CD review and giveaway (closed): Caspar Babypants- This is Fun!

Congrats to my winner: Sarah Osborne

As I have delved further and further into the world of kids' music over these last few months, one name kept popping up again and again in recommendations from others. That name is Caspar Babypants.  I finally got to check out the music of Caspar Babypants for myself when I received his newest CD- This is Fun! Here's some information about Caspar Babypants and the CD, from a press release that I received:

Caspar Babypants is  Chris Ballew, lead singer and Grammy®-nominated songwriter for the four-times platinum rock and roll band The Presidents of the United States of America. The 2009 debut Caspar Babypants album HERE I AM! was named the #1 Album of the Year by Warren Truitt on Kids’ Music That Rocks and was also included on the Zooglobble list of “My Favorite Kids’ and Family Albums of 2009.”  Later in 2009 the second Caspar Babypants CD MORE PLEASE!  was chosen among the Best of the Year by Cool Mom Picks,

Chris Ballew as Caspar Babypants is a master storyteller, and the very intelligent, compelling music he creates never gets in the way of the “story line” of the song. THIS IS FUN! is filled with great stories dressed up as songs, providing families with a  wonderful listening experience that’s at once classic and contemporary, drawing as much from traditional American folk and bluegrass tunes and African American spirituals as it does from The Presidents of the United States of America and Nirvana. The album’s twenty songs are straightforward, yet quirky; edgy yet friendly, set in musical styles ranging from the hard-driving shuffle of “Speedy Centipede” to the country stylings of “All You Pretty Babies” and “The Cuckoo” to the sweet goofiness of “Googly Eyes.”  Special guests on THIS IS FUN! include Krist Novoselic from Nirvana playing bass on the Nirvana song “Sliver,” as well as contributions by preeminent children’s musicians Elizabeth Mitchell on the duet “Dark of Night” and Charlie Hope on the timeless folk song “Mister Rabbit.

I've mainly been listening to this album with my 15-month-old daughter, Vivian, and she really likes it a lot.  We have a fairly extensive collection of great kids' music, but most of the CDs are really geared to the 2 and up crowd. Caspar Babypants' music is a little more directed to the 0-5 year old group, with shorter songs that did a nice job of keeping Vivian engaged and rocking along in her chair. I've enjoyed the music as well- the songs are catchy and fun to sing along with. In fact, one of the Chris's goals in making this CD is to make music to help reduce stress in everyday family life and encourage parents and kids to take time to enjoy music together. I think he has met that goal nicely with this CD. If you're looking for a CD to play during play time with your young kids, I highly recommend this one!

Vivian having a lunch time rock-out

This is Fun! will be available for purchase on November 2, 2010 at babypantsmusic.com, amazon.com, cdbaby.com, pokeypup.com, monkeytailandwellington.com, iTunes and at independent retailers in Portland, OR and Seattle. 

Good news! One of you will win a copy of this fun CD before it's available to the general public! Open to US/Canadian mailing addresses. 

Mandatory entry (must be done for extra entries to count):
Just let me know what lucky child will you give this CD to!

Extra entries (please leave a separate comment for each):

1. Publicly follow my blog on Google Friend Connect

2. Subscribe to my blog via email (sign up on the right side of this page)

3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet this: "@gabreviews is giving away a great new @casparbabypants CD! Visit http://bit.ly/aC1424 to enter. #giveaway"

You can tweet once per day, please leave a separate comment each time, with a link to your tweet.

4. Enter any of my other ongoing giveaways. Leave a separate comment for each.

5. "Like" Caspar Babypants on Facebook. 

6. Put my button up on your blog/website. Let me know where to find it!

Giveaway will close at 9 PM Pacific time on October 2, 2010. I'll choose a winner with random.org and will email that person who will have 48 hours to respond. Good luck!

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this CD to review for myself. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions posted here are mine and mine alone.