Customer Reviews

Rhythm in My Shoes

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Parents will enjoy this one as much as the kids. Jessica is one of the best kids' music songwriters working today--and nobody understands and enjoys parenting better. Buy it for your friends!

My daughters, wife, and I love this collection. What a discovery. The variety of rhythms makes the whole album easy to dance to. I sent copies to many of my friends with children.

Parents were bored with Raffi and Barney. Purchased on a wimb and were pleasnatly surprised. We listen in several times a day and our 10 month old loves to bop to the beat.

I have to agree with "A music fan from Oklahoma" in two ways:

1) there's too much spoken, rap-like stuff for my taste;

2) she's no Laurie Berkner -- she's better than Laurie Berkner: a better singer, a better composer, and a better lyricist. We tried Berkner, who is ok, but we were a bit disappointed.

We have 3 Jessica Harper CDs. I would rate them in this order: It's A Wonderful Life (fantastic album for kids and adults), Nora's Room (very good), and Rythm In My Shoes (doesn't live up to the others; not nearly as fun, melodic, and varied).

My family loves all of Jessica Harper's albums! She captures the magic of childhood, the intensity of a parent's love, and the fun of growing up -- all with clever lyrics and a variety of catchy tunes and beats. Plus, I love her rich voice & harmonies. This album is better for slightly older kids. "Crazy Machine" is lots of fun, "My Baby is a Genius" pokes fun at too-proud parents, while "Moving Day" takes a reassuring look at the ups and downs of moving far away. Great topics for kids set to great music.
I get tired of most kid's tapes pretty quickly, but I rushed to replace both the Jessica Harper CD's that my kids had scratched beyond repair. They are worth it.

Jessica Harper has delivered a series of excellent children's CDs, and Rhythm in My Shoes consistently offers an entertaining blend of clever songs. Her ability to capture parent-child banter in songs such as "Six Licorice Sticks" is amazing. Songs like "It's A Crazy Machine" or "Boy Girl Boy Girl" have the right mix of whimsy and reality.

One of the fun things Ms. Harper does is to repeat snippets of songs from one CD in unexpected places on another (like Sting used to do with the Police) so that her body of work is in effect all a big interrelated song cycle.

I like the fact that Ms. Harper's children's CDs are well recorded and that she uses talented musicians. Kids know the difference between the schlock and recycled music that predominates this market, and if given a choice they will gravitate toward fresh, engaging songs like these.

I first knew of Jessica Harper from Phantom of the Paradise and other 70's and 80's B-classics. I never would have thought that she would turn out to be a brilliant childrens' songwriter and performer. Her songs are witty, tuneful, 'singalongable' and instructional in a very sly way.

I first heard a song from this CD in my daughter's community ed gymnastics course (Six Licorice Stix).

My 5 year old daughter and 2 year old son both love the songs on this CD. They both settle down to listen to the songs as we play it in our car.

The songs are peppy with cute little stories that are at the perfect level for my 5 year old. It definitely has a jazzy that will help expand a child's love of music.

Absolutely fantastic, very rhythmic and my daughter loves it. Easy lyrics for when your child is a little older to follow. Absolutely great - makes adults sing along too as it's such fun!

If you are expecting something like the vocal artistry of Laurie Berkner, you will be disappointed. These songs are close to a "rap" style: the words are spoken, rather than sung. The songs sound the same after a while. The lyrics are witty, and the accompaniment is well-balanced and recorded. Some have found this music very satisfying. But, to me, it is not very good music.