailed biography, but there are some nice biographical touches (Tito's first band? "Los Happy Boys"). Displaying the text in both English and Spanish is a nice touch, and López's illustrations are vibrant. (Watch a book trailer here.) Recommended for fans of Puente and Latin music, or anyone seeking to expand their family's or classroom's musical knowledge beyond what is often in book form limited to rock and classical music.

How To Listen To Great Music - Robert Greenberg

Author: Robert Greenberg

Book: How To Listen To Great Music: A Guide To Its History, Culture, and Heart

Age Range: 12 and up

Description: This book puts in writing what composer, professor, and historian Robert Greenberg has taught in his popular Teaching Company CD/DVD course. It's an entertaining survey of what we in the Western world commonly refer to as classical music and which Greenberg prefers to call concert music, focusing on the concert music composed between 1600 and 1900. He's a biased observer and lets that come through in his writing, which is usually good in that it helps focus the attention on particular artists rather than letting the reader get lost in the weeds of dozens of artists whose music is unknown outside their most devoted aficionados. (It's sometimes a bit excessive, as when he presents the superiority of concert music over every other style of music as essentially fact, and not just a reasonably argued opinion.) Some music reading ability is helpful, though I think you can get a fair amount out of it without that knowledge.

Why am I mentioning it here on a kids music site? I didn't get much theoretical and historical knowledge of classical music of when I was Miss Mary Mack's age and learning the organ and violin, and in retrospect, I wish I had. So if your kids are starting to take lessons of their own, and exploring the concert repertoire, I think this would be a good book for you and, if they're mature older tweens, for them to read to give a framework to understand the different eras of classical music.

[Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for possible review.]

Learning to Play Piano for the Very Young - Marty Gold & Debbie Cavalier

Author: Marty Gold and Debbie Cavalier

Book: Learning to Play Piano for the Very Young

Age Range: Ages 4 through 7

Description: Regular readers are probably more familiar with Cavalier's kids music side project, Debbie and Friends, but she's also an administrator at the Berklee College of Music, with more than 100 music method books and arrangements to her credit. Marty Gold arranged and produced many artists and dozens of records (and is Cavalier's grandfather). So this slim instruction book is very much down their alley.

The 24-page book will not turn your child into the next Mozart. Rather, it's a good introduction to the piano (or full-sized keyboard) that can be useful to gauge your child's interest in and readiness for actual piano lessons. (Or patience -- Little Boy Blue, six years old at the time we received the book -- probably isn't ready for the attention required of piano lessons.) The use of little pictures (an elephant to represent the note of "E," for example) is cute, and pretty useful. There are seven songs (with chord notations, though I suspect that anyone adept enough at reading chord notations won't actually need them for these simple songs). It's a fun little book and so long as you have the properly-scaled expectations for what's inside, you'll probably like it.

[Disclosure: I received a copy of the book for possible review.]