CD Review + Giveaway: La Bella Stella

Major Tom to Ground Control, do we love this CD? Tell you what. I’ve been looking for La Bella Stella for a few days in my office, to write this review. I couldn’t find it anywhere – it’s not the mess, believe me, I searched high and low. It just wasn’t there. I finally found the La Bella Stella CD hidden in my girls’ room. They had stolen it from me to listen to it when their lights were out at bedtime. Sneaky kids! So yes, this CD is pretty high on our listening list and it’s been so since I received to review it last month.

REVIEW

Just in time for Earth Day 2012, La Bella Stella is a compilation of songs going beyond the Earth to celebrate the night sky, galaxies, solar systems and other wonders of our universe in 15 tracks covering 41 minutes. In line with Music Recess’ other CDs celebrating the Earth, this one features beloved children’s music composers such as Charity and the JamBand, the Banana Slug String Band, Rocknoceros or Mary Kaye.

While I can see this CD being a big hit from preschool through 2nd grade, the science facts and the laid back vibe will keep it relevant and enjoyable for older kids as well. Hey, my girls are 6 and 8 and they stole the CD to make sure it didn’t stay too long on my desk – proves my point. I bet even adults will enjoy listening to it in the car.

Actually, I’ll give you my favorites. After listening to the CD many many times, I do have a handful favorites. I love the lyrical music of Dr. Planet’s Neptune Lullaby, the dreamy feeling on Wayne from Maine’s Man in the Moon, the great country voice of Mary Kaye’s Shadow or the scientifically-spun fun facts of Rocknoceros’ Pluto. The CD concludes on a beautiful a capella So Long To The Day song by Charity Kahn and the JamBand that will send your kids to slumberland with sweet dreams. As for my girls, their favorite song is hands down Maria Alley’s Nature’s Lullaby, an upbeat ode to night sounds with bull frog calls and buzzing mosquitoes that wouldn’t be out of place on a Barefoot Books CD.

If you want to get a taste, you can listen to Wendy Whitten’s Earth Satellite below:

Earth’s Satellite by Wendy Whitten by Recess Music

If you needed more incentive, the Celebrate Earth series strives to help protect and preserve our environment by donating a portion of the proceeds from all the CDs in the series to environmental organizations. Proceeds from La Bella Stella will benefit the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, an air and space science center located in Concord, New Hampshire.

GIVEAWAY

Two lucky Frog Mom readers will receive a copy each of this wonderful CD so they can listen it in loopy-loops in their car (and at night in their bedroom). Here’s how to enter and win:

• Write a comment below and say what YOU like about the starry sky. Your shadow by the full moon? Saturn’s crazy ice rings? Summer shooting stars?
• “Like” the Frog Mom Facebook page. If you already “Like” it, you can encourage your friends to “like”it and ask them to say you sent them.
• Tweet the giveaway and paste your tweet in the comments.

DEADLINE

Drawing held at 8:00 am PST on Monday April 2, 2012. I would have closed it on Sunday April 1st at 11.59pm PST but it sounded like an April Fools’ prank so I gave it an extra 8 hours respite.

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES

For extra entries you must complete the above comment and do any or all of the following:

• Tweet this daily and leave the link in the comments: “@frogmomblog is giving away a La Bella Stella CD from @RecessMusic. Enter to win: https://frogmom.com/?p=3161”
• Follow @frogmomblog on Twitter
• Subscribe to the Frog Mom Newsletter

Happy music my friends!