Vol. 2-Playhouse Disney [Import]

My daughter LOVES this CD. She loves to listen to the songs and sing-along. The variety is great: different songs and different voices. I am tired of listening to Old MacDonald, etc. with the same singers so it was a nice break for mom, too.

This CD starts with a characters version of the excellent theme done by the Wiggles for Playhouse Disney ("Playhouse Disney / That's where I wanna be! / Playhouse Disney / Imagine what we can learn!") It ends with a generic version and they're both great bookends for a wonderful collection of songs.

This CD contains songs from "Bear in the Big Blue House," "PB&J Otter," "Out of the Box," "The Book of Pooh" and "Stanley." "Otter" and "Box" don't air on Playhouse Disney in the U.S. anymore (at least, not as of the writing of this review) and "Bear" only airs on weekends (and only the fourth season), so this is an excellent CD to get and hear songs from these shows.

Now, I'll give you my favorite song on this CD from each show:

Bear in the Big Blue House --- This is a hard one, because the music on this show is absolutely top-class all around. I ultimately decided on "It Takes All Kinds," a surprisingly nice song about diversity. What's even more surprising is that Bear doesn't really do much singing on this song and I generally consider him to be the best singer on the show. "What if everyone sang the sang note? / What kind of song would that be? / But it comes alive / With a third and a five / Singing in harmony!" Awesome stuff.

"PB&J Otter" --- This is another very hard choice. I really like "Imaginings," but my choice is "No Place We'd Rather Be," which celebrates the greatest of the show's hometown, Lake Hoohaw. Amazing harmonies, great chorus, and just an overall wonderful song.

"Out of the Box" is a series I have never seen, but would gladly if I had the chance. My favorite song from this one is "Turn a Mistake Into Something Great," which is about just that --- how to turn mistakes such as adding sugar to a bread mixture into something great --- like making cookies!

"The Book of Pooh" is a Kriegman show, just like "Bear." From this one, I like the "Bluebird Song" the best. Another song with great harmonies and quite joyful.

Finally, for "Stanley," it was an easy choice. "Good as Gold" is an emotional song sung by Stanley's fish Dennis about how Stanley's been such a great friend to him, but now he has to leave him. Having not seen much of the series, I don't know how this is resolved, but I got emotional just listening to it.

Some of the songs on this CD may be considered a bit "PC," such as "Everyday as Earthday" from "Stanley." However, it's a nicely done song and it doesn't really encourage anything too radical. I wouldn't let this detract from it, if you're inclined to.

The CD comes with an insert booklet that includes a full listing of songs and artists, artwork and brief descriptions of the songs. There's also info on the learning and skill goals of Playhouse Disney. Unfortunately, though, lyrics are not included.

If you or your kids like Playhouse Disney, you'll definitely want this CD. If not, then just listen to some of the songs on here and you may be converted. Definitely some of the best music from this Disney subnetwork.

My 4-year old son asked for this CD for Christmas after seeing it on the Amazon website. He really enjoys listening to it and asks me to put it on a lot. It's a great alternative to watching TV or DVDs. I'd recommend this to anyone who has Playhouse Disney fans in the house.

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