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A Poodle in Paris Storybook with Music CD
A Poodle in Paris Storybook with Music CD
A Poodle in Paris Storybook with Music CD
by Connie Kaldor
Illustration by Fil & Julie

A dog named "La Grande Fifi" strolls through the streets of Paris bumping into a wide assortment of friends, including her Bichon Frisé band who plays for her in a club called "Le Bow Wow!". A charming story, funny illustrations by Fil & Julie, alongside 12 catchy songs written and performed by Connie Kaldor. Your child will love this award-winning storybook with music CD. Kaldor does an excellent job of inviting her readers and listeners to join in the story and the music.

Age: 3 Years-old | Title: A Poodle in Paris Storybook with Music CD  |  Author: Connie Kaldor  |  Publisher: The Secret Mountain

A dog named "La Grande Fifi" strolls through the streets of Paris bumping into a wide assortment of friends, including her Bichon Frisé band who plays for her in a club called "Le Bow Wow!". A charming story, funny illustrations by Fil & Julie, alongside 12 catchy songs written and performed by Connie Kaldor. Your child will love this award-winning storybook with music CD. Kaldor does an excellent job of inviting her readers and listeners to join in the story and the music.

Follow "the most perfect poodle in Paris" around for a day to see all of the places she calls home. The pictures offer a lot to see, as each page is filled to the edges with color and seem textured due to their multimedia approach; they include pencil drawings, water colors, oil paints, copper wire, a map, fabrics, feathers, and ribbon. Each page also consists of contrasting depths, colors and materials. The story is presented through rhyming couplets and carefully placed alliteration, which work together to create a steady reading cadence. The story also includes dialogue for added fun with characters' voices while reading aloud. All dialogue and important phrases are presented in a different color font to encourage and aid adult readers in when to emphasize their voice. After the story, the lyrics to each song on the accompanying CD are printed.

The book introduces your little one to some French words that are often used in common English, like Madame, bistro, croissant, Cherie, baguette, and more. You can also help your little one to identify the Eiffel Tower. After reading about the five places Fifi calls 'home', and why, you can discuss with your child if they consider anywhere else a 'home' of sorts. Perhaps they feel at home in daycare, or at their cousin's house, or maybe their room is a smaller home for them. This is a great way to discuss feelings and emotions and learn where your child feels most comfortable. The final couplet of the book contains the overall message that you can also stress to your little one, "For some dogs stay put, and some dogs will roam, but where your heart's happy is where you call home!"

When I read this book to my three-year-old friend Sam, he said, "That dog is too foofy!" and pointed out that the ribbons in Fifi's ears changed colors every few pages to match the scenery. I had not noticed this astute observation and was quite impressed. Sam enjoyed the accompanying CD and flipped through the pages of the book on his own while the songs were playing.

--Audra

Connie Kaldor is "one of Canada's most significant contemporary folk performers" (Billboard Magazine). Her song Wood River is considered by many to be the quintessential Saskatchewan song. In 2007, she was appointed to the Order of Canada.
 
The Fil & Julie duo (Philippe Arseneau Bussieres and Julie Saint-Onge Drouin) has illustrated several albums, including Gratien Gratton prince de la gratouille (Dominique et Cie), Fanfaron (Les 400 Coups), A l'ecole des petits magiciens (Bayard Presse) and Time for Bed (Owl Publications).
 
The Secret Mountain's music has touched the hearts of parents and children for years. With multiple awards from Parents' Choice, NAPPA and Juno Awards, the Montreal-based publishing house has made great children's entertainment that both kids and adults will love.

The songs on this recording include a wide variety of instruments including piano, acoustic guitar, classical and electric guitar, bass, keyboards, mandolin, percussion, dumbek, penny whistle, flute, banjo, accordion, trombone, trumpet, euphonium, upright bass, and saxophone. The songs will engage your child's imagination and encourage singing and moving along to the beat.

Many of the songs have an animal motif, whether singing about children pretending to be animals in Betty Is Convinced That She's a Buffalo, a lovesick cow (Thelma the Cow) singing the blues, or trying to figure out what gift to give an animal in The Zoo Was Having a Party; "What do you get for an elephant/ Something really swellephant/ Something he can smellephant." The silly and funny lyrics also help engage your child's imagination. She's My Sister, He's My Brother describes how a child would rescue their brother or sister from anything - a school bully, Darth Vader, or a lion. What would your little one do for their sister or brother? Oops Oops Bang Bang catches listeners' attention with a frequently changing tempo and multiple noise effects, but it is also about something kids can relate to - accidentally knocking things over. A child's voice is heard giggling and saying "uh oh!" throughout the verses.

Many of the songs are easy to join in with and are interactive. The Littlest Duck is a jazzy song about how all the littlest animals like to move around the farm. Your child can imitate the motions and waddle with the duck, hop with the chick, sing with the lark, or dawdle with the turtle. I Love That Dog is a silly song, from the perspective of a dog, with many howls and barks in the background that your little one can have a blast imitating the sounds. After listening to Betty Is Convinced That She's a Buffalo, you can encourage your child to decide which animal they would like to pretend to be. They can sway around the living room like an elephant, crawl slowly like a turtle, or act silly like a monkey. Imagine how much fun they would have if you joined in too!
 

Song Titles:

A Poodle in Paris - 3:35

The Littlest Duck - 2:57

Betty Is Convinced That She's a Buffalo - 2:05

The Zoo Was Having a Party - 4:05

A Tree Is Just a Tree - 3:09

Monkeys in the Trees in India - 2:01

Winners - 1:55

Thelma the Cow - 3:16

Oops Oops Bang Bang - 2:20

She's My Sister, He's My Brother - 2:06

Rubber Boots and Raincoats - 2:54

I Love That Dog - 3:16

 
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