Books and Records for Kids

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It's not always easy to buy gifts for children. Maybe they want the season's hottest toy which is hard to find, or maybe they've "got everything" already. Two items that will never go out of style for younger kids are vinyl records with fun singalongs and amusing and educational books. Here are our suggestions for some fun new titles in both categories.

Vinyl record albums

Laurie Berkner - Victor Vito 25th Anniversary Edition - (2-LPs on colored vinyl, 45 RPM)

Rarely does a children's album celebrate 25-years of vibrancy, and you never hear about a kid's record being remastered for rerelease. But that's what's going on with Victor Vito, the beloved collection of 21-songs that was originally released by Laurie Berkner in 1999. That's a long enough period of time that some parents playing this record for their children may have had their parents play the same songs for them when they were kids! With the exception of a few interpretations of traditional songs, everything here was written by Berkner, including the cheerful and catchy "Victor Vito," the mellow ode to collecting bottle caps that is "Bottle Caps" (Berkner collected them as a kid) and the acapella gem "Moon Moon Moon." And kids may benefit from hearing the words of "I'm Not Perfect" which provide an important message about trying one's best. Berkner has a pleasant and clear voice that kids and parents will appreciate as she sings about the googlehead crew in "Googleheads," the silly fun of "I Feel Crazy So I Jump in the Soup" and "The Goldfish." There are songs to get up and move to here too; the traditional "Froggie Went A-Courtin'" boogies a little bit so many kids will want to shake it loose during the song. It's easy to hear the lyrics as Berkner presents them but there's also an insert with lyrics so that kids can get the words right on these charming songs. Packaged in a gatefold jacket where new notes from Laurie appear inside the fold.

Sharon, Lois & Bram - Elephant Show Stoppers!

Famed for their hit '80s TV program "The Elephant Show," familiar mostly to viewers in Canada, here Sharon, Lois & Bram are featured on 20 songs excerpted from the show that have never seen an audio only release before. Many of the songs are set to boisterous melodies, sometimes with kids joining the trio on vocals, as on "People in Your Neighbourhood" and "Animal Fair. And kids who own kazoos will love to play along on the latter with its circus-like vibe. Some of the songs here are very well-known as performed by other artists, like "Bye Bye Blackbird," Cole Porter's "Another Opening, Another Show" and the Leiber/Stoller chestnut "Searchin';" the nonsensical "Ragg Mopp" is included too. Everything here is fun to sing along to and while kids are the focus it's pretty much a guarantee that adults will chime in with these carefree presentations from Sharon, Lois & Bram, and some lyrics will really resonate with the grown folks, like on "Talk about Peace." An insert includes the lyrics and if you unfold the lyric sheet it makes into a 2 X 2 foot poster.

Mel and Friends - Swingset Serenade

Mel is Melanie Dill and she wrote and performs the 10 songs on Swingset Serenade with some help from Tom Johnson who also sings and handles all of the arrangements; more than a dozen musicians back them up and a dozen or so kids add vocals. An old timey, Vaudeville-ish vibe powers title cut "Swingset Serenade" while a Latin beat and Spanish lyrics are the order of the day for the appropriately lively "Jugos de Naranja," a horn-filled ode to enjoying orange juice that will have many kids (and parents) dancing around the room. Kids may have trouble picking out their favorites as the album is stacked with delights like "Make a Garden" with super fun lyrics like "tomato will be big and fine/when it's ripe and juicy." Even cuter is the song's lyric "is this a lemon or a lime?/that's a potato!" "Mariposa" is a gentle cut with bilingual lyrics in Spanish and English. "Ruth's Couscous" has lyrics that kids will probably learn quickly although they'll be a big challenging in spots for adults, which will no doubt amuse the kids to no end. And that's the overall vibe here; let's have fun! Kids also can gain an appreciation of the Big Band sound on the jazzy "Bunk Bed" with Johnson on lead vocals; "Bedtime" is appropriately enough done as a lullaby and it closes out the album as soft as a cloud.

Books

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess" - Jeff Kinney - (Hardcover, Amulet Books/Abrams Books)
The beloved "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series, now nearly 20 volumes long, has sold more than 290 million copies. In "Hot Mess" the focus is, as usual, on schoolboy Greg Heffley as he tries to protect the secret recipe of Gramma's meatballs while also wondering what makes them so delicious. That theme is intertwined with all the possibilities of the family's vacation which includes what Greg deems unexciting options like a lighthouse tour and a round of mini golf and an encounter with Uncle Gary, who for some reason dresses as a pirate. Similar quirky situations arise throughout the book which is also chock full of illustrations, and there are plenty of contemporary references like wondering about the ingredients in processed food, helicopter moms and being distracted by cell phones, and that old standby, peeing on the toilet seat makes an appearance too. So there's a lot going on besides meatball mania as the Heffley clan finds themselves embroiled in all sorts of mischief and kids will absolutely love it. And so will adults.

"Kitty-Corn Club: Things That Go" - Shannon Hale and Leuyen Pham - (Hardcover, Abrams Appleseed)
This title is for the youngest of readers and in consideration of how tough kids can be on books the content here is presented on a dozen double-sided pages that are made of resilient heavy duty cardboard. Meant to teach kids what certain items are and what they look like, each page features two fun items illustrated by Pham and with rhymes from Hale, such as "airplane/jet plane/space plane/construction crane." Kids will really enjoy the illustrations, especially since they also depict cute creatures; a kitty cat drives a dump truck, a unicorn paddles a kayak and a parrot rides a skateboard. Parents may have to explain the final illustration in the book as it depicts the unicorn entering a time machine!

"Black Lives: Great Minds of Science" - Tonya Bolden and David Wilkerson - (Hardcover, Abrams Fanfare)
Presented in the style of a graphic novel, this first entry in what is intended to be a series presents encapsulated life stories of nine lesser-known Black innovators like physician Matilda Evans, ornithologist Scott V. Edwards and aviator Patrice Clarke Washington, who was laughed at in high school when she announced that she wanted to be an airplane pilot. Well Patrice got the last laugh as she worked her way up from piloting local flights in the Bahamas to flying a UPS cargo jet all over the world and ultimately being inducted into the Organization of Black Aerospace Professional's Founders and Pioneers Hall of Fame. Bolden pens the bios for each chapter which also includes a time line summary of the innovator's accomplishments; Wilkerson's illustrations are interspersed and there are graphics on each page. Some of the other personalities that are spotlighted are marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, paleontologist and geologist David Wilcots, mathematician Gladys B. West and inventor Fred Jones who invented all kinds of refrigeration units including those for long haul trucks.

"The Idea in You" - Questlove and Sean Qualls - (Hardcover, Abrams Books)
Yes this children's book is written by Questlove, famed as being the drummer for the Roots. The idea here is to encourage kids to follow through on ideas they have and see where they can lead; certainly as a New York Times bestselling author, an accomplished musician, a producer and Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Questlove knows about following through on ideas. There are just a few words on each page but they are potent, for example telling kids they can "reach up into the sky and unhook a star" and noting that the star may "make a sound you can turn into a melody, a beat, a song." Nicely illustrated by Qualls, the book is "personalized" to the extent that he depicts just one kid all the way through the book so the young reader can picture themselves as that child. Upbeat and encouraging all the way through, the final words of the book are "an idea can come from anywhere. Now where will it go?"

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