Sweet and Silly: The Best of The Laurie Berkner Band

Parents Magazine said it best when they described Laurie Berkner as “the Pied Piper of the Preschool Set.”  With her melodic tunes and unforgettable harmonies, The Laurie Berkner Band are just as much magicians as they are musicians—at least for my music-obsessed kid.

First introduced to this well-loved band’s tunes after becoming avid fans of Jack’s Big Music Show on Nick Jr., Laurie Berkner’s song lyrics are now part of our everyday vernacular.  ‘Shaky Egg’, ‘Rainboots, stomp, stomp, stomp’… you name it, Laurie’s lyrics and music have made our entire family fans for the long haul.  Like magic.

Released last month, The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band cd is a comprehensive collection of the band’s best songs.  As their sixth cd, if you’re a longtime fan, such songs on the cd are expected, but for newer fans, this cd is a staple for your budding kindie rock collection.  Unlike the songs recorded for Nickelodeon, Laurie’s Greatest Hits cd have a softer, less processed sound.  Songs like “Shady Tree” exude the sweet, while songs like, “Monster Boogie” reinforces the silly.  But overall, the 20-track cd encompasses the folk sensibility that keeps kids dancing and singing, and their parents humming and smiling.

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Funky Kidz Cd giveaway winner

Congrats to Stephanie for winning last week’s Music Monday cd giveaway! When you have a chance Steph, can you please email your address to jen [at] nextkidthing [dot] com.
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Thank you to everyone for participating in the giveaways and for participating on the site.  Becuase of you, I’m able to continue to have FREE giveaways.  Well, free to you, but not always for me.  As a general reminder, I ship most of these giveways out on my own, with very little resources.  I’m just trying to share the great goodies that I get, so, please bear with me on the shipping timeframe.  It could take as little as a few days, but as long as several weeks.  Thanks so much for understanding!

Getting Funky for Music Monday

funky kidsHappy Monday, everyone.  We had quite an exciting music-filled weekend, and I can’t wait to share all about it.  But in honor of yet another fun adventure with NKT in mind, I’m happy to announce another weekly editorial focus. Every Monday will be fittingly dubbed, Music Monday, and will feature music-influenced posts.

To start off the first Music Monday, how about some funky, jazzy kids tunes? I recently had the chance to check out Funky Kidz, which is a musical compilation performed by several artists from New Orleans and features covers of children’s songs.  Including classic kiddie songs like “Hokey Pokey” and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” the award-winning CD includes musicians include such as Ivan Neville of the Neville Brothers; The Radiators; George Porter Jr. of The Meters;  Bonerama, and more.
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That Baby DVD and CD review + giveaway

Every time our silly, but catchy cable tv commercial comes on, it makes me laugh to see the excitement it brings to my kid’s heart. He squeals, claps and then the dancing begins. Above the cuteness of the dancing, it’s the love of music and the rocking out at such an early age that truly brings a smile to my face.
As much as our family loves music, I love giving music-related gifts, too. I mean, who wouldn’t appreciate the gift of rocking out? So if you’re on the market for a unique baby gift, I recommend checking out That Baby DVD and CD.

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I had the chance to check out That Baby DVD and it was such a hit with the kid. That Baby DVD and CD both feature acoustic cover versions of songs made popular by great artists like Fleetwood Mac, The Pretenders, Bob Marley, 10,000 Maniacs and more. In addition to various eye-catching graphics and cool animations, That Baby DVD showcased other music-loving kids who dance away to the tunes, thus making my kid dance and squeal along.
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