French Playground [Import]

Putumayo Presents | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 4, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Putumayo World Music
• ASIN: B000B5UNH4
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,960 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #18 in Music > Pop > Euro Pop > French Pop
  • #45 in Music > Children's Music > Sing-A-Longs

Track Listings

1. Chatouiller le Ciel Avec Toi

2. Lutece

3. Wonderful

4. Clic-Clac Oh C'est Beau!

5. Bonjour, Bonjour

6. Monsieur Bibendum [Mr. Bibendum]

7. L' Île Maurice

8. Le Matin en Patins [Skating in the Morning]

9. Petit Français

10. Sensation (Bidi Bom Bom)

11. Croque

12. La P'tite Monnaie

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

What a welcome change this collection is! Completely free of the arch, cloying ickiness that sometimes informs even the most well-intentioned kids' music offerings, these tunes may well help create a vanguard of pint-sized, sophisticated (in the best sense of the word!) world citizens. While not all of the selections were originally composed with this market in mind, the music is nonetheless delightfully child-appropriate in content, rhythmic bounciness and melodic saturation. The producers have rightly assumed that youngsters are small but sentient beings whose developing tastes and interests need to be engaged and encouraged. The styles employed evoke a nostalgic yet ultra-contemporary enfant boulevardier's world of cafés, bicyclettes with bells, bals musette and le jazz hot, so that parents will also be charmed and not find themselves left out of the experience, or worse, rolling their eyes and diving for cover. The songs not only reflect daily life as encountered by children living in France but accurately portray that nation's modern cultural melting pot -- where immigrants and visitors from Africa, the Caribbean and North America, regardless of encroaching ultra-right isolationism, have indelibly graced the national consciousness with their own traditions and dialects. --Christina Roden

Product Description

French Playground, a musical rendez-vous of fun French and French Creole songs will delight children of all ages. French Playground reflects the rich variety of Francophone music. Bilingual families and children learning French or English will enjoy the fact that the complete lyrics for each song are printed in both languages. The CD features full-color liner notes with artist and cultural information. The artists on French Playground include some of the most popular children’s performers in their respective countries, along with successful pop artists such as Pascal Parisot, Thomas Fersen, Tryo and Ariane Moffat whose songs were selected for their all-ages appeal. Musical styles range from French chanson and Gypsy jazz to the twoubadou music of Haiti and the roots-bending style of Triton, who is from Mauritius, an island off the east coast of Africa. Gallic joie de vivre is expressed in each of the tunes, from the opening song’s invitation to "tickle the sun" with a ladybug (Chatouiller le Ciel avec Toi), to songs that celebrate the beauty of the South of France ("Clic-Clac Oh C’est Beau!". Listeners share a boisterous Sunday dinner with family (La P’tite Monnaie). Some of the tracks provide tasty little slices of French life, including "Bonjour,Bonjour", which tells of a little bus’s journey past boulangeries and other neighborhood spots. Children will also enjoy a young man’s memories of staying with his grandparents (Petit Francais). A portion of the proceeds from the sale of French Playground will benefit Terre des Hommes, whose efforts provide active support to disadvantaged children around the world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jazzy CD will catch your ear right from the start!, November 2, 2005

By 

Melanie Wilson "mongoliamel" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: French Playground (Audio CD)

Right from the start, this jazzy cd catches the ear of kids and adults
alike. Whistles and bird chirps get your attention before the music
even starts. There are no sappy voices or computerized instrumentals
present on so many kids' CDs. Putumayo obviously put as much
production value into their children's CDs as they do their adult
offerings. French speakers and non-French speakers alike will be singing or
humming along quickly.

Pascal Parisot's cut "Wonderful" mixes French and English in a
techno-pop tune that everyone in our house loves to sing and
dance to. The voices have been synthesized to match the instrumentals
in a very cool way. There are tunes that give a nod to the French
greats--"Clic-Clac Oh C'est Beau" has hints of Edith Piaf. But France
is far from the only country where French is spoken and the songs on
the CD come from around the French-speaking world including Haiti,
Mauritius, and Montreal.

The CD comes with a thoughtfully written booklet which includes an
introduction and credits along with a paragraph about each song written
in both French and English with kids in mind. Each song's lyrics are
also printed in both French and English.--Amy O'Neill Houck

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous!, February 8, 2009

By 

mona "mona" (usa) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: French Playground (Audio CD)

This is a fantastic collection of cool songs that are entirely enjoyable for all age groups! The CD is currently on repeat in my stereo's CD changer because I happen to love it so much. My son is only 4 months old, but he appears to like the melodies and he enjoys my enthusiasm as I sing along, dance and make faces for him.

To address the negative review, I think that's just a misunderstanding. Take "Mr. Bibendum" for example. It's a song about a guy who is big because he enjoys fine food (not McDonald's junk) and who has stopped letting society tell him how he should feel about his body- his wife likes him and that's all that matters! I found that to be a surprisingly positive message from a song coming out of France where, let's face it, anybody who's lived there can tell you they can be less than diplomatic about things like weight and appearance.

As for "Wonderful," it's a song about a guy who doesn't want to melt into the background, who wants to make something of his life whether "in sports or business," and who wants to be extraordinary so that people will take notice of him. What's wrong with that? Again, I think this is a misunderstanding- especially since the English translation differs very subtly in feeling from the original French.

Other songs have wonderful messages like environmental conservation, family togetherness, finding happiness in small things and appreciation of nature.

This is a CD full of such cute songs- some playful, some touching, all very catchy. You will definitely find yourself singing along!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deliciously fun for kids and grownups, March 21, 2008

By 

M. J. Kohler - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: French Playground (Audio CD)

This is a great collection of original, contemporary songs in French from many parts of the world. I think it's the best Putumayo CD ever. People seem to enjoy it no matter their level of French! The music & lyrics are alive, relevant, full of interesting images, textures, voices. The songs have a way of introducing people, points of view, places, sort of like you're going around the world meeting interesting people everywhere you go, hearing their stories.

Kids under the "age of reason" will just like listening and probably want to know the gist of each song. Meanwhile the parents will enjoy the miracle of music that appeals to them as much as to their kids. There's something for every age and if understanding the lyrics makes older kids think a little, then FANTASTIC.

If you are looking for wonderful REAL French music with world flavor, this is it. If you are looking for plastic tunes that feed your kids a sanitized list of vocabulary, nope, this is not it. There is nothing I find offensive in here, but there is funny, real, tongue-in-cheek stuff, descriptive of our world and of real people.