Customer Reviews

Baby Beluga (Raffi Songs to Read)

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Baby Beluga" tells the story of a little Beluga Whales daily adventures in the "deep blue sea." The beautiful illustrations and charming story captured my attention instantly. Not familiar with Raffi, and his music, I was unaware of the popularity of the song, by the same title, until noticing the back cover, where it is mentioned. I have since purchased the CD, and CAN NO LONGER read this book; I have to SING it! "Baby Beluga in the deep blue sea, swim so wild and you swim so free. Heaven above and the sea below, and a little white whale on the go."

The editorial comments regarding Ashley Wolff's illustrations are harsh. As an artist, I regard the work to be first-rate! The mostly analogous color palette (ocean blues and greens) is bright and true to life, while the expressions are communicative and warm. Perhaps, a little more contrast between the Beluga Whales and the sea is in order, but that is a personal preference. Besides, compared to ANY of the severely cold computer-generated images available in books today, the illustrations in this book are superior. "Baby Beluga" is a delightful book independently, although, combined with the music; it is IRRESISTIBLE! One-year and up.

I have been teaching Head Start for 6 years and one of my lesson plans is based on the book and music of Baby Beluga. The book has many teaching points such as night and day, living in a cold environment, naming and counting animals. The children love it. We make a bottle with blue water and a white balloon turns into a whale and while the music plays the children make waves with the bottle. I've never found a child who didn't like this activity.

Whether you know Raffi's music or not, this is a great little book. My children love it. We have had it long enough that our oldest now reads it to the younger ones.

There seems to be a natural interest among many children about things that live in the ocean. This book fuels that interest.

The book is fun, well illustrated, and a joy to read. Do your children ask you to read them some books over and over again? Mine do, and this is one that has had the covers nearly read off of it!

If you haven't seen this book, give it a try. It's also a good book for beginning readers to work on.

Top notch! 5 stars!

My two year old daughter LOVES this book/song. My only complaint is that in this book, the music isn't included at the end (Raffi's "Wheels on the Bus" song to read has the sheet music included on the last page). Without also owning the "Baby Beluga" Raffi CD, we wouldn't know the tune. Other than that, it's great.

My fourteen month old "sings" the title when she wants me to read it to her. The illustrations captivate her and are helping to expand her animal vocabulary.

The illustrations are beautiful; the song is very simple and gentle. When the music and the book are used together, it drives my 8 month old daughter crazy with delight. She loves the colorful animals, and can barely contain her excitement at the turning of each page.

Before we even knew of this book we had been playing Raffi's "Baby Beluga" CD for our small boy. I had noticed the book in stores but thought it was silly to have a book for a song we already knew.

And then we found the book in the public library.

Hello! Our two year old was so excited. He adores sea creatures so he would have liked the book even if it were just illusrations of fish and whales, but it thrilled him to discover that his song was in this book! He often sings full phrases of the song to us. He has memorized many of the words and has for a long time been taken with the line "Moon is shining and the stars are out" which to him is THE correct way to discuss any night sky in any picture, even if no stars or moon are visible.

I digress. The book is a hit. Last time we went to the library our son put in his order. He wanted "Baby Beluga" and "Caps for Sale". Unfortunately "Baby Beluga" was out, so we had to wait by the phone till it came in.

This evening I went to say goodnight to our son while my husband was reading the bedtime stories, and I caught him singing "Baby Beluga" as they read the book together--a sweet sound in the ears of a wife who rarely hears her husband sing.

The words are simple imagery; the pictures have introduced our youngster to other sealife, like seals, walruses, narwhals (the ones with the unicorn tusk)... but we like the book mainly because of our son's enjoyment. It's simple to sing, and it's a sweet lullaby full of joy.

I'm sure our little guy imagines himself to be the little beluga whale in the song. After all what toddler doesn't love to be surrounded by those who hold him dear? We can all use a little dose of adoration.

My sons love Raffi music and videos. We have checked out all of his "song" books at the library so I decided to buy a few of them for our own use. My guys grab the books when they hear the song and like me to turn the pages with the music. My only complaint is that the library editions had the music and words at the back, whereas the board books do not, so if you can carry a tune but haven't heard the song, you won't know the rhythm of the music. But these books are still great for reading, even if you don't know the tune. And if you have Raffi music in the car, include this book for the back seat passengers to "read" while the music is playing.

Baby Beluga has delightful illustrations of "sea creatures" (whales, penguins, etc) as well as making the song personal by including a young eskimo child in the book. Most children are fans of whales, seals and the like anyways, but parents should enjoy reading this book to their children. It's easy to read, with clear, large print and simple pictures. Great for the toddler age to read or sing along and the short enough for the under 18 months crowd. And while the animals are not labeled, it would be perfect for a before and after book if you take young children to an aquarium or zoo.

My 3 year old daughter loves this book so much we've actually bought a second and third book to keep in varying places because she takes it everywhere and needs to find it at a moments notice! She sings the song constantly and this book has peaked her interest in other sing-a-long books. Highly recommended!

We love this book! With the accompanying CD of the same title, we can "sing" this book to our 11 month old twins which makes it unique in their minds. Now, after a few readings, they have started to say "baby baby" when they see the book or hear the baby beluga song.