This recording has an upbeat bluegrass influence with six original tunes and four classic songs. Phil Rosenthal and his family play the banjo, mandolin, guitar, bass, dobro, penny whistle, fiddle, and various percussion instruments. This album is a Winner of the Parent's Choice Gold Award and National Parenting Publications' Gold Award.

The animal theme throughout the CD is a fun and always a popular theme for children. "In The Jungle" names many animals that your little one will start recognizing from their books, such as a cheetah, leopard, tiger, calf, giraffe, snake, elephant, and a lion. Hearing these words that they recognize will help stoke their imagination for the story that the song is telling. Some of the songs are simply telling a story to the beat of the music and are not repeating versus or choruses, such as the "The Mouse" and "The Little White Duck". All of the songs except "Go to Sleep" (a bluegrass lullaby) are lively and performed in a way to get listeners at least tapping their toes - if not full out dancing. The songs have short solos for the different instruments, which is a great way for your child to begin hearing the different sounds, volumes, and pitches. "The Song of the Whales" not only has a great message about the importance of whales; and it ends with the unique sounds of real whale calls.

There is plenty of interactive fun to be had in Animal Sounds for listeners of any age. "The Animal Dance" calls out dancing directions, "Grab your partner, way you go. Listen to the old banjo. Move your feet to the beat, as over the ground you dance." The fiddle really makes you want to dance! The song can easily evoke a child's imagination as it describes the different animals dancing; "Porcupine has prickly fir and no one wants to dance with her, the weasel laughs and the kittens purr, and everyone's having fun." In "The Fox" the letter 'O' is added to the end of many words to help it rhyme in the song. Your child may start doing this on their own, whether it's to their own name, you become 'mommy-o', or they want a 'snack-o'! "The Little White Duck" provides for a giggling good time with animals sounds, quack, glug, buzz, and sssss. The simple tunes and often repeating choruses encourage kids to jump right on in and be a part of each song.

My two-year-old friend Kyle had not heard this CD before I played it during one of our play dates. He sat on the couch and nodding his head to the beat. After awhile he closed his eyes and started humming along with the tune (while still nodding). I could tell he was really feeling the music, so I let him be until he opened his eyes again. He had a big smile on his face - I could tell he’d been lost in his imagination.

--Audra