Putumayo Kids Presents: Sesame Street Playground

Various Artists (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 30, 2008)
• Original Release Date: September 30, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Putumayo World Music
• ASIN: B001BTWF16
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,800 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Putumayo’s Playground series has always been more fun than it looks, and the latest installment, Sesame Street Playground, is no exception. Here are 13 audio tracks plus five music videos that deliver families to a variety of exotic destinations in a genuinely innovative way: instead of employing the usual let’s-teach-the-kids-about-global-cultures approach, which might have involved dispatching Cookie Monster and company to countries such as Brazil, India, Russia, France and Israel and delivering a set of goofball songs studded with world-music beats, the Putumayo studio heads saw fit to make a global collage of the educational TV-watching experience. Songs, then, are lifted directly from foreign broadcasts of the show--“The Song of Friendship” becomes the beautiful “La Chanson de l'Amitie,” a feast for francophile ears, and “One Small Voice” becomes the bubbly Brazilian “Uma Pequena Voz.” Coolest of all, it turns out rubber duckies are as irresistible in China as they are in the U.S.: with “Xiang Pi Xiao Ya,” the likable performer Zhima Jie has probably made bathtime as lots of fun in the People’s Republic as it is in Pittsburgh. Or Peoria. --Tammy La Gorce

Product Description
Putumayo Kids is pleased to announce the release of Sesame Street Playground, a CD/DVD set featuring songs and music videos from Sesame Street productions around the world. This new release represents a shared mission of Putumayo Kids and Sesame Workshop: to reach children worldwide and help children learn about and respect other cultures. Sesame Street Playground is the first globally distributed Sesame Workshop audio CD. Sesame Street Playground is an exciting world music adventure for kids, with each song and video produced in its country of origin. Thirteen songs from Brazil, France, China, India, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, Palestine, Russia, South Africa and Tanzania complement two from the U.S. flagship production.

Listeners can sing along to favorite songs such as "Rubber Ducky" in Chinese, while viewers will experience new sounds, characters and styles of music from other cultures by watching videos such as "Galli Galli Sim Sim," the show opening from the India series. The two-disc package features a music CD with 13 songs, featuring favorite Sesame Street Muppets, plus characters developed to reflect the unique cultural and social development needs of children in each host country. The DVD features 5 music videos that visit distant locales such as Russia, South Africa and Mexico. The DVD includes the following videos: 1. Galli Galli Sim Sim Theme (Show Open) - Galli Galli Sim Sim (India) 2. Ricas Frutas (Delicious Fruits) - Plaza Sesamo with Aleks Syntek (Mexico) 3. En Den Dino - Rechov Sumsum with Ronnie Rock (Israel) 4. Pollution Song (Thath' iphepha) - Takalani Sesame (South Africa) 5. The Song of Caretakers (Pesnya Dvornikov) - Ulitsa Sezam with Na-Na (Russia)

Colorful liner notes in four languages make Sesame Street Playground a truly educational and entertaining gift for children aged 2 and up.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A truly innovative way to enjoy Sesame Street from around the world, December 3, 2008

By	Robert C. Ross (New Jersey) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Sesame Street has been around for almost 40 years and airs in 120 countries. This is a wonderful sampling of songs and videos from the local Sesame shows: two songs from the U.S. and eleven others from Brazil, France, China, India, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, Palestine, Russia, South Africa and Tanzania. Each country brings their own characters, cultures, and themes to their own shows, although all are based in part on the originals. There are also five very good music videos.

Putumayo founder Dan Storper. "What could be a better way to help children become global citizens than to introduce them to other countries through their favorite Sesame Street characters?" Well, there are other ways, but this one is certainly effective.

Putumayo maintains a very generous Web site that has the liner notes, extracts from the songs and videos from the DVD. One of the nicest features are the texts of the songs both in the local language and in English; for example:

Dutch (original language)
Sesamstraat
Sesamstraat
Sesamstraat
Laat je speelgoed staan
Schuif gezellig aan
Voor Sesamstraat
Voor Sesamstraat

English
Sesamstraat,
Sesamstraat,
Sesamstraat...
Join in and leave your toys behind
For Sesamstraat... for Sesamstraat!

Just copying in the words makes the song come alive. This is an excellent CD to share with kids, or for an OF like me, to enjoy all on my own. Delightful. :)

Robert C. Ross 2008

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Romp, October 7, 2008

By	M. Cusanelli "miccus" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

You have never seen or heard Sesame Street like this. This CD/DVD combo is a must for anyone who grew up with Sesame Street or currently has a child that loves it.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A music CD with bonus DVD of melodies from Sesame Street productions worldwide, November 16, 2008

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Multi-region encoded and suitable for viewers of all ages, Sesame Street Playground: Songs and Videos from Around the World is a music CD with bonus DVD of melodies from Sesame Street productions worldwide. Featuring thirteen songs from Brazil, France, China, India, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, Palestine, Russia, South Africa, and Tanzania as well as two from the U.S., Sesame Street Playground is sure to foster tolerance and appreciation of different cultures. Highly recommended, especially for public library children's music collections. The video DVD playlist consists of "Galli Galli Sim Sim - Show Open" (India), "Ricas Frutas" (Mexico), "En Den Dino" (Israel), "Pollution Song" (South Africa), and "The Song of Caretakers" (Russia).