As a mother of a rough & tumble boy, anything with ‘princess’ on the cover is generally passed by. However, I’m so glad I didn’t pass by the opportunity to review the new CD Songs for the Coolest Kids by Princess Katie & Racer Steve.

Whether you have boys or girls or some of each, this CD rocks. It’s not just the sound of the tunes. (Don’t get me wrong – the tunes are great.) It’s the way they mix music kids dig with extremely necessary life lessons. Tell Them How You Feel, for example, is a whole song about feelings and talking it out to feel better, and Sid the Bully is about a boy who bullies others because he felt left out and needed someone to be his friend and show him love. As a teacher, it kind of choked me up. Embarrassing to admit, but it happened. Want to know what else is embarrassing? Walking through the grocery store all alone only to realize I’m singing “This ball belongs to…Manuel Rodriguez…” When a song sticks in my head like that, you know it’s good!

Princess Katie and Racer Steve (a Manhattan-based married couple, otherwise known as Katie O’Sullivan and Steve Borne) spend a great deal of time, when not writing and recording songs, visiting and performing for sick kids in hospitals and at events for abused, neglected, abandoned and at-risk children. They do this simply out of love for the children, often traveling considerable distances and bringing a full band. These are the type of people that all opinionated parents love to support. Great CD, great people. It’s all good.

Want to win a copy of this great CD? To enter, email theopinionatedparent@gmail.com with Princess K & Racer S in the subject line and the correct answer to the question “What is Racer Steve’s favorite food?” (Hint: Meet the band to find out!) Contest closes at midnight MST on 4/26/07. Congratulations Lee!