Great Big Fun for the Very Little Ones

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
What's the measure of a good children's record? Probably the sing-along factor and educational levels, plus how much it doesn't grate on parental nerves with continued play. Within those criteria, Tom Chapin's Great Big Fun for the Very Little Ones falls somewhere between a good and great record. There are more truly memorable sing-alongs than most young kids' records can muster, including "Uh Oh, Accident," "Zag Zig," and "Jumpalong Jake." Equally enjoyable tunes that educate without talking down to the audience are multiple: "I Would If I Could" proves to be a sound way to reenforce "don't" messages about jumping on the bed, knocking people down, painting on the walls, and other normal miscreant behavior. "You'll Be Sorry" is a warning song to dogs that also works for kids, and "State Laughs" teaches geography while using lots of playful rhymes. Chapin's performances, framed by simple instrumentation that highlights his messages and lyrics, are rich and engaging. And with songs like "Cameling," "Sailing to the Sea," and the classic "Big Rock Candy Mountain" to spur young imaginations, Great Big Fun scores big time. --Martin Keller

Great Big Fun for the Very Little Ones, Music, Tom Chapin, Children's, Children's Folk, Childrens, Pop, Sing-Along

Average customer rating:

Tom Chapin is Great Big Fun

Gram loves Tom Chapin music!

Iowa Dad

focuses on lives of pre-school aged children

Horrible CD,

Great Big Fun for the Very Little Ones
Tom Chapin
Manufacturer: Music Little People
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Children's Music | Styles | Music
Educational | Children's Music | Styles | Music
Folk Music | Children's Music | Styles | Music
Sing-A-Longs | Children's Music | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B00005Q3AJ
Release Date: 2001-10-02

Tracks:

Bubblin' In The Bath
Uh Oh, Accident
State Laughs
Camling
I Would If I Could
The Parade Came Marching On
You'll Be Sorry
Zag Zig
Jumpalong Jake
Big Rock Candy Mountain
Ask Someone Who Knows
Happy Birthday
Sailing To The Sea
Blanketville
Bedtime Round
Together Tomorrow (with Judy Collins)

Amazon.com

What's the measure of a good children's record? Probably the sing-along factor and educational levels, plus how much it doesn't grate on parental nerves with continued play. Within those criteria, Tom Chapin's Great Big Fun for the Very Little Ones falls somewhere between a good and great record. There are more truly memorable sing-alongs than most young kids' records can muster, including "Uh Oh, Accident," "Zag Zig," and "Jumpalong Jake." Equally enjoyable tunes that educate without talking down to the audience are multiple: "I Would If I Could" proves to be a sound way to reenforce "don't" messages about jumping on the bed, knocking people down, painting on the walls, and other normal miscreant behavior. "You'll Be Sorry" is a warning song to dogs that also works for kids, and "State Laughs" teaches geography while using lots of playful rhymes. Chapin's performances, framed by simple instrumentation that highlights his messages and lyrics, are rich and engaging. And with songs like "Cameling," "Sailing to the Sea," and the classic "Big Rock Candy Mountain" to spur young imaginations, Great Big Fun scores big time. --Martin Keller

Customer Reviews:

Tom Chapin is Great Big Fun.......2007-01-12

I LOVE this album!! My own children grew up on Tom Chapin's music. My son (who is 19 now) attributes his own interest and talent in music to Tom Chapin's "musicality." Tom's music is engaging and fun and poignant. My husband and I always enjoyed listening to the songs when my kids were young. We also really enjoyed going to Tom's live concerts when we lived in Illinois.

Every time I have to get friends a baby gift of some kind, I buy a Tom Chapin CD for them, and I feel confident that I have given them something really valuable!

Gram loves Tom Chapin music!.......2007-01-09

I raised four daughters on Tom Chapin music! Although I've found many other options for children's music, nothing compares to Tom Chapin's. In this CD, you can feel that the music has the heart and mind of a pre-schooler-Catchy, involving music that little ones [and OLD ones] can easily and gleefully learn. I can't run bath water without the "bubbling, bubbling" music coming into my head! This CD will be of more value to your young child or grandchild than a roomful of toys.

Iowa Dad.......2004-05-14

My family and I are extremely pleased with this CD, and we highly recommend it as being far from a "horrible CD" as one reviewer here states.

One song mentions things like an aunt who "spanked his bottom" when a boy misbehaved, but the song does not say that is what should have been done--a far cry from advocating violence toward children. Regarding the reference to "stupid," there is a lyric where Chapin says he swung his hammer and hit his thumb and says, "Uh oh, acci-dumb," and there is nothing that encourages anyone to call anyone stupid or dumb.

If you've seen Tom Chapin in concert (as we have), there is no mistaking that this gentle man cares deeply about kids and others, and his lyrics and songs are positive, positively silly, fun, or thoughtful, and they are never mean or hurtful.

Some songs on the album are geared more toward the younger kids (preschoolers or early school years), but the songs are simple without being simplistic, and Chapin's wordplay is clever and fun. I would gladly listen to the original lyrics and melodies of Chapin's work 1000 times over rather than listen to a collection of songs by a purple dinosaur twice--and so would my kids, who were 5 and 2 and 1/2 when began listening to Tom Chapin a few years ago.

Personally, we prefer the birthday song on this CD over the traditional "Happy Birthday," and we've taken to singing it on our birthdays since it is definitely a song of love.

The song "Bedtime Round" is a treat for any parent who has put up with the bedtime pleas for one more story, one more hug or kiss, and one more drink of water when it's long after the time for kids to be asleep, as it captures the child's persistence and the parent's patience in handling the requests.

Finally, the grownups here dearly love "Together Tomorrow," a heart-tugging song if you've ever had to part with people you love and care about.

We've bought other Chapin CDs and given several as gifts, but this one is clearly our family favorite (though we've not heard them all yet!).

focuses on lives of pre-school aged children.......2002-09-08

We first borrowed this from the library and our 1.5 and 4.5 year old loved it, and surprisingly both my husband and I enjoyed it as well. We have listened to Raffi over and over and over and to Disney soundtrack tunes for over 4 years now and we were in need of something fresh. (Our 4.5 year-old was starting to groan when I put Raffi on as he has all the songs memorized.) We are happy to have found Tom Chapin's music and we bought this CD. It has rescued us from boredom on long car trips, the humor and catchy tunes have us singing along. I don't find any of Chapin's music annoying or grating on the nerves (as some other recordings for children are). This is a great one to play when boredom sits in, after playing other music for a while we put in Tom Chapin and this CD when we need a burst of energy. We refuse to install a TV in our car despite regularly traveling 500 miles in one day for our frequent car travel so we rely on music, talking, and reading for entertainment in the car.

Some of Chapin's other CDs focus on issues relating to school and social issues that go on in school. This is a collection of some pre-published and new material that is all geared toward the audience of kids not yet in school. I suggest this for kids starting in the toddler years. Of course even kids in school will like this music but what makes it unique is that it is all suitable stuff for toddlers and up.

We liked this CD so much we have since purchased other Tom Chapin recordings. What I have found is that his CDs repeat some tunes, each CD is not a completely new work. I guess this is titled for "very little ones" because there are no songs about going to school as there are on other CDs. This CD has 16 songs which is considerably longer than some of his other works so this is a bargain.

In "uh oh, accident" the child has accidents in which he labels them in various rhyming ways, i.e. hit thumb with hammer, calls himself "accidumb" that is the worst thing in that song, other descriptions are "it went squish..uh oh accidish". In "I would if I could" which is a about a toddler or child pushing his limits with swiping, painting the wall, jumping on bed, etc. In this story there is never a mention of spanking or hitting. There are joking references of the child singing and labeling his behavior, such as saying his "parents flip when he strips in the park..which I've done"; he mentions they scowl and even yell when he tells his mothers age. ... Also in case you are wondering "You'll be sorry" is about a dog not a child and it is about silly things like if the dog chases the skunk he'll be sorry. Jumpalong Jake does mention very quickly spanking and yelling.

This song features a four lovey-lovey feel-good calming songs such as "Happy Birthday", "Blanketville", "Bedtime Round" and "Together Tomorrow".

The progression of songs starts off energetic with happy sing-along style and it wraps up with lullaby-type calm and quieter music. I advise listening to the sound snippets here on Amazon.com to see if this music is a style you are interested in.

Addendum: I saw Tom Chapin live with our family and we had a great time. The sound quality was excellent, just like on a CD. He and his bandmates interacted with the audience and illicited audience participation so it was much more than just listening to the songs exactly as he plays them on these recordings. Go see him live!

Horrible CD,.......2002-08-15

I bought this CD before I heard any of the lyrics. It looks like a happy CD and is marketed as a "Multiple Grammy Nominee" with titles like State Laughs and Bubblin' in the bath. But when I played the CD words like Stupid were used as well as advocating Spanking, and Whacking the children. All of this was convienantly wrapped up in jovial, snappy music. I am going to throw away this CD. I don't want my child listening to songs that advocate hitting him or using such negative words like stupid. This is a horrible CD.

If you are looking for positive, energetic, kind and gentle music for your child I'd suggest Raffi or The Wiggles instead of this deceptive CD.

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