Putumayo

This award-winning CD highlights Caribbean styles such as Jamaican reggae and ska, Trinidadian soca, Puerto Rican bomba, Haitian twoubadou, zouk from Martinique and Guadeloupe, and Louisiana zydeco, featuring steel drums, marimbas, accordions, banjos, maracas, cowbells, whistles, and washboards! Liner notes are in English, Spanish and French with cultural information, colorful artwork, and musical style, song and artist descriptions. The CD is appropriate for all ages, and especially for show more music education in elementary grades. Lyrics in English (five songs are sung in Spanish or French) for most of the verses of ten of the twelve songs are available through the Putumayo.com website.

I enjoyed ALL the songs on this CD. It has old favorites like "Jamaica Farewell" and "Coconut Woman" (kids of all ages will love the "co-co-nut" refrain in this one, as well as the roaring "lion"!), in addition to a zydeco version of Bob Marley's classic "Three Little Birds." Kids will also love "Little Anancy," as many are familiar with Anancy/Ananse spider stories from school. And even though I could not understand much of "Bomba Te Traigo Yo" (sung in Spanish) or "Votez Zouk" (sung in French), the addictive beats of bomba and zouk respectively had me dancing around the room! You too will be glad that this CD "brings you bomba" and makes you want to "vote for zouk!" show less

African Playground
Various Artists
Putumayo World Music
2003
CD
All ages
Energetic, catchy dance music from the African diaspora! The CD's liner notes provide information about the meaning of each song, and about its country of origin. This may be my favorite album from Putumayo's regular (adult) and children's series combined - it's really fun music. Many of the songs encourage listeners, from toddlers and preschoolers to big kids and parents, to move their bodies to the rhythm. Instruments and show more lyrics (many are in English) might be thought-provoking to elementary age students about what it might be like to live in another part of the world. show less

A good multicultural book for kids, it takes the reader on a journey throughout several different cultures of the world. Like Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe, and even the middle east. I would include this in my classroom so every child becomes more culturally diverse and aware of the World and its surroundings. One thing I liked about this book was the fact that in every country they talked about the illustrator had pictures of kids, some were dancing and celebrating their cultures.

This album features upbeat songs from around the world. I like the multicultural elements in the album's concept: introducing children to various cultures and languages through song. Some songs appear to be traditional children's songs sung by the country they originated from. The album cover lists the countries each song is from for interested listeners wanting to seek more. Babies through preschoolers will find songs to dance to, and some lyrics are simple enough for kids to learn and sing show more along and build phonological awareness. show less