I had the gleeful opportunity to be in the studio for parts of this recording, and can attest that the workmanship was fantastically anal. The product itself attests, as well: great songs, nice "flow" through the playlist, and fabulous performances. The band itself is gone (save for a "reunion" date every few years), but this album is very worth getting, even if you have to find it used!

This is a wonderful little guide, including not only the basics of 21 great things to do with children of various ages, but an important perspective on how to teach those things.

One Man's Trash was not for me, and Seis de Mayo is an accomplishment but not something I'll listen to often. Here, though, on his "first" "solo" release, Trey really shines. The layered orchestration meets the loose improv that defines the man and his music, and he toys with nearly every aspect. Bravo!!

Boy. Man. God. Book. Haven't even had time to consider when I'll start trying to look into the early part of a way of digesting and reacting to this book. Meanwhile, though, it's MAMMOTH!!

If it's out of print, the printed lots because it's still around four years later. My mother just gave my son a copy weeks ago, and he loves it. The writing isn't as good as Sandra Boynton, for example, and the illustrations are so-so, but the 16 sounds are nice, and integrate well with the story. Plus, he's happy to sit in the middle of our bed pressing buttons and giggling while I brush my teeth or some other mundane task that's easier without a baby in your arms.

The song selection, recording quality, and performances are all fabulous. Our eight-month old loves it almost as much as his thirty-something parents. We listen to so many times that now we're planning to attend a cajun/zydeco festival! :)

Hey, if you don't know The Bad Plus yet, go back a start with their sophomore release These Are the Vistas. Just do it.

If you've heard that, and liked it, you might like Give. You might not. They might be anti-establishment. They might be secretly conventional enough to be quasi-establishment. Who cares. Give isn't as strong as Vistas, and their debut Motel isn't as strong as either, and that's what folks reading these reviews want to know: Should I buy it?

Yes, probably. But only after you buy Vistas.

For many years, I've used the Microsoft Map feature of Excel. It's a great little tool that only does a few things but served its purpose well, and on occasion even justified using Excel rather than SPSS or some other data-management tool.

Then came OfficeXP, with an Excel version from which Microsoft has stripped that Mapping tool. Now I have to pay hundreds of dollars and gets lots of data I don't want or need (and could find much of on the web anyway)? No thank you.

Time to find an alternative...

The images and music here are great for 1-6 months. I suspect that, beyond that age range, it won't likely hold our child's attention for as long. Baby Mozart is a bit peppier and diverse, and Baby Neptune and Baby Van Gogh have more depth and breadth. Still, Baby Bach is where we started, and a good way to start the series. But if your child is already into some of the others, I don't recommend going back to this one.

I'm not sure what the point of the various languages is. For an infant, it's just unusual noises he won't hear again, or often. For an older child, it's probably confusing, even frustrating. And the images on this release simply don't compare to the wonder, rhythm, or photography of the others in the series. The idea behind this one's a bit kitchy. If you want your kid to learn a language, do that separately, in some other fashion.