Raffi (1) (1948–)

The Internet has a small-but-healthy movement called, "The Wholesome Meme". It's the idea that things we share, like, spread, upvote, twit, and post don't all have to be sarcastic, cutting, political, negative, or an ironic callback. It's okay for things to be "wholesome" again: kind, simple, sincere, and filled with whimsy, expressing a love for all existence, whispering "it's okay" before having a bite of amazing pie that was given to you out of kindness, and not sold to you for profit. show more Raffi, and in particular Baby Beluga, are my wholesome meme. I never listened to Raffi as a child--it just missed us, I guess. I watched Sesame Street and my parents played Steeleye Span and Simon and Garfunkel-- plenty of wholesome, but not Raffi. Raffi came into my life with my own kids. Baby Beluga is as wholesome as it gets--it's about a whale, but on page 4 you do not hear about the polluting humans or the oil barons or whaling. That's for a different book. It's about simple love between mother and child, but on page 5 you do not see the child resist or ask for reassurance that he will be loved even if he turns out to be a raccoon/republican/gay, or see the painful side of love or cruelty or intolerance. That's for a different book. It's about how wonderful the world and nature are, and on page 6 you do not need to be reminded that nature is competitive, or that nature is sick, or that we are distanced from nature by our ongoing effort to digitize our hearts. Baby Beluga is about bedtime, maybe, bedtime as a nice, warm and gentle time, not a time to have a system or to fight against a system. Those other things are all important to say, and important that we talk about them in children's books too... but this book/song is not that. This poem uplifts, and defines joy as something to be enjoyed for its own sake. It is an unconditional hug. The sun is always there, the stars are your friends, forever and always. The waves roll in and the waves roll out. Good night little whale, good night. show less

This book was enjoyable to read because of the engaging story plot and beautiful illustrations. First, my curiosity was aroused when each of the mother duck's five ducklings did not return after their trip to the fields. When the fifth duckling did not return, the mother was extremely sad and searched for her children season after season. Later, the mother calls to her children and all return with their own families. I liked how this book creatively shows the maturing of ducklings that show more eventually grow out of their mother's care and make their own families. I also enjoyed looking at the illustrations, especially the few pages that portray the change of seasons from fall to winter and back to spring as the mother duck searches for her children. The main idea of this book seems to be that it is natural and necessary for children to grow up into mature, independent beings. show less

This is a short little poem/song book about a little beluga whale. The story follows the whale throughout its day of swimming around in the ocean.

Baby Beluga is a pretty cute little book. I can't help but sing it when I read it or even look at it for that matter. At the back of the book, it has the music scores so you could play it and sing it if you wanted.

This book would be great to use with a music unit. It's a poem as well as a song but you could even teach your children how songs are show more sometimes poems put to music like the national anthem. It would be a really fun book to do with your children if you were teaching anything to do with whales or the ocean to get them into it. I would reccommend it for younger children. Older kids would probably find it cheesy. I think it's cute though! show less

I gave this book 3 stars for specific reasons. Although I find this book adorable and my students love it, I think it lacks better illustrations. I teach special needs kids at Marsielles, Illinois and one students in particular grabs this book everyday and makes me read/sing to him. This book is a playful book based on the song "Down by the Bay". It is mainly focused on rhyming. It has many cute lines like "Have you ever seen a fly wearing a tie?". However the illustrations in the book could show more be better, I think the drawings are very faint and not that vibrant. I think kids would benefit if the illustrations were more outstanding and noticeable.
Overall, "Down by the Bay" by Robin Oz is a playful and cute book, but could be better if the illustrations were more vibrant and captivating. show less