Charlie Hope: I'm Me! A collection of songs for children

What a cool name. I mean, really. Charlie Hope.

I was luckily the recipient of a new CD from Charlie Hope, called I'm Me! A collection of songs for children. Oh, and it's so sweet. This is a lovely, folky CD with a plenty of catchy, funny and poignant songs for kids.

This is a perfect morning CD, when you are up early with a little one, not quite ready for something loud and too bouncy, or a deep voice. Charlie's CD is now right next to Elizabeth Mitchell's Little Bird in my book, both lyrical and sweet for the child and grown up-- and perfect with strong coffee to get up to speed with your energetic toddler (where do they get that energy in the morning?) I loathe comparisons, but it also reminded me of a children's version of the 10,000 maniacs.

The opening track is good fun right away, with animal sounds that your child will want to repeat and join in. And it's message about being who you are is perfect. In fact, the whole CD is participatory and empowering in its message. Truly.

For those having another baby, the lovely New Baby song shares the joys of being a big brother or sister. I found myself singing this song while at school teaching and then thinking: yikes! My students might think I'm pregnant (I'm so totally not). The song is just THAT catchy. My little girls love saying, "Wait, wait, wait, frogs don't eat edamame!" in the frog song, and all the other wrong food items, too. I adore the ode to naps, called Naptime, since neither of my little people take one anymore (heavy sigh). Zoom, Zoom, Train Song, and Fire Truck invite dancing and singing without being loud and crazy. My girls love these songs.

This is a beautiful CD for children and obnoxious children's music weary parents. Charlie's CD also is labeled with "Made with certified green components" printed with vegetable inks, and the package is made with 100 green practices board with a minimum of 10 percent recycled content. Righteous!

You can listen to the whole CD here, and buy it at our good friend Craftsbury Kids.

AND- I've got one to giveaway. Just leave a comment below by Novemeber 5th, and add your email address (of the spam free variety: at for @, dot for .). Extra entries (and hoorays!) for tweets, links on FB, follows on Twitter, linking on websites and blogs.