Turn On The Music
Hap Palmer's aesthetic is a strongly educational one. That said, he rarely is dogmatic. Instead, he makes a strong case for the physical enactment of songs--that is, the involvement of kids through games and sing-alongs.Turn on the Musicbegan as a video of the same name and here lives on quite successfully as a series of 21 songs that pivot on the funniness of reversed meanings ("Backwards Land"), unconditional acceptance of other kids ("Francie Had a Football"), and workaday thrills around the house ("Helping Mommy in the Kitchen"). In the accompanying liner booklet there's a great map of the CD and suggested activities, with rules of games and ideas for extending the educational mission of the songs well beyond the CD. Palmer's got an ingenious idea for educating kids, and it shows here as well as anywhere in his catalog of releases.--Andrew Bartlett