Product Description Since children of all nationalities are fascinated by animals, Putumayo found it only natural to create a collection of exceptional songs featuring animal themes and folklore from across the globe. The 13 tracks on the album will guide listeners on a journey that begins in North America and ends in Africa without skipping a beat in between. Music fans of all ages will want to jump, hop and sing along to the playful, upbeat melodies of Animal Playground. The collection includes a track from up-and-coming North American kids artists The Wee Hairy Beasties, whose bluegrassy "Animal Crackers" features Jon Langford of the Mekons. Texas singer-songwriter Terri Hendrix offers "Eagles," a sweet song from a mother eagle to her baby with a little southern twang. Crossing the globe, Netherlands based Samba Salad presents a song about a Surinam crocodile called "Bigi Kaiman." From Italy, Quartetto Cetra delivers a fast-paced version of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm," though here it's "Nella Vecchia Fattoria." Zé Renato of Brazil leads a call-and- response sing-along that will get kids dancing to the forró tune "Cantiga do Sapo," about a little singing frog. And Australian children's music legend Don Spencer contributes an amusing song about using caution when walking near snakes. Also featured is the video for Asheba's irresistible Caribbean arrangement of the popular "No More Monkeys!" song. Shot on the beaches of Trinidad, the video creates a magical land where Putumayo Kids' characters come to life and interact with Asheba and his band of Trinidadian kids as they sing and dance to the playful song. A portion of Putumayo World Music's proceeds from the sale of this album will be donated to the Wildlife Conservation Society, headquartered at the world famous Bronx Zoo, in support of its activities that save wildlife and wild lands. .com Putumayo's Playground series consistently lives up to its name by sending far-flung cultures out to recess, freeing them to reveal their musical fun sides. The metaphor ends there, but the parallel to actual playgrounds doesn't: as any parent who's felt forlorn at times knows, nothing nullifies a dreary afternoon funk more effectively than a trip to the neighborhood playground. So it goes with the series. Animal Playground, the latest to swing, slide, and see-saw its way into agile imaginations of all ages, is a fine-tuned creature feature as playful as a giant-pawed puppy. Even if you don't know what forro is (North Brazilian dance music), or that "Cantigo do Sapo" has something to do with a little singing frog, you'll want to shake a tail feather in time to the beat; that holds for Quartetto Cetra's right-on Italian reworking of "Old McDonald," "Nella Vecchia Farroria." No disrespect to the other exotic offerings here ("Aves," from Honduras, for example), but the English-language songs are most winning of all: Canada's the Be Good Tanyas captivate with "The Littlest Birds," and you can't help but a love a man who cries crocodile tears from his puppy dog eyes, in this case Jon Langford who, when he's not a Wee Hairy Beastie belting out "Animal Crackers," leads the excellent punk/folk band the Mekons. --Tammy La Gorce P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); Review "...a lively grab bag of critter-related tracks from Australia to the Netherlands, A-" --Entertainment Weekly, May 11, 2007 See more
A**M
Quality music can be fun.
Putomayo puts out some great products. This CD is no exception. My 5 yr old has learned every song (so have I) and we have so much fun singing along in the car. Her favorite is trk 11. I chose to buy this CD and other Putomayo CDs because most music out there for kids seems to be made without integrity and frankly, is usually a painful listening experience.. Other kids music seems to embrace the idea that quality music is lost on children which is quite the opposite in my experiences. Amazon has a sample listening for some of these CDs. Take advantage of this is you have not done so already.In conclusion, we love this CD and the songs will be part of my child's childhood memories.
C**8
FUN and very enjoyable CD
I have most of the CD's in the Putumayo Kids collection. By far, this is my 16-mo son's favorite. It starts off very upbeat and my little guy immediately starts clapping along. Another one of our favorites is the Latin Playground CD. To be fair, he tends to like more uptempo music and the second the first track on this CD comes on, "I got ants in my pants..." he starts smiling and moving his body. This is a very nice collection of songs. Not a dud in the bunch.As for the review that questions whether dinosaurs are real animals... well, even if you don't believe they existed, you'd probably still enjoy this CD.
R**G
Only needed one song--was worth the whole CD
I bought this CD at a Barnes & Noble or something several years ago. I lost it, and it's not available on iTunes. The Asheba track (No More Monkeys) is the only song I was interested in buying, but I love it so much it's worth buying the whole CD over again! The other tracks are okay but not many are in English which makes singing along a little tough. I really only needed the Asheba song and this was the only way to get it.
T**A
Fun playtime CD
Our two year old loves this cd and asks for "monkeys jumping on the bed"! Fun mix of playful music, all with animal themes. We had loved our acoustic dreamland Putumayo Kids CD and decided to give this a try. Given the amount our toddler plays it, we are s little tired of it, but he still jumps around and dances every time it comes on!
G**.
Will definitely recommend it to parents and adults
My son has been enjoying this cd since he was 4 months old. It's very helpful especially if you are in the car with the little one and driving for a long time. If he is crying he stops once he hears it play. Will definitely recommend it to parents and adults. I and my husband enjoy it as much as our little one if not more :).
J**E
Animal Playground
Purchased this for My Grandson who is 6. He loves all sorts of music. It was his thing and he loves it! But he is also into geography and where this is and that is and what music is from that area. He is always playing different music. His brother don't necessarily like all his music, but It was his gift and he loves it!
C**M
One of our favorites
We love love love this CD. We have quite a few other Putamayo cd's, and this is definitely one of our favorites. Picnic playground is great as well. The songs are fun for children, but I still enjoy them after hearing them over 100 times. They are very well produced, and have many different styles of music from different countries.
E**K
Toddler's fave
Putomayo music is fantastic in that you can listen to it with your kids, yet not be embarrassed when other adults listen in. Great beats (with few exceptions) and definitely a crowd-pleaser with the diaper set.Some of the songs are not in English, which is great because they're sung slowly enough that kids (and adults) can pick up foreign words along the way. We love Putomayo!
M**O
Think nursery songs are boring? Listen to this and you'll change your mind
Finally music for children which I actually want to listen to too!We have the Putamayo Playground Folk, Jazz and Animal CDs - they are all fabulous. Our boys sing along with great enthusiasm as the music is lively, the singers are wonderful and funky. They sing traditional songs but in a completely unexpected way. Even songs which I used to think of as boring (for example, 5 little monkeys jumping on a bed) are sung in such a way that I find myself singing along too.
A**S
Amazing - every household should have one!
I love all the Cds in this collection but this is probably at the top of the list - it has been played hundreds of times and loved by every kid who has heard it so far of all ages.Livley , fun enjoyable music, no offensive lyrics, perfect for kids parties. No more monkeys, the second track , is brilliant.
S**Y
Great for the children to listen to
Great sounds the children enjoyed listening
D**N
Lovely!
Bought as a birthday present for an animal loving 3 year old so I haven't heard it, but I gather it has been very popular and that the music is really wonderful.
M**S
Lovely CD which isn't annoying to listen to
Children love this CD which has animal related songs on it. A particular favourite being 'no more monkeys', CD comes with a video of this song which gets played on repeat without being annoying. Nice to have a CD for children which we can all listen to.
