Customer Reviews

Philadelphia Chickens

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD/book set was an impulse purchase for my granddaughters when they were six months and two-and-a-half. What an incredible find! You just have to laugh out loud at the funky lyrics, set to music that will have the whole family dancing. Seriously! Oh, you don't think you'll really dance? Well try it and see!

The older sister claimed at least six of the songs as her favorites ("Nanna, I like THIS ONE the best!") and the baby would drop everything and listen as soon as "Belly Button" started playing.

"Philadelphia Chickens" won't wear out its welcome -- many thanks to the brilliant Sandra Boynton and her cast of amazing performers. I've bought two copies of the CD for myself and wound up giving them away -- well, I meant to lend them but couldn't seem to get them back. DO give a toddler this wonderful gift, but you'd better get your own as well. It's a real ray of sunshine!

I liked Philadelphia Chickens, and my 3 year old likes it too. I still think it's aimed more at ages 5+.

However, since Amazon always suggest to buy Rhinoceros Tap along with it, I thought it was important to recommend NOT buying both if you're buying Philadelphia Chickens for a child under 5 or 6.

Here is why:

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We are big fans of Boynton's books for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, so we thought that buying these audio CDs was an easy decision for our very active and bright 3-year-old.

However, I am really disappointed that there is no warning on Rhinoceros tap that it contains mature themes for preschoolers.

The main one that bugs me is "O lonely peas". A 3 year old is not emotionally capable of understanding the irony when hearing the repeated line "NOBODY LOVES YOU AT ALL". It's funny to an adult, and maybe a 5-6 year old, but my 3.5 year old started to cry after hearing this melancholy song which doesn't have a happy ending. The rest of them on Rhinoceros Tap aren't all that funny and don't captivate the attention of my daughter either.

I bought this a few years back for my daughter to give as a birthday gift and listened to it before wrapping it (I know...that's a no no but so glad I did) and loved it so much I went back and bought one for us. My teenagers and I love it as much as my then pre-teen daughter. I have recommended this to many people who have also love it. It is not just for young children. Give it a listen no matter what age you are. If you have a sense of humour and like good music you will be hooked.

This CD is alot of fun.

Sandra Boynton takes words from some of her short-story books (snoozers, for example), and creates some brand new lyrics for a really enchanting CD of music for kids that's OK for adults.

If you child is anything like my son, it might even spark a career in dance or music (assuming you don't mind dancing to the "Philadelphia Chicken" over and over and over again ;))

At some point I read a review of this that wanted to know how they got all these famous people and incredible singers to sing on the CD - I did actually ask one of the more famous singers and she said "Well, Sandy asked me" - wish I'd thought of that!

Then again, when I get as many great books published as Sandra Boynton it might actually work for me!

My kids are big fans of Sandra Boynton's books, and I love her quirky humor. One of our favorite books ("Pajama Time") is included in the musical score on this CD, and the rest of the songs live up to my (very high) expectations as well. The music is well done, a good variety of styles and decent complexity, so the songs won't drive Mom nuts after she's heard them a few times! It's refreshing to have various voices, including some actors whose singing is a previously untapped talent (Scott Bakula, Natasha Richardson) as well as some I already knew (Kevin Bacon, Kevin Kline.)

I have given this cd/book/music to many kids and adults, including my mom. I've also kept it for myself! The songs are so fun and funny, they crack you up. They also introduce kids to all types of music, from blues to jazz to country to everything. The book itself is great, and I read stories to my grandson and nieces from it. And this is the best bargain in the business: You get the cd with 19 songs, the hard cover book with illustrations and words to each (which we enjoy as stories), and the sheet music for piano and additional lyrics in the back. The favorite of one of my nieces is "Please can I keep it -- it followed me home." The other niece loves "Those Dinosaur Blues," and MY favorite (or one of them) is "Be Like a Duck." But then the song by aardvarks pretending to be cows is charming, too. You just can't go wrong. BUY THIS!

This CD is one that every child should have in his/her collection! It is just awesome! It is so upbeat. My 4 year old loves singing to it, and my 8 month old moves to the music. As an adult, I think the lyrics are very clever, and give parents a break from the normal kids songs!

Alex loves Sandra Boynton's board books and we bought this because I'm from Phila. The songs are great, just the kind of stuff I like (and Alex can understand most of the words to sing along). An interesting thing is that all the women singing on this CD sound the same! Since we had the CD in the car for the first few days, we were just singing along and not reading the book, and I wondered who the female artist was that did all the songs...turns out each song is by someone different, and other than Meryl Streep I don't know any of the female singers. But that doesn't stop it being excellent entertainment!

My sister and my wife both had their first babies within 8 weeks of each other last year. We are from Philadelphia, so this caught my sister's attention. The songs are fresh, contemporary and hip for children's fare. Adults can appreciate homage to various music styles and hearing celebs get their kiddy-groove on. The artwork and theme (a fictional musical stage show) lend a lot of character and personality to the lyrics and "performers" (cows, aardvarks, dinosaurs, etc.). The actual singers are typically great in their roles. A favorite of ours is Kevin Kline singing BusyBusyBusy in the mode of ...Modern Major General... A theme all of us 30-something two-income families can relate to. Just enough of a tweak about our hectic lifestyle to cause a reflective pause. Everyone should stop and create the opportunity to enjoy this marvelous little frivolity with their kid(s) and partner.

This CD is magnificent! If you can find the book to go with it, it's even better. My 4 and 5 year olds can't get enough. It's done like a little show, and they love to perform it for me. The music is so catching that we find ourselves singing the songs all the time, and once it's on you just can't keep from dancing. Many of the songs are sung by well known people and done wonderfully. I can't say enough about this superb work by Sandra Boynton!!!!!!