Books and music my daughter and I like (and some not so much) – Part 2

I know, I promised in my previous “Books and Music My Daughter and I Like” post that it would be the first part in a series. I guess I had intended to post a follow-up entry to that one a little sooner than this, but I had strayed a bit off course. So here we are, 9 months later, and I’m finally getting around to it.

To save you from all the haste of clicking on that link and reading what this post is all about, here’s the premise: My daughter and I spend a lot of time together, and the two of us have found a great number of books and music that we like and don’t like. Already I’m finding that there’s some things that she likes that I’m not all that fond of, and she’s only two years old. So what follows is a continuation of our list of things we recommend picking up… Or leaving alone.

Leap Frog Tag Junior: The kid got this as a Christmas present, and I’ve always been a bit wary of the whole Leap Frog system. Especially coming from an education background such as my own, I am a little wary of toys and games that guarantee, implied or otherwise, to get your child to read. So, the Tag Junior is this hand-held device that one loads sound files onto so that it can read hidden markings in special books and play the appropriate file. Essentially it “reads” the book to her, should she ever sit down to do it herself. And while she likes to play with it and hear it say her name and play music, she still wants me to read the books to her. Well, the one book of hers that actually tells a story, as one is an alphabet book and the other is one on colors. So, at least with my child, it fails as a self-teaching tool, but she does like to play with it. As for reading, she prefers to pick up the old-fashioned books that I read to her and she “reads” those instead.

Trout Fishing In America: This duet out of Texas gets us dancing and leaves us in stitches. We have a copy of their “Family Music Party” album, a live recording, and during the introductory chords they ask the crowd (and the audience at home), “Are you ready to get started?” Oh, yes we are. The kid is up, dancing, and clapping as an immediate response to the question. Their songs are creative, fun, inventive, and clever, from counting in Roman numerals in “18 Wheels on a Big Rig” to the tongue-twisting chorus that they invite everyone to sing along with in “All I Want is a Proper Cup of Coffee”. And they slide in softer songs as well, a break in the jumping and dancing, albeit the pacing of this album can be a bit like a roller coaster. I’ve got an eye on their touring schedule and I’m likely to jump on three tickets if they come to town.

Step Into Reading: We only have one book in these series, Elmo Says “Achoo!”, and that was given to the kid by her grandmother because the main character is Elmo, one of her favorite subjects. But, as a teacher, I like it. We’ve found other books in this series at the library and both the kid and I have loved them. We’ve only been getting Level 1 books, and they’ve all been easy books with engaging stories. The stories move along and have catchy rhythm and rhyme patterns to them, plus clear illustrations that follow the stories really well. It’s something that holds the attention of my two-year-old and wraps up the story before her goldfish-length attention span decides she’s done with it. And when she gets around to actually starting to really read I have the feeling that these will be right up there with Dr. Suess for easy, fun stories to read.

Oliver and Danny and the Dinosaur: What can I say? The kid likes Syd Hoff. I can’t say that I have the same appreciation for him what with his stunted sentences and mind-bending changes in perspective in his illustrations, but the kid loves the guy. It may have something to do with her cousin’s name being in the title of one of his books. But she loves the stories and she follows them with interest, even flipping through the books on her own and “reading” a word or two off each page. Something about Syd Hoff’s style of storytelling has captured her interest, and who am I to argue?

The Sounds of Old El-Paso: This seemingly random selection is being tossed in here to illustrate a point. As long as something is not offensive from a parenting point of view, go ahead and try it on your child. This CD was something that I had picked up for free back when I was in high school, working at a grocery store stocking shelves. There was a stack of them as part of a promo, and besides having five stereotypical traditional Mexican tracks to play while you serve up Old El-Paso products, there’s recipes and games on the disc if you stick it in your PC. And my daughter loves the music. She dances and claps to it, grabs her toy musical instruments to play along, and just flat out has a good time with the music. The thing is, it’s not really meant to be a “children’s” album, but that’s what it has turned into. So don’t be shy about digging out those old LPs or that random CD you had to buy for some cultural presentation in high school, your kid may love it.

Tags: fatherhood, music, reading