I am a singer/songwriter and hubby is an audiophile. Between the two of us, it was no surprise when Beaner started asking for Lady GaGa by name when she was about 8 months old. We've tried to expose her to a variety of our music, as well as so-called "kid music". She's a big fan of stuff from Sesame Street, and equally fond of Snack Time by the Barenaked Ladies.
I let her review Mark D Pencil's "Learning With Hip Hop" and I must say, it was a fairly big success. How do I know it was a success? Because she started to dance. That's pretty much the ultimate seal of Beaner approval. That, and if she doesn't like something, she flat out tells me to turn it off and puts her hands over her ears.
I liked the repetition within the songs, the way the entire CD is appropriate for all ages, and how it combines some good beats. One of my biggest pet peeves as a Mom is having to listen or watch something that annoys me AND gets stuck in my head. When I found myself humming "Do You Know Your ABC's?" at the grocery store, I didn't mind.
Verdict: Beaner and Mom approved!
You can listen to some of the tracks on Myspace (HERE) as well as LastFM (HERE).
You can purchase the CD from Mark's website: http://learningwithhiphop.com/
