Affectionately known as “The Grateful Dead for kids,” Ben Rudnick & Friends have hit the mark with their soon-to-be-released CD Live in Lexington: Under the Copper Beech. As a bit of a closet dead head myself, I love the sound of these guys (and my kids did too, but whatever.) These are some mega-musically-talented dudes, and their style is really their own. It’s a fabulous addition to your kiddie music collection for sure.

The CD will be released on August 30th and you’ll find it at our affiliate, Amazon.

Win it! Win a copy of this CD! Just comment here before noon mst on August 25, 2011 to enter!

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I have another new-to-me treasure to share with you.

In The Nick of Time (by Nick Deysher) is about to release the new CD “Making Silly Faces.” Geared toward kids aged 2-8, Making Silly Faces is an eclectic mix of fabulous creations like my son’s fave “Pirates Never Say Please,” my daughter’s fave “The Sun Is Up (And So Am I) and mine “You’ve Got To Have Patience.” You know your kids will love this one, because Nick is a preschool music specialst 5 days a week, and an after school music teacher too. Suddenly I feel the need to take music lessons!

Check it out at In The Nick of Time Music.

Win it! Win a copy of this CD! Just comment here before noon mst on August 25, 2011 to enter!

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In just four days, Sing Along!, the new CD by Caspar Babypants, will be released. It’s as fantastic as his previous CDs and follows the same modus operandi – keep it simple, silly! Old favourites like Ring Around the Rosie and Ba Ba Black Sheep get a new twist, and many amazing guests artists that we have grown to love join Caspar to help out. Weird Al? Got him. Frances England? Yep. Eclectic, much? It’s pretty awesome.

Caspar says he makes music “to help families sing together and relax and open up and endure stressful times with humor and grace.” That, he does.

Pick it up on August 16th at our affiliate, Amazon.

Win it! Win a copy of this CD! Just comment here before noon mst on August 25, 2011 to enter!

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I haven’t hear any of the previous tunes from the “Celebrate Earth” series, but this one is as unique as they come. I had no idea what to expect when I popped “Wild Child” into the stereo, but I didn’t expect what came booming out. It opens with ‘Earth Lullaby,’ a very calming piece with earthy undertones (well, duh). It brought my family to the living room from all around the house with it’s soothing beats, and they stayed for an African dance party for the next 13 tracks. It gave us a jumping off point for a great discussion about African animals and the at-risk environments in Africa and around the world. If ever a CD screamed African culture, this was it.

Check out Recess Music for this CD and more.

Win it! Win a copy of this CD! Just comment here before noon mst on August 25, 2011 to enter!

Multiple entries are available for every TOP giveaway!

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I’m a new Ted Jacobs fan, and a big one at that. He uses his tender voice to turn some of the world’s most beloved poetry into beautiful acoustic songs. Available at House At The Corner, Back to the Garden is a showcase of Ted Jacobs’ talent featuring some very cool pipes, the pennywhistle, accordion, and dulcimer among others. It’s a CD that I find hard to describe, but you won’t be sorry if you pick this one up. It would make a great baby gift with his soft Cat-Stevens-like voice that the parents will love, too.

Win it! Win a copy of this CD! Just comment here before noon mst on August 25, 2011 to enter!

Multiple entries are available for every TOP giveaway!

1. Readers get one entry for commenting or emailing their answer to the question posed in the post.

2. Blog about the contest using one of the top three images found here. Leave a comment with the direct link to your post (not to your main page, and in a separate comment from your other entry).

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Spark Story Starters are the newest addition to our car trips and family meal times, and we absolutely love them! Spark Your Imagination is a family-run, Canadian venture and Tamara Vukusic and her husband and two little boys came up with this deck of open-ended questions together to get them all talking and thinking outside the box.

We started reading the questions on the way home from the mailbox and the kids could hardly wait to get inside and read some more. When my husband came in and started listening to the conversations we were having, he was enthralled. Once we heard what came out of them, we sincerely regretted not videotaping their answers. Thankfully, the deck of story starters is here to stay and their answers are sure to get even more creative now that they know what kinds of wonderful things they get to imagine when we break out the cards.

I especially love that many of the cards get kids solving problems creatively so in addition to talking to me they’re stretching their brains and really thinking outside the box. Imagine asking your child how they’re going to sneak their new pet dragon into school. Just imagine the stories you’ll get – the different types of dragons, the creative names, the methods of actually getting their giant beast into the classroom – it’s amazing!

Spark Story Starters are available online from LearningToys.ca for $11.99, and there’s now an app version of Story Starters that’s exactly the same as the cards for iPhone ($1), iPad ($2) and Android ($2) – I can’t wait to check those out!

Win it! Spark Your Imagination is giving away 3 decks of cards, 3 iPhone apps and 3 iPad apps. To enter, simply comment below before noon mst on August 15, 2011. If you can think of a Canadian retailer that might be a good fit to carry Spark Story Starters, please share that in your comment. There are so many wonderful little neighborhood toy, gift and book stores in Canada that are hard to track down and Tamara would love your input! Let us know in your comment if you’d like cards, an app for your iPhone or iPad, or all three. Random.org will do the work and we’ll make sure you get something you can actually use if you’re selected.

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