by Deborah Wiles, read by Judith Ivey

[The following is excerpted from AudioFile] Good garden of peas! Think kidnapped chickens! Think Yoo-Hoo and pink muumuus! Think handmade quilts, letters tucked into the root tangle of a silver maple tree, and the deep love between 9-year-old Ruby Lavender and her widowed grandmother, Miss Eula. Judith Ivey's narration is filled with the sultriness of summer, the longing for connection, the generations-old belief that life does go on, even after a tragic loss. There's more fun and feeling here than you can shake a stick at!

Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award, and a 2003 ALA Notable Recording

-Mrs. K.

Can You Hear It?

by William Lach

J 781.91 LACH

Here’s a way to introduce kids to beautiful music using beautiful artwork. Reproductions of works from the Metropolitan Museum of Art are paired with classical music selections, included on an accompanying CD, that share a common theme. With each example, the author includes hints and things to listen for, and the short selections make it fun to find everything. Information on each piece of art, as well as an introduction to the instruments in the orchestra, rounds out this lovely book.

-Miriam

African Playground and African Dreamland

by Janet Schulman, illustrated by Meilo So

J COMP DISC 781.62 AFRIC / J COMP DISC 781.658 AFRIC

Africa is an enormous continent, with over 50 countries, 1,000 languages, and 3,000 different tribes. You can enjoy some of Africa's incredible diversity through its music on several different Putumayo Kids CDs. African Playground is fun and bouncy, perfect for dancing, and many of the songs feature call-and-response elements for singing along. Phew!-- after all that singing and dancing, it might be time for a little nap. Pop in African Dreamland to settle everyone down. My favorite tracks are Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s a capella “Nomathemba,” and Famoro Dioubaté’s “Douyoré,” which features soothing balafón (African xylophone).

-Vicky

Abilene loves her china rabbit, Edward Tulane. She cherishes and adores him and he is the happiest he could be, until he gets lost. Take the journey with Edward and along the way learn that miracles can and do happen.

-Barbara

by DuBose Heyward, illustrated by Marjorie Flack

These three discs are educational, entertaining, and enjoyable to children (and adults) of all ages. This is a wonderful multilingual collection, and my personal favorites include De Colores, Savez-Vous Planter des Choux, and Haru Ga Kita (a lovely Japanese song to welcome Spring)- as well as Take Me Out to the Ballgame and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. This Raffi collection is indeed a box of sunshine!

-Mrs. Weicher

A little girl named Sophie discovers that giants not only exist but that there are a great many of them who like to guzzle and swallomp nice little "chiddlers". But not the Big Friendly Giant. He and Sophie cook up an ingenious plot to free the world of troggle-humping-- forever. The late Natasha Richardson does an outstanding job with the many voices in this wonderful book.

-Laurie

by Peter Yarrow and Leonard Lipton

AV-E YARRO

Puff the Magic Dragon is a glorious song about the magic of childhood and what we may leave behind when we grow up. Many of us are familiar with the song by Peter, Paul and Mary. In this CB book, you can listen (and sing along of course), while you enjoy the remarkable illustrations by Eric Puyabaret as he brings to life the Land of Honalee and Jackie Paper's adventures with Puff.

-Dawn

written by Shel Silverstein, performed by Pat Dailey

J COMP DISC 782.42 SILVER

This is a great musical creation for children and their parents. It is witty, and silly, and catchy-- marvelously performed by Pat Dailey. If you want to laugh, sing, dance, and do it with your children again and again, be the first to get the only copy in the library! You'll thank me for the advice.

-Mariana