The Bach & Beethoven Lovin' Bib & Burp Set

SunnyChanel — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 18:12:00 GMT

If you are one of those “must play classical music at all times for my baby” type parents, well Bach and Beethoven lovin’ mommies and daddies, have we got the Bib and Burp set for you. My Retro Baby offers up the Classis Composers Bib & Burp Cloth Gift Set ($32). The set is 100% cotton and the bib is chenille backed for some cozy meal time fun. If this is music to your ears, you can get yours here.

The Babble Review: Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake DVD

Chris Ford — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:15:00 GMT

Taking a break from the (sometimes) mind-numbing confines of Nick Jr. and Noggin can be a good thing, and if you've got a little girl who is deep in the throws of princess mania, you might want to check this out. Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake is a DVD aimed squarely at these little girls, and does something that I wasn't expecting. It doesn't try to teach ballet, nor does it present a professional performance of Swan Lake without explaining what is going on. What it does do quite well is convey the beauty and fun of ballet (and the classical music it is based on) without boring the kids watching it.

The forty minute program is broken down into two alternating parts - one that shows the individual acts of Swan Lake as performed by the Paris Opera Ballet, and then another that shows young girls (and one boy) performing the individual ballet steps. During the Swan Lake segments there is a voice-over explaining what is happening in terms of the story, which not only makes it easy for kids to understand, but also for those of us who don't make it to the ballet as often as we should. The other segments feature children from the School of American Ballet showing the ballet positions and other steps, as well as what those steps are based on.

My four year old daughter seemed to really enjoy the entire program, and even asked me to play it again after it was over. For her it's hard to miss with a princess story and video of young kids doing ballet. My two year old daughter was mildly interested, though it really wasn't the sort of program designed to keep the attention of someone her age. From my perspective, the voice-over (the voice of "Prima Princessa" herself) was a little annoying after a while and the overall production quality still has that "indie video" feel, but having a kids DVD where the soundtrack was entirely made up of classical music was a really nice change of pace.

Overall, I think if you've got a daughter or young girl in your life aged 3 or above who you suspect would probably enjoy something like this, it's a safe bet that she will. At the very least it's worth checking out a clip on the web site.

Check out Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake at PrimaPrncessa.com or buy it for $19.99 from Amazon.com.

droolicious : classical music

The Bach & Beethoven Lovin' Bib & Burp Set

The Babble Review: Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake DVD