Animal Playground

We've been dumped on by a record snow this week, which makes driving around not much fun if almost impossible. Luckily, we've had this awesome new compilation CD, Animal Playground, to keep the smiles on our faces as we bounce around the rutted and icy roads.

It's a collection of children's songs from all over the world, in different languages but with the same playful animal theme. Dancing monkeys, slithering snakes, curious bears, friendly dinosaurs. It's what kids love the most, jumping around and singing about their favorite creatures.

The CD is from Putamayo Kids, which is one of those companies that you can always count on for quality music. The mix of languages and styles works perfectly as the songs switch from English to French to Portuguese. Kids in every country know how to have a good time, and that's exactly what is reflected here by artists such as The Be Good Tanyas (USA), Ze Renato (Brazil), Ladysmith Black Mambazo (South Africa), and Quartetto Cetra (Italy).

Besides the fact that it's an incredibly fun collection of songs, it will help your children to realize that even though there are many different cultures, languages and people in the world, we're basically all the same.

Animal Playground gets the highest recommendation from my family! It's great for ages 1 to 10, and is another one of those CDs that won't drive parents crazy after seventeen listens. You can buy it at Amazon.

Here's one of our favorite tunes off the CD, from Caribbean children's musician Asheba, it's a new take on the old favorite, "No More Monkeys."