Reviewed July, 2004 by Debra Ross, publisher, KidsOutAndAbout.com
If you're looking for a unique series of musical toys and gifts that are a delight for all the senses and won't exhaust your wallet, look no further. Do-Re-Me & You provides parents with the tools they need to launch a lifelong appreciation of music in their young children.
Here in the Rochester area, we are lucky enough to have local music educator Barb Bonisteel (who also happens to be my daughter Ella's teacher at Hochstein School of Music & Dance) as a Do-Re-Me & You! consultant. Thanks to Miss Barb's generosity, the Ross kids had a wonderful couple of weeks of playing with many of the Do-Re-Me & You! products.
General Comments
 Both the kids and I found the Do-Re-Me & You! products to be a terrific addition to our playroom. From the parent's perspective, the sets are durable, developmentally appropriate, and hold the child's interest...and almost all of the music is tolerable for parents as well as kids! I was impressed enough with the packages that by the end of our review period, I had already ordered two of the products to be used in the seemingly-neverending string of upcoming birthday parties.
This series was developed by Kindermusik, a respected name in children's music for many years. This is clearly reflected in the quality of the productions. It has seemed to me that with much of kids' music, precision must be difficult to attain: There are always those two or three high notes that are a quarter-step flat. However, that's never the case with this music; the performances are without exception top-notch. Now of course, we critics have to quibble with something, right? So I did sometimes take issue with the orchestrations in this set, as you'll see in some of the specific reviews below.
Almost as important as the quality of the products is, from a mom's perspective, the fact that each set of materials comes in its own sturdy see-through plastic zippered pack, easy for little fingers to assemble when play time is done. I found, to my pleasure, that the Do-Re-Me & You! products reduced, rather than exacerbated, the entropy in our toy closet.
The target audience age for most of the Do-Re-Me & You! products is between 2 and 5 years, but some of the products will see your child through to age 8, and a few of the baby-oriented toys will be great for children as young as a few months old. Sometimes, the accessories in a particular package will be geared to a slightly different age than the books or music, and where this happens, I try to note it in my reviews.
My general criticism is that I wish the Do-Re-Me & You! folks had included more instruction for parents for using these products. A "parents handbook" for each product that gives suggestions and ideas for use would be an excellent addition, and would dramatically increase its value. I count myself as pretty creative, but even I was hard-pressed to come up with what to do with the stuffed animals that would help in a baby's music education. The best product on that dimension is definitely Noodles from Scratch, not least because it also has a song that goes with the book. None of the others has a CD that specifically ties in with the book that is included in most of them, and I found that the fact that Noodles from Scratch (see review below) did just this made the package a fun and integrated learning experience.
To get directly to more information about each product or to make a purchase, click on the title or photo of the product.
The products
Drum Circle is listed on the Do-Re-Me & You web site as being for age 6 and up, but I would actually peg it more for the 3-5 age group.  True, it comes with a cool drum that you can decorate--and a 6-year-old would do this much more creatively than my 3-year-old, but by that time I think that the interest would diminish in the book.
My girls (ages 3 and 4) liked the book; there are nice pictures and a story they could understand. They actually asked for it to be read twice: once before we listened to the CD and once while the CD was playing. However, the book's point is that different kinds of drums make different sounds. The way that you're supposed to "read" these sounds instead of listen to them doesn't nearly do these instruments justice. What would make this a really fantastic package is if they were to include a reading of the book as the first "song" on the CD -- including the real sounds of the drums. Then the kids would understand the book in a whole new way, and would be much more engaged in learning about the drums.
The CD itself has really good songs with nifty Caribbean rhythms. We enjoyed both listening and dancing. A good car CD too!
The theme of Mary Bridget's Surprise is "travel," and is best for kids ages 3-6 (I suspect that girls would respond to this better than boys, but I had no means of comparison).  Mary Bridget and her sister decide that it would be more fun to go to Grandma's house than to clean their own house--and Mary Bridget's vivid imagination leads her sister through the wonderful exotic lands they would traverse before arriving. The gear that comes with Mary Bridget's surprise is a sturdy and attractive rolling backpack, a fanny pack, and a "keep cool" cup. (The cup was a BIG hit in our house...the girls were hard-pressed to take turns with it, and it really was drip-free when on the go, which impressed me.) The only "gear" that would improve the kit (and extend its use to somewhat older children) would be if they were to include a child-friendly map.
My main criticism of Mary Bridget's Surprise is that I had trouble seeing how the book went with the CD. True, the songs are travel-oriented, but I had the impression that the Kindermusik folks simply went through their library collecting nice songs in a travel theme, rather than matching the style of music to the style of the book. Oh, and one small additional criticism: the fanny pack was too big, even with adjustment, for the fanny of my 3-year-old.
Kindertown Fire Brigade was a big hit with Ella (3). She especially liked Song #2, "Kids Parade." Our strategy with most of these packages was to read the book first, then listen to the music while playing with whatever toys or accoutrements accompanied the music and book. Ella was not very interested in the book; Madison, my 4-year-old, liked it better. The pictures are fine and brightly colored, and the story was told in rhyme. Ordinarily, I like it when books do this, but in this case, there were several places where the wording disrupted the meter. For a package engineered by Kindermusik, you would think that they would make sure that the rhythm of the accompanying book would be spot-on, but not so in this case. I'm being brainy-parent-critical here, though, because this package contained enough accessories to keep a kid happy for hours: a "working" fire extinguisher, an ax, and a fire fighter's hat. Ella was in heaven! There were even enough things in that little case that the girls could share adequately, and that naturally made me happy. (They would fight over the accessories in some of the other sets...which says a lot for the quality of these products, but not much for my peace of mind!) The music was fine, although I would definitely not place it among Kindermusik's best compilations. It was a little frantic, but then again, so is a fire. This set is great for ages 2-5.
As we made our way through the Do-Re-Me & You! series of products, we discovered that some of the songs in the accompanying CD seemed to go well with the book,  while others did not...as though the editors of the series just took the theme (as with Tub Tunes, reviewed below) and scoured their music library for songs that vaguely corresponded to the theme. Others had a better correlation between book and music, and that was the case with Frog Went A-Dancing, although I think they could have arranged the order of these songs about animals better to reflect the order that the animals were presented in the book. The songs in this series were nicely interactive, and in fact told you themselves how to help your kids interact with them: "See how I'm jumping!"
The accessories were fun. There was a lovely plush frog backpack to which my children gravitated immediately. Ella particularly loved it, but unfortunately the straps would not adjust small enough to accommodate her 3-year-old shoulders; it hung very loosely. So paradoxically, this toy better fits the older children, who would be less interested in hanging a soft stuffed toy on their back.
As for the accompanying book, I found it boring the first time, I liked it even less the second time, and I actively avoided reading it the third time. But the kids liked it...go figure. I estimate that the backpack would be appropriate for ages 2-3 if it fit properly, and that the book and music would interest kids 2-5.
The Music is Everywhere set is a beautifully-constructed set of block cubes that, put together, form six different pictures, each having to do with music in some fashion. There is no accompanying book or CD.
 The paintings on the blocks are lovely and engaging. However, they're a bit advanced for preschoolers. Madison, 4, was able to put them together with help from me, but I had the sense that it would be quite some time before she would be ready or interested in doing it herself: First one has to decide on the picture being made (by looking at the photos), then turn all of the blocks so that the ones facing up are from the same picture, and then put them together. I had the sense that if Madison had her druthers she'd rather build with the blocks then make a picture. Ella, on the other hand, wanted to spray the blocks with the fire extinguisher from Kindertown Fire Brigade (I wouldn't let her). In short, Music is Everywhere works well with older children with parent participation. I had the sense that kids 5-6 would learn quite a lot, if parents actively participated. So I would recommend that parents buy this themselves with the intent to work on it with their children, rather than give it as a gift. On the other hand, their web site does appropriately recommend this for ages 6 and up.
Noodles from Scratch! I can't say enough good things about Noodles from Scratch. Clearly the favorite of both my girls, and of me, too! The only "down side" of this package is that I wished I'd had two of them -- my kids fought over who gets to wear the apron and hat, and use the cooking utensils that come with it.
 This was one package I had trouble gathering together when it was time to give it back to Miss Barb, because the kids had taken the accessories and used them in a variety of other play. And, in fact, it was one of the first I ordered for an upcoming birthday party. (I need to order another one to have it handy in case of "emergency birthday parties.")
Moreover, this package had a song that actually went with the book and whose words are in the book. Hooray! This fact along was enough to vault this product to the top of my list. And, believe it or not, the song was catchy enough to lodge itself in my brain such that I find myself humming it now and again when I'm not paying attention. The same thing has happened to me with "Old MacDonald Had a Farm," but unlike that song, I actually like singing Noodles from Scratch.
The other songs on the CD (with, naturally, a cooking theme) were good enough that it made us reluctant to turn off the CD when it came time. The musical arrangements were fun and interesting. I found my girls using the utensils as drumsticks, tapping to the beat of the music on pots and bowls.
My 3-year-old loved this counting book. I read it probably three times before she would let me move off the couch to turn on the CD.  The paintings in this book are beautiful and engaging, and we had a lot of discussion about them before I'd turn to the next page.
Although the CD had some nice underwater-themed songs, it would have been wonderful had they been able to get a good song to go directly with the book, but nevertheless the CD is easy for adults to tolerate, even over and over in the car. The book is most appropriate for 2- and 3-year-olds, whereas kids up to 6 or 7 will enjoy the CD.
These sweet animals are surprisingly soft even compared with other stuffed toys.  They "go" -- sort of -- with the 123 Octopus and me set reviewed above. However, whereas I would put the enjoyment of that particular book and CD for older toddlers, these animals are really for young babies. If I were in an expansive gift-giving mood, I might purchase the set above and also order these animals as a nifty extra, but by themselves, at the pricey tag of $18.95 (plus shipping) I do not think it's worth it.
My 4-year-old is just at the point of discovering word play jokes, so this book was great for her. She even memorized some of the jokes!  The book is a perfect size for her to hold in the car, and the jokes provide great incentive for beginning readers to persist until the end of the sentence.
Although my typical criticism that the songs had little to do with the book still holds, it nevertheless was a nice compilation of silly songs about animals. Although the songs on the Critter Giggles CD are traditional kids songs (unlike the songs from Drum Circle, reviewed above), they are still possible to have on in the car without driving Mom crazy. For example, I never thought I could tolerate yet another rendition of "Bought Me A Cat," but this one (our fourth!) is more than tolerable. Similarly, I found the orchestration on their "Polly Wolly Doodle" to be happy, yet non-frantic, with very nice harmonies.
The Tub Tunes package includes the CD and accessories such as a washcloth duck and bath foam, as well as a cute "squirty" fish.
 We didn't try out the bath foam (we were only borrowing the products, remember), so we mostly focused on the CD. This was a standard mixture of well-known songs such as "Splish Splash" and "Yellow Submarine," as well as one or two new songs. My 4-year-old loved the song "Bubbles on Me," and we played it repeatedly (fortunately, it was a good song, or I would have regretted teaching her how to replay the song on the CD player). They thought it very interesting to hear these different arrangements of familiar songs, although Madison thought that there was "something wrong" with the way they did "Six Little Ducks."
This compilation suffered from the same flaw as many of the others -- what does the "Banana Boat" song have to do with the "Tub Tunes" theme? I thought that a stretch to include, and I wished they hadn't. (Then again, we have a great recording of Harry Belafonte singing this, his signature song, so any other rendition can never measure up in my eyes.)
Although Pet and Play was intended for children quite a bit younger than my girls and therefore didn't see much active play from the Rosses,
 we thought enough of the package that we immediately ordered one for their cousin's upcoming first birthday.
Pet and Play features a sturdy, attractive texture book of the type my girls loved when they were about a year old (and I had the sense that this one, unlike theirs, would not fall apart with rough play). The CD that accompanies it has lovely traditional lullabies that were beautifully and soothingly rendered. It was such a nice disk to listen to that we even put it on during wind-down time that night. While the book will serve their cousin only until he's about 2-and-a-half or so, the Pet and Play CD will take him through preschool as a lovely calming part of his night time routine.
Henry's Parade includes a penny whistle, a book, and a CD. We thought that the book would be used by kids age 3-5, the CD would be enjoyed by age 2-5, and the whistle would be attractive to any kids that could get their hands on it.
 How kids love whistles! How moms hate them! So be forewarned, this whistle is sturdy enough to last for years, unless you hide it!
The book to Henry's Parade was pretty good, as children's books go. When you read it with your child, make sure that he or she has the penny whistle in hand, because there are appropriate times for a couple of toots here and there. (It also can serve to reinforce the distinction between "right" and "wrong" times for noise!) On the other hand, the CD didn't have anything to do with the book, or the penny whistle, or anything about the set's theme. This was not one of their better CDs (which didn't mean it isn't better than most children's music -- it is); it is mostly arrangements of nursery rhymes like "Twinkle Twinkle," "Pop Goes the Weasel," "If You're Happy and You Know It," and "Yankee Doodle." The web site indicates that this is for kids ages 6 and up, and maybe that is necessary to play any tunes on the whistle, but the CD is definitely for younger kids.
The Wiggle Waggle kit is listed in the baby section, and we would definitely agree with that assessment -- it's appriate for age 6 months through about 3.  It comes with a soft Bubble Bee twinkly rattle, and we would have given this to my girls' baby cousin had we not settled on Pet and Play (above). The Wiggle Waggle set is very appealing for a baby; the sturdy board book with bright colors has appealing pictures to catch a baby's attention. And unlike other baby compilations, this CD will keep an adult happy as well. There is one exception to this: "Fiddle-Dee-Dee" is supposed to be a happy song, but the arrangement has such a languid tempo that it sounds a bit depressed.
Shoofly Pie combines a book and a really nifty puzzle (no CD).  The book will interest kids age 2 - 4 and the puzzle is great to help 1 1/2 - 2 1/2-year-olds develop manual dexterity and shape/sound recognition.
In this book, little Bailey Bear is at the fair and can't wait to try the Shoofly Pie! But first there are so many interesting things to do. I'm happy to say that the book and puzzle go together: The characters in the book are the same as on the puzzle. Moreover, this is a puzzle with a twist: When the child lifts each puzzle piece, he or she hears the sound of the character! (Batteries are not included.) What a great incentive to practice fine motor skills.
The story itself has good rhythm and meter, which I feel is essential to good children's literature, especially if it is published by a music company. A great touch is that a recipe for Shoofly Pie is printed right within the book. This is a great plus for the preschooler who may have outgrown the puzzle; it extends the use of this package by a few years.
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Parents who have been around the block (or around the McDonald's) a few times come to grasp a real distinction between quality toys that will last for years,  and those bits of junk that hang around for a day or two before being ground underfoot or tossed to the bottom of the toy box. Do-Re-Me & You! products clearly fall into the first category. Kids implicitly appreciate the new discoveries that crop up with a familiar item used again and again as the child grows. Parents understand that the extra few dollars spent up-front for such products pay big dividends later on.
©2004, Debra Ross
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