This progressive children's CD is a must-have for all parents who are longing for a collection of songs they can enjoy as much as their children do. Caspar Babypants has a soothing, clear voice with a wide range to cover the many genres and sounds comprised in "Here I am", including lullaby, pop-rock, progressive-folk, jazz, bluegrass. Instruments to expect include guitar, bass, piano, organ, drum, oboe, banjo, flute, harp, accordion, and various small percussion instruments. While one song includes children singers, adult guest singers throughout the CD include Jen Wood, Fysah Thomas, Griffen Lang, Claire Rosenberg Josie Ballew, and Petra Stacey Lavin.

This recording includes some classics your child will likely already know, such as "Shortnin Bread," "Three Blind Mice," and "Freres Jacques", but the majority of songs are Casper's truly-unique originals. Caspar's songs are easy to learn quickly because of the repetition, fun rhymes, and even some silly made-up words, like 'nappy' and 'worm-tastic'. Every song includes a steady and easily-recognizable beat. Although Caspar does have guest singers in some of his songs, he usually makes due with his own voice by voicing over and harmonizing with himself, or looping his voice to create rounds, like he does in "Freres Jacques". The lyrics range from silly and imaginative, like when he finds a bright red spider with bright yellow hair smiling under a rock, or asking a chipmunk and a piglet for a kiss in "Runaway", to the beautiful imagery in the lullaby, "Sleeping Baby"; "Sleeping Baby. Where are you? Drifting over hills? Where are you? Drifting back to my arms."

The creativity in Caspar's songs not only goads your little one join to in, but encourages them to think about daily occurrences a little differently. Such as the "Poor Dust Bunnies" song which - despite his insistence in the lyrics - is hilarious, as it personifies dust bunnies in a way your child has likely never considered, "Just when they get big enough to run, they end up at the end of a broom and it's no fun...(they) Hide and quiver in the dark." "Let the S Go" has fun with alliteration in a way that listeners can't help but want to join in and try to say the sentence without the 's's. This is a clever way to get kids to really think about their words. The only song on the album with children singing is, "Little Broken Truck" which is a common favorite. Children can join in with the kids on the album singing the repeating chorus of "Beep, beep, beep."

My three-year-old friend, Sam, is a huge fan of Caspar Babypants and listens to his CDs daily. Sam's favorite song on this CD is "Bug in the Cuff." He cracks up every time at the awkwardly long pause following the opening line, "I took a walk in a field, and when I got home I took of my pants." He also loves to repeat the line, "Alls I know is that I had a bug in the cuff of my pants."

--Audra

Caspar Babypants is the alias for Chris Ballew, lead singer of the rock and roll band The Presidents of the United States of America. This CD comes in a cardboard package to save on landfill pollution.

1. Small Black Ant

2. Little Broken Truck

3. Brown and Lonely Worm

4. Free Like a Bird

5. Baby Bear

6. Three Blind Mice

7. Baby in a Corn Tree

8. Heard a Bird

9. Babies Little Self (featuring Jen Wood)

10. Run Away

11. The Island Hop

12. Under a Rock

13. Bug in the Cuff

14. Shortnin Bread (featuring Fysah Thomas)

15. Let the S Go

16. Billy Pringle

17. Poor Dust Bunnies

18. Freres Jaques

19. Bright Bug

20. Monkey River

21. Calling from Clouds (featuring Jen Wood)

22. Sleeping Baby