Let's Sing and Play by Emily Bolam

Let's Sing and Play by Emily Bolam
Buy Let's Sing and Play by Emily Bolam at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Children's Rhymes and Verse
Reviewer: Sam Tyler
Summary: Monkey and Mo are two musical monkeys who want to take you on a journey that includes 22 all new songs. Join them in this catchy hardback book that will recreate rhyme time in your own front room.
Buy? Maybe	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 10	Date: July 2016
Publisher: Campbell Books
ISBN: 9781447286974
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Monkeys are vocal animals and if you walk through the jungle you may hear them scream. Perhaps they have just slid down an elephant's trunk or maybe they are just attempting to sing? Having a child means that you will start to hear the same rhymes over and over again, so if it takes a few cheeky monkeys to teach us a few new ones, I am happy with that. Just don't let them jump on top of my car at the Safari Park.

Monkey and Mo are a couple of happy monkeys who want to take you on an adventure through a typical day. For most primates this may include eating, sleeping and picking fleas off one another, but these are magical monkeys versed in song. Pop in the accompanying CD and work your way through the 22 ditties as Monkey and Mo get up to some musical mischief.

There is something to be said about the staple diet of nursery rhymes that your baby will learn. They hear them at home, at nursery and with relatives. Everyone from 9 months to 90 years knows the likes of If you are happy and you know it or Row, Row, Row Your Boat, but they do get a little samey. However, it takes guts to forgo these well-known songs and produce a book all of your own verse, therefore Emily Bolam should be proud of the work she has done with Let's Sing and Play, as these are all new songs.

The books works in tandem between the written word and the CD. It is almost a War of the Worlds style Prog Rock album as the story is narrated on the CD and then launches into a series of songs. The book itself reflects what is happening on the CD i.e. an animal band or a goodnight song. The singer has a pleasant voice and she is easy to follow. As these are all new songs it takes a little while for you to learn them, but the overall standard is very high as they encourage wordplay or actions like all the classics that you know.

You as the reader get a sense of adventure yourself as you start the book as you don't know what the song is going to be like, but we were soon singing along with the words. Once you have listened to the CD a few times you can discard it if you wish as you will know the tunes, but the music does really add to the whole experience of the book.

Format wise this is a nice book. It comes on sturdy card and each page has some fun illustrations depicting what is happening during the narrated story and also gives you the lines. Space is at a premium, so Bolam has sometimes simply put repeat again for the different lines. At times you don't actually know what is happening next, so you stumble over your lines.

Let's Sing and Play the book and the CD have a symbiotic relationship – one without the other is just not as good. In fact, it is probably the CD and not the book that stands on its own. You need the music to understand what the tune is. The freshness to the package is both its blessing and its curse; you finally get some new songs to learn, but can you get your child to listen long enough? Thankfully, the songs are catchy enough that you will want to play it on occasion and it makes a fun game on a wet day.

Packing a children's book with accompanying CD is not new Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow, Lenny Lipton and Eric Puybaret did it, whilst neither are musical monkeys/apes; but Mr Big by Ed Vere is!

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You can read more book reviews or buy Let's Sing and Play by Emily Bolam at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Let's Sing and Play by Emily Bolam at Amazon.com.

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