Customer Reviews

For the Kids Too

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I work in a children's bookstore and our customers rely heavily on us for recommendations so the arrival of the follow-up to the supremely successful For the Kids was kind of a big event amongst the staff. Partly because we've listened to the first one so many times that it's always nice to have something new playing in the store, but mainly because we've depended on the first CD as a sure bet for people buying for grandchildren, nieces, nephews, the kid next door, etc, and we knew that this one wouldn't let us down. It's got fun, upbeat tunes and a new slew of voices that we older ones are sure the little ones will love. They repeated the Rainbow Connection which Sarah MacLachlan sang on the first cd for good reason, this song, redone by Jason Mraz, is especially not to be missed (particularly at naptime).

When the kids start nagging in the car, I pop this CD in and the nags stop while the giggles and singing along start. Both my 18 MO daughter and my 3.5 year old son love it. My son loves to sing along with I"m different, Bottom of the Sea and Everybody Came and he sings "I'm different, different" all over the house on his own. I just love all of it and esp the Meow Meow song. This is great for lovers of modern rock and alternative pop. I guess you would be disappointed if you want mainstream stuff. I'd also like to recommend the Beatles Songs for Kids CD - I never would have thought that Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da would be such a hit with kids.

My 22 month old daughter absoultely loves this cd. She asks for it all the time and when "I'm Different" or the "swim song" come on she dances around and sings along.

We have the original For the Kids, and we absolutly love it. It's one of our daughter's favorites, and ours too. So, we were excited to purchase this follow-up album. That excitement ended when we put it in the CD player. Most of the songs are rather somber and boring. If you're an indie fan, you might like it, but your kids will quickly lose interest. Buy the first one, if you don't have it, but don't bother with this one.

I'm so in love with this CD and so are my kids. They are 3 and 5 y.o. and we all enjoy it equally. I prefer this one to the first For the Kids because it is quirkier and less typically "children's music". My kids love to sing the song "I'm Different" and they think the telephone song is knee-slappingly hilarious. My favorite is "Starfish & Coffee". Our other favorite CD is John Lithgow's "Singin' in the Bathtub".

I adored the first CD. This one, I actually removed from the CD player and stuck in my glove compartment and decided it's not seeing the light of day again.

The problem, for me, is that there are five songs on this CD that I HATE. Hate hate. "I'm Different" (grates on my nerves with its repetitive loudness), "Everybody Came" (the singer sounds drunk), "I Often Dream of Trains" (seriously?? Off-key and dismal), "Meow Meow Lullabye" (what in God's name is this?), and "Telephone Song" (super if you're trying to torment someone in prison, perhaps).

What aggravates me so much is that there are at least three or four other songs on the CD that are great-- "At the Bottom of the Sea," "Starfish and Coffee," and "Your Attitude Toward Cuttlefish" are my favorites. I haven't taken the time to figure out if I can somehow copy the good songs onto a new CD, or if I'd need to buy the good songs again on iTunes and burn them (which I won't do, on principle, because I shouldn't have to pay twice just to EXCLUDE terrible songs).

I really don't like it when my children's music sounds like it was produced in a drug-addled midnight session. ("Yes, yes, let's get the English singer-songwriter whose last cult album was called 'Sex, Food, Death and Tarantulas' to do his song about trains for our new CD. Hey, it has trains! Kids will think it's about Thomas the Tank Engine! Even though the lyrics say things like "The leaves fall so suddenly/The sun sets at four o'clock/Exactly what I'm dreading" and other such things that have no use whatsoever in a children's song!")

Seriously, you go listen to the lyrics and music of that song and tell me where anyone thought this should be a children's song.

Sorry, I'm getting more riled up. I have to stop before I start frothing at the mouth and remove another star. There ARE some good songs on here, after all. It's just that the bad ones are very, very bad.

The first one is awesome - we play it over and over, so much that I wanted the variety of the sequel. But none of the songs are anywhere near as catchy. I can barely make myself play it for my toddler.

Kids music is coming along nicely, and some great artists are making music just for kids - check out several cds from they might be giants, and barenaked ladies. It's about time. We have some other kid cds that really grate on my nerves.

This cd is exceptional from sweet and silly to super fun. Our two favorites are Starfish and Coffee (which we sing often and every where) and Jon Lee Supertaster, (rock for kids). But this is one of our more favorite ride in the car cds alongside They Might Be Giants' - Here Come the ABCs.

We have both the first and second CDs. I love both of them, but think I like this one slightly more. It is not annoying, as most kids music is. I have even found myself forgetting that it is in the CD player in the car and listening to it when I'm by myself!

My kids love the first song on this albumn; "Different, Different, Different" is requested nearly every day, several times a day... And I still like it. There are some great songs on this one and the rest are good. Definitely a good addition to the kid tunes library.