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Dancing music
Music for the road
Multicultural holiday music
Blast into the past
Top 10 storytelling tapes
Toddler favorites (ages 2-3)
Play House staff favorite audio
 
Amelia's book list
Elizabeth's book list
Jeremy's rhyme and poem collection
 
 
 
Dancing music
Jukebox Party Songs
by the ReBops. You can't not dance!
 
Shakin' a Tailfeather
with Taj Mahal
 
A Child's Celebration of Dance Music
Movin' and groovin' to special sounds of the 50s, 60s, and 70s.
 
Wild Thing
by Sugar Beats. Fresh and funky retro pop for kids and parents.
 
Fidgety Feet
featuring Steve Rashid and the Woodside Avenue All Stars.
 
Dancing Magic
by Joanie Bartels. Dance to the Hokey Pokey and The Locomotion.
 
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Music for the road
Giants
by Jim Weiss; or any of the two dozen story tapes by this extraordinary artist. Come in for an age-appropriate recommendation.
 
Traffic Jams
by Joe Scruggs
 
15th Anniversary Collection
by Music for Little People
 
It's a Wonderful Life
by Jessica Harper
 
Billboard Family Travel Classics
 
A Child's Celebration of Rock and Roll
 
Beethoven Lives Upstairs
from Classical Child; One of a half dozen story/music tapes. Other composers featured are Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Bach and Vivaldi.
 
The Floppy Sleep Game
by Patti Teel; Don't attempt to listen to this relaxation music while driving. It uses yoga techniques and soothing music to make bedtime into sleep time. Great in a hotel room for the whole family! Child care facilities swear by this nationally acclaimed tape.
 
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Multicultural holiday music
Classical Kids Christmas
by Classical Kids
 
Let's Celebrate Kwanzaa Sing-Along
by Peter Pan Classics
 
A Sugar Beats Christmas
by Sugar Beats
 
Not a Traditional Christmas
by Jessica Harper
 
Jewish Holiday Stories: Chanukah, Purim, Passover
by Jim Weiss
 
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
by Burl Ives
 
Holiday Songs for All Occasions
by Jill Gallina
 
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Blast into the past
Little White Duck
by Burl Ives
 
Free to Be You and Me
by Marlo Thomas
 
A Child's Celebration of Song
 
Peter, Paul and Mommy
by Peter, Paul and Mary
 
Return to Pooh Corner
by Kenny Loggins
 
Family Lullaby Classics
by Billboard
 
A Child's Celebration of Rock and Roll
 
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Top 10 storytelling tapes

Ages 3-5
  • Tales Around the Hearth , by by Heather Forest
     
  • Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks , by by Rabbit Ears
     
  • Fairytale Favorites in Story and Song , by by Jim Weiss
     
  • Adventures of Little Proto , by by Odds Bodkin

Ages 5-7
  • She and He Adventures in Mythology , by by Jim Weiss
     
  • Animal Tales , by by Jim Weiss

Ages 7+
  • From the Back of the Bus , by by Bill Harley
     
  • Mostly Ghostly Stories , by by David Holt
     
  • King Arthur and His Knights , by by Jim Weiss
     
  • The Green Hand , by by Joel Ben Izzy
     
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Toddler favorites
Nora's Room
by Jessica Harper
 
Fairytale Favorites in Story and Song
by Jim Weiss
 
The Best of Burl for Boys and Girls
by Burl Ives
 
The One and Only Me
by Lisa Atkinson
 
Funny Fifties and Silly Sixties
by The Re-Bops
 
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Play House staff favorite audio
Fidgety Feet
 
Baby Beluga
by Raffi
 
A Child's Celebration of Song
 
21 Really Cool Songs
by Sugar Beats
 
I Got a Bullfrog
by David Holt
 
Lullaby: A Collection
 
It's a Wonderful Life
by Jessica Harper
 
A Child's Gift of Lullabies
 
A Child's Celebration of Rock and Roll
 
Any Jim Weiss story tape
They are all wonderful.
 
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Amelia's book list

My daughter Amelia is a book fanatic and is very vocal about which books I need to have in the store. She tends toward books in a series because she can get to know the characters.
 
Here is her wish list for what are "must haves":
The Royal Diary series
Cleopatra, Elizabeth, and Mary Queen of Scots come alive in their own words. These historical royals and others share their lives and innermost thoughts in diary form in these exciting historical fictions.
 
The Boxcar Children series
There are over ninety books in this fictional series about four orphaned children and their adventures.
 
Anything by Roald Dahl
The BFG, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr. Fox to name a few. These family favorites are rip-roaringly funny. This guy has a way with the English language.
 
Little House on the Prairie series
Classic, historical, and fun to read aloud to younger children. Brings back wonderful memories.
 
The Time Warp Trio series
Three friends travel through time on adventures. With intriguing names such as Knights of the Kitchen Table, Its all Greek to Me, and Tut, Tut. These are great for boys and girls.
 
Encyclopedia Brown series
Encyclopedia is a kid detective who is always finding himself in the middle of some mystery to solve. Using your brain and some well placed clues along the way, you can reach the same solutions to the puzzle as Encyclopedia. Answers are in the back.
 
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Elizabeth's book list

My daughter Elizabeth has just started reading chapter books. She is a late-blooming reader, and I have struggled to find books that she wants to read aloud to me. Her preferred method of reading is on my lap with me doing all the talking!
 
A few series we have hit on that she loves to read aloud and to herself are:
The Little Bear books
by Else Holmelund Minarik
 
The Frog and Toad books
by Arnold Lobel
 
George and Martha
by James Marshall
 
Babar series
by Jean de Brunhoff
 
The Little House Books for early readers
adapted from the Laura Ingles Wilder series
 
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Jeremy's rhyme and poem collection

As a lover of music and poetry, my husband, Jeremy, was thrilled when we had children. From the time they were little babies, he has read books of rhymes and children's poetry to them. The kids and I always enjoy listening to his deep voice make the words sing to us.
 
I've compiled a list of our favorites. I have checked, and all of these are still in publication or have been republished under the titles given. Email me if you have any questions at pam@playhousetoys.com.
When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six
by A.A. Milne
 
Owls and Pussy-cats Nonsense Verse
by Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll
 
The Baby's Lap Book
by Kay Chorao
 
The Arnold Lobel Book of Mother Goose
by Arnold Lobel
 
You Read to Me, I'll Read to You:
Very Short Stories to Read Together
by Mary Ann Hoberman
 
Where the Sidewalk Ends
by Shel Silverstein
 
A Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson
 
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  & Copyright 1999-2007 by The Play House Toy Store.
All rights reserved.
 
Send comments about this web page
to Pam Crigler at pam@playhousetoys.com
 
http://www.playhousetoys.com/audio.html
Date of last update: May 5, 2007