Parent’s Choice Foundation Review: Let’s Sing Songs From Around the World
Ages: 4 – 10
Producer: Kathy Sherman
Artist: Kathy Sherman and the Good Folk Collective
Review: Here, singer and multi-instrumentalist Kathy Sherman and her excellent Good Folk Collective delivers 16 songs in a multitude of languages, all using native instruments, for a kind of musical world tour. The CD opens with a child-led version of American composers’ Weiss and Thiele’s classic “What A Wonderful World,” followed by the didgeridoo enhanced Australian greeting song ‘Sun Arise.” Another highlight is the traditional Native American rattle song with modern lyrics, called “For the Pepper.” …the album closes with the Brazilian popular lullaby by Badi Assad “No Colo Do Papai” (“In Daddy’s Lap”). The album is well conceived, produced and played with respect to cultural traditions, as well as a what catches children’s attention.
Lahri Bond ©2020 Parents’ Choice
Read the entire Parent’s Choice Foundation review here
Lahri Bond is a father, a writer, music historian, and an art professor in Western Massachusetts. His published books include Spinning Tales Weaving Hope (with the Stories For World Change Network) for New Society Press and People of the Earth (coauthored with Ellen Evert Hopman) for Destiny Books
‘Let’s Sing’ Wins Prestigious “Parent’s Choice Recommended” designation from the Parent’s Choice Foundation!
Parents’ Choice Foundation, established in 1978 as a 501c3, is the nation’s oldest nonprofit guide to quality children’s media and toys. The Parents’ Choice Award judges are experts in areas of industry and interest, from dinosaurs to digital media and from mathematics to making mayhem. The Parents’ Choice Awards committee members hail from families across the country. Their product evaluation process is lengthy and comprehensive.
Review: Singer and multi-instrumentalist Kathy Sherman welcomes little ears with her renditions of folk and children’s songs, inviting listeners to play and sing along. These 18 tracks include fresh offerings of such traditional fare as “I Had a Rooster,” “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” and “She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round the Mountain,” as well as Dale Marxon’s “Waltzing with Bears,” Peter Alsop’s “I Am a Pizza,” Tom Paxton’s “The Marvelous Toy,” Tom Chapin and John Forster’s “Bedtime Round,” and more. Sherman’s happy mix of tunes is made even happier with the voices of her “Good Folk Kids” singers.
Lynne Heffley ©2018 Parents’ Choice
A freelance writer and editor for the arts and non-profit organizations, Lynne is a former staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, where she established the paper’s first weekly children’s arts and entertainment beat.
