The Fairytale Collection -- review and giveaway

It's a fact that kids like to watch and listen to other kids. Think of the live video footage on Sesame Street, Yo Gabba Gabba, The Wiggles, Barney, and other shows. And it's also a fact that parents don't like it nearly as much as their kids. Take Kidz Bop and other cd's where little kids sing nursery rhymes. I know my kids like it, so I'm happy to play it for them, but I can totally understand why some parents groan when their kids ask for those kinds of cd's: the kids' voices are charming, but they're often out of tune, with no variation in tone or volume as the song goes on. When I was invited to review The Fairytale Collection: Classic Favorites with Unexpected Twists by The 6Pence Players, I could almost compose the review in my mind: the kids loved it, it's a great way to keep them enthralled in the car without resorting to a DVD, but parents might want to turn the sound balance all the way to the back. With apologies to the 6Pence Players, I was dead wrong!

The Basics
The Fairytale Collection: Classic Favorites with Unexpected Twists contains five classic fairytales -- The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Cinderella and Friends, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolves, and The Princess and The Pea -- read aloud by children ages 5 through 17. As the title implies, the stories are given modern tweaks here and there, and the dialogue is peppered with modern language.

The Bongga
This cd far exceeded my expectations! I expected the kids to like it, but I didn't think that The Pea, at the ripe old age of eight, would enjoy it as much as she did. And I didn't think I'd like as much as I did. Come on, it's the Three Little Pigs, for Pete's sake! But they made it fresh and funny and a delight to listen to. Here are three reasons why:

The storylines have subtle changes and twists that keep these old classics fresh and funny. For example, the princess in The Princess and the Pea counts flamingoes and bears and turtles to help her get to sleep on her "lumpy" old bed. And one of the tailors in The Emperor's New Clothes has asthma and needs to know whether they get medical insurance. And the 3 Little Pigs have 3 wolves, not 1, and these wolves don't rely on their lungs to blow the pigs' houses down -- they use mini fans and hairdryers (The Pea was in stitches over that one)!

* The dialogue is witty and real. (The princess in The Princess and the Pea tells everyone it's raining pheasants and dragons, and when one of the pigs tells the wolf, "Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin, the wolf snorts, "What's THAT supposed to mean?". That got a good laugh too). It's also modern, with common phrases like "weird" and "freaks me out", so kids can relate.

* The voice talents are really, really gooooooood. It's hard to believe they're all between the ages of 5 and 17!


The Blah
I can't think of anything I don't like about this cd, other than it the fact that it's not readily available. Currently parents can only purchase the cd online at their website, and at select retail stores in North Carolina and Georgia. It will soon be available on iTunes and CDBaby to download, which should make it easier for everyone to purchase and enjoy the cd.

The Bottom Line
This is one cd that won't leave parents groaning inwardly when their kids, want to listen to it. I heartily recommend it!

Win It!
One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a copy of The Fairytale Collection cd. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post and tell me your favorite fairytale.

For extra entries, you can do any or all of the following, (you can only do each entra entry once; please leave a separate comment for each extra entry):

1) Grab my blog button and post it up on your blog (leave a comment here with your blog URL).

2) Fave Bonggamom Finds on Technorati (leave a comment with your Technorati id).

3) Tweet this giveaway (leave a comment with a link to your tweet). Here is a sample tweet you can copy and paste:

Win a Fairytale Collection cd from @bonggafinds http://tinyurl.com/y9uv2jx

Maximum of 4 entries per person. This giveaway ends at midnight PST on December 14, 2009; I will draw a winner at random and post the winner's name on the comments section as soon as the winner confirms acceptance. For additional giveaway rules, click here. Good luck!

I received a sample in order to review this product, but no monetary compensation. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.