A Child's Celebration of the World

Fine, but not as good as others in the series.

Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Children's Music Label: Music for Little People Parental Advisory: No Edited Version Available: No Release Date: 05/05/1998

Common Sense Note

This album includes some marvelous songs, as well as a few most grown-ups will not want to hear.

On the positive side, Sweet Honey In The Rock helps us learn how to count in French and Swahili, while the Chenille Sisters present silly phrases ("My sister needs a diaper change") in German and Japanese.

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Cynthea Riesenberg

Talent aplenty is amassed for this international entry in the A Child's Celebration of series, but the resulting compilation is an uneven mix of the wondrous, the mediocre, and the downright annoying.

Raffi has never sounded sweeter than he does in "Like Me and You," a charming melody naming children from around the world ("Janet lives in England, Pierre lives in France") and explaining how they are "a lot like me and you." Other highlights include Joan Baez's soaring soprano, which meshes beautifully with simple guitar chords on "Kumbaya," and the magnificent Miriam Makeba leading the rollicking party tune "Pata Pata."

But Maria Muldaur's "Fala Nina, Fala Nana" sounds gravelly rather than musical, and listeners older than eight groaned at the Chenille Sisters' silly humor in "On a Vacation" and begged for the song to be turned off.

Better entries in this series are A Child's Celebration of Rock 'n' Roll and A Child's Celebration of Song 2.

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