Chapin's songs take common activities, feelings and concerns of children, and sets them to fun melodies that children will adore. The songs are usually fleshed out with direct rhymes and choruses that repeat many times over to make learning the song easier, and allow you to join in after hearing it just once. For example, Chapin's new version of Happy Birthday (nothing like the one we sing each year) repeats three times, so you may find your child joining in by the third verse. Catches teaches your child about listening to more than one melody at once, as it is sung in rounds with Chapin, children, and a female voice. It also has a good message for little listeners to keep their bodies healthy and strong. Chapin's songs often have educational value sneaked in through all the fun, like in State Laughs where, between silly lines like, "In Arkansas, they go ha ha ha, in Tennessee they go hee hee hee, and in Idaho they go ho ho ho," your child is learning the names of some states without even realizing it! Most of the songs on the album are upbeat and dance-worthy, but Chapin does provide listeners with a few breathers through the lullaby chorus of the title track, and the ballad Grow In Your Own Sweet Way.
Because Chapin's songs touch on things children are interested in, don't be surprised when you child adlibs their own two cents into a song. They may want to include their own favorite books in Library Song (or you could do the same), try their hand at yodeling in The Trail Ride, ask if you two can also make buckwheat-chocolate chip-apple-raisin-pancakes like the dad and kids in the song Mother's Day, or make their own favorite hiccup noise alongside Chapin in Princess Di's Distress. There is fun in every song. Your little one will join right in with the children singing the alphabet in Alphabet Soup, and the catchy beat is sure to get their shoulders and hips moving. Many of the songs also create great segues into important conversations with your child. Neat Mess is all about the irony of mom and dad having 'neat messes' of their own, like closets full of decorations and random things moms save over the years, or the craziness of dad's basement or shop full of "thirty years of National Geographic, and every album of the Boston Pops." Don't Play With Bruno addresses the important subject of leaving someone out just because they seem a little different. The young girls in the song don't want to play with Bruno because he's a "dweeb." This is a very important conversation to have with your child as they are just starting to make new friends though play groups and, soon enough, school.
My three-year-old friend, Sam, and I listened to this CD for the first time together. When Sing a Whale Song came on, Sam asked if the whale in this song knew Baby Beluga. I giggled and told him "Oh yeah, they are probably good friends." When the real whale sounds came on, Sam's eyes bugged and he looked to me excited, "What is it saying?!" I hesitated, deciding whether to respond with "Brush your teeth," or "Listen to Audra," but decided to take a more honest route, "I think its saying 'I love you'."
--Audra