Customer Reviews

Gingham Dog & Calico Cat

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

 

 

My mom loves Chet Atkins, and she's enjoyed his recordings with other artists like Mark Knopfler and Jerry Reed, so I thought "What a perfect Christmas present!" and ordered it up for her. Surprise! It's a children's album: "the endearing story about two Christmas presents, a dog and a cat," read by Amy Grant with music by Chet Atkins, from the children's CD publisher Rabbit Ears. If only the publisher had placed some CD description on Amazon I wouldn't have to return it...so here's a fair warning out there to y'all. I'll give it 5 stars because I *have* heard the excellent Rabbit Ears series and they're ideal for kids, and hey, you can't start too young being a Chet Atkins fan. But I'm not giving it to my mom, thanks!

My mom's favorite christmas story has always been that of the Caliico Cat and the Gingham dog, who were created by two quarreling elves who stitched their hate into the toys, causing them to come to life with that anger. Fighting in Santa's sleigh, they fall out and Santa leaves them to find out that through adversity you learn to appreciate those you don't always like. Made with quarreling siblings in mind.

Amy Grant adds a great storytelling ability to this old time Christmas favorite. Inflections in her voice and adequate pauses give the audience images of what's going on. Chet Atkin's music is quite lovely and adds more flavor to the story. Only the first track is with the story, the rest are Chet Atkin's music. The music, on guitar, is lovely enough to sit and listen to even without the story!

A wonderful buy for the Christmas season, no matter the age, my mother and I enjoy this CD and listen to it over and over again in the car.