MotherTalk Blog Tour: That Baby DVD/CD

When MotherTalk sent out a call for reviewers for That Baby DVD and That Baby CD, I wrote back about a nanosecond later. I have two children in the target age range and a husband who's a musician -- how could I not sign up?

The DVD arrived and we popped in in the player, and I have to confess I wasn't as thrilled as I wanted to be. I think the whole random-video-footage-to-music thing just really isn't my thing, no matter how well done. So I watched the DVD, and I appreciated all the time and effort that went into making it, and I thought about how someone else might really get a kick out of it. But it's just not my sort of thing.

However. The music? Fabulous. Absolutely fabulous. Most of the covers on the DVD are done by Stephanie Schneiderman, with others done by various Portland artists. Oh my gosh, they are wonderful. So I was pretty excited to pop in the CD once the DVD was done, and discover three extra tracks on the CD that aren't on the DVD. We've been listening to the CD ever since...and yes, I'll admit it, I even listened to it when my children weren't around!

The song list is as follows; the last three are only on the CD:

Happiness Runs (Donovan Lietch)
Circle Game (Joni Mitchell)
Sunday Sun (Neil Diamond)
When We Grow Up (Free To Be...You and Me)
Pony Boy (Bruce Springsteen)
Brass In Pocket (The Pretenders)
Get Together (The Youngbloods)
Garden Song/Inch By Inch (Peter, Paul, and Mary)
Anything Is Possible (Jonny Lang)
Songbird (Fleetwood Mac)
These Are Days (10,000 Maniacs)
Three Little Birds (Bob Marley)
I Will (The Beatles)
St. Judy’s Comet (Paul Simon)

I was just delighted to see St. Judy's Comet on the song list, as this song is a favorite of mine, although I sing it with slightly different words: "Won't you run come see St. Judy's comet roll across the skies, and leave a trail of goldfish in its wake?" Perhaps I should suggest my version for the next edition of That Baby CD.

I was also tickled to see When We Grow Up (Free To Be...You and Me) because one of our Mama, PhD contributors, Megan Pincus Kajitani, writes about Free To Be...You and Me in her Mama, PhD essay. Incidentally, Megan's advice column for the Mama, PhD blog over on InsideHigherEd debuts today...which somehow makes me think I should suggest covering It's a Small World for the next That Baby project!

My daughter loves Garden Song and has a whole choreography worked out to it now, complete with a narration of what exactly she's planting (usually tomatoes, thanks to Oswald) and every time Pony Boy plays, my son stops whatever he is doing and goes and does this little bouncy-boppy dance that is just too cute for words.

All in all, a great CD. And I think a great DVD, too, just as I said -- not really my thing. The folks who made That Baby DVD have also done a wonderful job with their website; you can read all about the project, watch a clip, download stuff, you name it. Well worth a visit!

And for anyone interested in ordering That Baby DVD, or That Baby CD, or -- even better! -- both together, if you enter the coupon code "MotherTalk" when purchasing from the website, you'll save 20% on your entire order! Also, from now until May 18th, all orders using the coupon code "MotherTalk" will be entered in a drawing to win a new iPod nano.

Cool, huh? Check it out -- and if you get the DVD, get the CD too, really. It's worth the price just to hear St. Judy's Comet.