Occasionally I come across videos that make me laugh out loud. This one below is one of the funniest videos on being a Dad that I have ever seen. I’ll let you watch it for yourself but I can say that there is one part in it that had me nearly laughing out loud at work screaming in my chair. Maybe it is because I have a daughter and I could so relate to one very particular scene of the video. It is hilarious. Check out The Dad Life.

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Copyright (c) 2010 Read To Me, Dad

This is Dad Life

An important part of raising our daughter is making sure that we select media that will reinforce good values that we are trying to impart to her. I received two wonderful books that fit that bill. I received the books Nana Star and Nana Star and the Moonman. I will review the Moonman book in another post. This post is about Nana Star.

Nana Star is the first book in a series about a young girl who finds a baby star that is lost. The heavens is where the star is from so the young girl must help the star get home. The star is looking for his nana and because the young girl takes up the task of helping the little star she becomes Nana Star. As Nana Star the young girl now has a very large responsibility. She sets off on her journey with the Little Star and that is the gist of what happens in book one.

Nana Star is a series that builds upon the lessons from each of the previous books. In book one, Nana Star we meet Nana Star and the little star. We see how this young girl learns quickly responsibility and caring for the needs of someone else. Nana Star also learns how to comfort someone else as she makes the little star feel safe. The story fits into a wider story that is filled with tales of lessons about values like manners, healthy habits, creativity and courage. In each book Nana Star meets another friend who can help her along her way to bring the little star to his home.

Each Nana Star book comes with a CD that contains a reading of the story along with an original song about Nana Star. The songs are different on each CD too. I’ve read about other bloggers and their children who like to listen to the CD and follow along in the book. I’m sure that when Eva gets older she will do that too. However, for now she likes looking at the beautiful illustrations.

When she gets a little older and can read she’ll surely point out the single mistake that is in each Nana Star Book. Yes, there is an intentional mistake in each Nana Star book. The reason for this is to remind people that we all make mistakes and even though mistakes are made something beautiful can be created. When you find the mistake you can send Nana Star a note with a correction and your child can be part of the Nana Star Little Twinkles Club. Being part of this club your child receives an 8 X 10 photo of the real Nana Star, Elizabeth Owens, and a special message from her.

The thing that really hooked me is that Nana Star is much more than a book with a nice message. Nana Star is a family collaboration. There are four generations working on the book and the Nana Star Foundation. The Nana Star Foundation is dedicated to helping make life easier for inner city school. It is also dedicated to terminally ill children. A portion of all sales of Nana Star books and merchandise goes to fund the foundation.

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Copyright (c) 2010 Read To Me, Dad

Nana Star

No, not me or this blog. Ellis Paul’s album The Dragonfly Races (the first CD we bought specifically for Eva) has just recently won this most prestigious honor. The Parent’s Choice Silver Honor Award is a pretty big deal

We are pretty happy for Ellis, in addition to creating these songs and this album he has been one of our favorite folk singers for so long. We’ve had the chance to talk to him on many occasions and we couldn’t be happier. When we found out that a children’s album was coming we knew that it would be an amazing CD or amazing songs. And we certainly were not disappointed. I was so excited for it and wanted it to do well and sell a bunch of copies that I even offered to give away 10 iTunes downloads to the first 10 people to respond. But at that time not many people were reading this blog, (well less than now) and so I never gave any away. I would still like to do that for anyone who is interested. So go to my The Dragonfly Races post and enter to win a free iTunes Download.

And if you are in the Boston Area May 24th and want to catch Ellis performing in a live, free, outdoor concert as part of Earthfest on the kid’s planet stage then check out this information.

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Copyright (c) 2010 Read To Me, Dad

Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Award!

I was in Kohls one day and at the check out there were stuffed animals and books by Sandra Boynton. Now any kid growing up in the 80s has probably seen a Boynton sticker. Or maybe it was just because I collected stickers so I could hang out with all the girls in my class.

Sandra Boynton has many books out based on her cartoon character drawings of dogs, and cats and cows and chickens and such. She also has a line of books that come with CDs of amazing music that she wrote as well. The songs are performed by many big name acts and each one is a rocking good time.

So far we only have Dog Train but I am really excited to get a bunch more. Dog Train is subtitled ‘A Wild Ride on th Rock-And-Roll Side’. That subtitle isn’t a lie, this cd rocks. Here is the lineup of performers:

Allison Krause – Evermore
The Bacon Brothers & Mickey Hart – Pots & Pans
Billy J. Kramer – Cow Planet, Cow Planet Episodes 2 & 3
Blues Traveler – Dog Train
Doshie Luther – Wave Bye-Bye
Hootie & The Blowfish – Rock To Sleep
John Ondrasik of Five For Fighting – Penguin Lament
Kate Winslet & “Weird Al” Yankovic – I Need A Nap
Mark Lanegan – Sneakers
The O.K. Chorale – Thus Quacked Zarathustra
The Phenomenauts – (Don’t Give ME That) Broccoli
Rob Hyman & Eric Bazilian – Dragonfire
Spin Doctors – Tantrum
Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme – Boring Song

Each song is fun and witty. The Dog Train, Pots and Pans and I Need A Nap are some of my favorites. I put on the CD and stand Eva up on my lap and we dance. Then I pick her up and dance around the room. She giggles and squeals in a delighted way as I stumble, mumble and fumble over the words.

The book itself is cute, it had Sandra Boynton’s distinct and accessible style of cartoons. Part one of the book is called Look as you Listen. The pages of this section have some lyrics to each song as well as artwork depicting the fun things happening in the songs. You can get the first couple of lines of the song and start singing. If you really want to sing along then Part 2 is for you. Part Two is called Sing and Play Along. In this section all of the lyrics to the song are presented as well as some sheet music for the chorus of each song. And then in Part Three there is a section about the Artists on the CD. There is a mini bio and some photos of each artist and a label showing what song they performed. Also at the very back of the book you can cut out a paper CD insert if you want to display your CD on the mantel.

This book and CD is great for all ages because the songs are catchy and the musicians are great. The book itself was part of a promotion through Kohl’s Cares for Kids and it only cost $5.00. This was an absolute bargain. Unfortunately it is not being sold at Kohls anymore. Dr. Seuss books are there along with Dr. Seuss stuffed animals.

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Copyright (c) 2010 Read To Me, Dad

Review: Dog Train

I have been a fan of Ellis Paul for many years now. He recently released a children’s album titled The Dragonfly Races. When Allison was pregnant with Eva we saw Ellis perform and we learned about the upcoming CD. We vowed that this would be Eva’s first CD, however she came first and we received a bunch of CD’s for her before we got this one. But this is the first that we bought her.

Ellis Paul is one of the premiere folk singer/songwriters out there today. His music is moving and powerful and invokes amazing imagery. On this album he is joined by many other talented singer/songwriters and even a few kids. We absolutely love the album and I can in no way do it the justice it deserves so I invite you to visit Ellis Paul’s website for a full description of the CD and the songs contained on it as well as to Ellis’ MySpace page and the MySpace page for The Dragonfly Races. If you like what you hear you can purchase the album from CD freedom or on iTunes.

And because I like Ellis Paul so much (he’s always been awesome with us whenever we’ve seen him) I am going to gift 5 copies of the title song The Dragonfly Races through iTunes to the first 5 people who can answer the three questions below. They need to be sent to my e-mail please do not post the answers on this blog post.

However you must visit Ellis’ MySpace, his website and the myspace for The Dragonfly Races and answer these three questions. Leave a comment on the post letting me know you want the song and then send me the answers to my e-mail address (don’t put the answers in the comments or you will be disqualified.) at abennett 96 @ g mail dot com.

Question #1. Who sings with Ellis on the song Abiola?
Question #2. Who sings with Ellis on the song Road Trip?
Question #3. What Ellis song mentions “armadillos“?
And for the heck of it let me know which song on any Ellis CD is your favorite.

Allison and Me with Ellis Paul

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Copyright (c) 2010 Read To Me, Dad

CD – Ellis Paul’s The Dragonfly Races