The Family Holiday Wish List: The Family Music Starter Kit Review & Giveaway (Bill Harley, Oran Etkins, Jeremy Zmuda and Jim Cosgrove)

My children love music, but my fifteen-month-old son is especially facsinated with all kinds of music. He will get up on our coffee table and start dancing, and whenever he hears a great beat he automatically start rocking it out. My family listens to a lot of different music, and our collection spans all different musical genres. We recently got a bunch of new children’s cds at our house including The Best Candy in The Whole World by Bill Harley, Use Your Words by Jeremy Zmuda, Swimming in Noodles by Jim Cosgrove and Wake Up Clarinet by Oran Etkin. These cds have been a great addition to our music collection, and our house is filled up with music whenever we are home.

The grammy award winning singer, songwriter, storyteller, author and playwright Bill Harley recently released The Best Candy in the Whole World, a collection of stories and music about kindness.

Harley transforms average kids and average situations into magical ones, most often after a kind act has taken place. Harley’s storytelling captivates the attention of the young audience, and in my house my eight-year-old son really gets the point of the stories, and my four-year-old son usually ends up stopping whatever he is doing to listen carefully to the stories on the Best Candy in the Whole World. In fact I have found my four-year-old son staring out the window on several occasions, while he was lost in the world of Bill Harley’s stories.

Did you ever wonder how you could get your little ones to stop his or her tantrums? According to Lizzie Bicknell, a former Early Intervention Program administrator and a children’s book author, one way to avoid the meltdowns is by giving children tools that can help them when they feel frustrated including social scripting, guided empathy and physical strategies.

Bicknell teamed up with Jeremy Zmuda, a musician and early childhood music specialist to put together a collection of 14 songs for children ages 2 to 6 called Use Your Own Words. Use Your Words give kids phrases that young children can use whenever they feel frustrated.

Use Your Own Words includes songs from different musical styles from jazz to rock, pop and country-folk. The collection also features performances by Madeleine Peyroux, Kirk Douglas from the Roots, Joy Dragland and Leo Sidran.

As a mother my personal favorite is Your Turn, My Turn, since this is a song that has helped bring the topic of taking turns to the forefront in my family with three boys. My four-year-old picky eater loves That Food Makes Me Sick, as he always tells us he does not eat meat (except for hot dogs).

My fifteen month old finally learned how to wave goodbye and hello, and he loves to dance around to Say Hello. My little man is a shy little boy, and i imagine that Say Hello puts words to his feelings. Use Your Words is a great cd with songs about emotions and physical challenges, and it is a great cd that touches the souls of children.

Jim Cosgrove’s eight album Swimming in Noodles is full of energy and happiness. The unique and funny songs such as Spaghetti and Goofballs and Chips and Salsa are fun and joyfilled, while songs such as Little Miss Floppy Socks and Shamrock On provides a look into Cosgrove’s own family life.

Jim Cosgrove gives more than 200 family shows every year, and he has even had two performances at the White House, and to young fans he is often known as Mr. Stinky Feet thanks to his 1999 hit song Stinky Feet. 

Swimming in Noodles is a mix of fun upbeat and slow heartfelt songs that keeps the entire family moving along to the music. Earlier this evening my boys were having quite a dance session with Swimming In Noodles, and they especially loved the country rhythms. In fact, I will have to say that it is quite difficult not to move to the rhythm once Cosgrove’s family friendly songs are playing.

Wake Up Clarinet is the first family release from Oran Etkin, who is an internationally acclaimed jazz artist and composer. Etkin’s popular Timbalooloo music classes in NYC have been endorsed by numerous artists.

Wake Up Clarinet is a fun and lively cd that is like no other children’s cd, which I have ever encountered. Little Lamb Jam from Wake Up Clarinet was featured on the Putomayo Kids Jazz Playground CD released earlier this year.

Etkin’s Timbalooloo music classes are about including children in the music and not just about entertaining them. On Wake Up Clarinet kids Etkin and singer Charenee Wade continue this mission, and the children are learning about King Louis XIV, about high and low sounds and much much more. My kids especially love Eh Las Bas, and the story behind it, and I personally love Little Lamb Jam.

You can buy all of the above CDs on Amazon.com. 

 Use Your Words by Jeremy Plays Guitar/Jeremy Zmuda

Swimming In Noodles  by Jim Cosgrove

Wake Up Clarinet by Oran Etkin

The artists above are all giving one lucky reader at Frugality Is Free a Family Music Starter Kit including all four CDs above as a part of the Family Holiday Wish List.

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