SOUNDTRACK: OUT WITH THIS KIDS MUSIC MONTHLY PODCAST (2012).
I am bummed to have literally just discovered this cool podcast. Each month Out with the Kids plays some ten songs that are kid-friendly. They’re not all “kids songs” but they are kid friendly. And it’s a fun way to learn about new music that kids may like.
The blog was started by Jeff Bogle, and he does proper DJ intros and outros (fortunately no “Morning Zoo zaniness”). The songs are often connected thematically, and he plays a diverse collection of music (for his October podcast, I’d heard of none of the artists before, which is great if all of your kids music awareness comes via Dan Zanes and They Might Be Giants (nothing nothing nothing wrong with them, I love them both) or, heaven forbid Kidz Bop.
So, check him out, and subscribe via iTunes. What have you got to lose?
I wasn’t all that excited to continue this series. I liked some of the things in the first books, but I was on the fence about whether to continue. But Clark enjoyed the series, so I figured I’d continue (but hopefully not do all 72 books). Well, I was pleasantly surprised by this next series. Although the formula is still in place, Adam Blade played around with the ideas a little bit and made them much more interesting. Rather than having to rescue beasts who were turned evil, this time, Tom, the 12 (!) year old hero, must go in search of pieces of the golden armor.
But a step back first. After competing the first 6 quests, Wizard Aduro shows Tom and Elenna the beautiful golden armor that resides in a special room in King Hugo’s castle. But when they get there they discovered that the armor has been stolen (in the prologue we see how the armor was stolen and we know it was Malvel’s doing). As Book 7 takes off we learn of Tom’s new quest–to find all of the stolen pieces of the armor which are now being guarded by beasts that Malvel has created. It was kind of fun wondering what the six pieces of armor would be. They turn out to be a helmet, chain mail, a breast plate, leg armor, boots and gloves and each one gives Tom a special power. (more…)