Customer Reviews

Circle Time: Songs & Rhymes for the Very Young

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I tend to rely on the consumer reviews of products when puchasing something that I'm not familiar with. Well, when I purchased this item - there were only positive reviews. (Since then, I see that there are a couple of others who have my same reaction......) A few songs into this CD, I thought that the folks who gave this a positive review must have something to gain from the sales of this release. It's really not a good CD for children. Yes, she has a somewhat pleasant voice, but this isn't the kind of music that captures a child's attention. It's way too slow, too high pitched, and not at all conducive to singing along. "Do you know the muffin man?" sounds like a painful piano bar rendition. I was looking for a good cd to play in the car or at home to sing along with my toddler and have him learn all the classics. This one is really hard to listen to for both of us. I wish I hadn't wasted my money.

My children, ages 4 and 2, are music lovers and this CD is by far their favorite. There is a wide variety of songs on this album, with some very familiar songs and other less familiar songs. Lisa Monet has a very lovely voice, which does not grate on adults' nerves. And after listening to this CD over and over for weeks on end, I still find myself singing along.

My son is 16 mos. and we have been listening to this CD practically every day since he was 6 mos. and he never tires of it (although I must confess that sometimes I do). There are lots of songs -- some of them last only a minute or less -- and I think it is ideal for young children. Lisa Monet manages to make the songs very engaging for the children without overly annoying their parents. I highly recommend it.

Lisa has a real nice voice but our three kids were not excited in the least bit when we played this CD. It is real slow moving and there is no feeling to get the kids going. The classic songs for kids need more excitement for the kids to get involved. It feels as though no thought was given to the fact that this would be a children's CD. It's a shame because Lisa sings so well.

Our 15 month old little girl LOVED this CD and started swaying to Lisa's voice the minute we put it on. Unlike most children's music CD, there are no annoying sound effects or overbearing instrumentations on this album - just Lisa's sunny, personable and beautiful voice. Her unique interpretations of the many well-known children's songs are refreshing.

We've sampled tons of children' music CDs from the library and this is the only one we've bought and added to our music collection. If you are looking for a children's music CD with alot of "excitement" and "whizbang", this is not for you. This is a warm and charming album with great listenability for both adults and children.

Lisa Monet has a very pleasant voice that all of my kids are immediately hooked on. Her simple format makes it easy for kids to sing along, and when Ms. Monet goes into her high notes or improvisational playing, the kids love to dance.

Lisa has a beautiful voice, and she uses very clever arrangements of well known songs. My 3 year old loves this CD-it is his favorite, which is great, because I would much rather hear this CD than any other children's CD out there!

This is a wonderful, basic CD to add to your child's collection. Most of the songs and poems are familiar, or will quickly become so, if you don't already know them. The single soprano voice with acoustic guitar is soothing for a child, but still lively enough for dancing to the more rollicking numbers. My daughter started listening to it as a 4 month old--every time the first song started (Happy and you know it...) she would start kicking and smiling, anticipating the song. She would often be content in her play pen the entire time the CD played.

I decided to revise my review one year after my first review on this album. Not that I change my mind about Lisa's performance. But simply I have more to say. Lisa's approach is not traditional. In a way, I do partially agree with all those negative review. What I mean is that, this album may not be a good selection for the typical 2-year-old or above. But the imaginative story-telling talent and musical arrangement in this album is a jewel. I don't have chance for my daughter to get sleep on this one cause we simply act on what `s sung in the songs and purposely to make it like slow motion movie. With muffin man, we draw the muffin man along with the song. My daughter just turns two and she is a big wiggle fan. My husband and I both agree wiggle's music and composition is simply ordinary. However, my daughter does dance, jump and sing along with Wiggle's video. Now, wiggle is the daily routine. And it seems more important now than ever to play all kind of music artistry to my two year old - classical, jazz, alternative, opera and new music are constantly played in the house and in the car. My daughter does response to the alternative rather well (it probably has to do with beat). She will take time to catch jazz performance - that means she is listening but not necessarily jumping, exciting, clapping - simply just listening (especially when she is sitting in the car.) Classical is a big mixture of everything, it can clam her, delight her and simply be ignored by her. The point is that I try not to select the music only base on one aspect. Excitement is a good thing. But the musical experience is more than that.
I will leave my original review below --
This is one of those "addictive" CD. For the nursery Rhymes Singing, Lisa has the most beautiful phrasing and melodic rhythmic pulse. Her voice is warm. Her singing and music arrangement is charm and refreshing and has that story-telling quality with full color and vivid ambience. A can't miss delight for kid and adult. Can't wait for her next release!

Despite glowing reviews from the other reviewers, I was disappointed in this CD. My daughter didn't like it at all, and got bored within a few minutes. It was too spartan, with little musical accompaniment. Most annoying was that all of the songs were a bit too slow, even popular songs that all children sing seemed as if they were recorded at half-speed...it made each song sound depressing and way to similar to all the other songs. I guess I was expecting something happy and upbeat (more Raffi-like) and the CD put us to sleep.