“Every mom and dad and kid’ll/ Want a lot and not a little [Readeez!!!]” –from the song “Watermelon,” mostly
I know that glossaries traditionally go at the end of something, but for the sake of intelligent conversation, I’m going to put one right up at the front of this post:
Readeez – Simple, brilliantly-catchy songs illustrated in video format, with the words appearing on the screen, syllable by syllable, as they are spoken or sung. Example:
Songeez – Simple, brilliantly-catchy songs without the video component. Example: …er, replay the above video with your eyes closed.
The Readeez Company uses the tag line “Learning disguised as smiling,” but I wouldn’t advertise that too loudly, lest those Baby Einstein-hating nazis take up their pitchforks again. [1] In my freewheeling philosophy of learning, everything is educational, but I think it’s safe to assume that Readeez are more conducive to learning than most children’s media, and they earn bonus points for not coming across as trying too hard.
See, if Readeez (Vol. 2) were going to be straightforwardly didactic, they would need use a prohibitively restrictive “easy reader” vocabulary list. Instead, Readeez refuses to dumb itself down for its audience. Returning to the above example, the song “Watermelon” uses the unconventional contraction kid’ll to rhyme with middle, and uses the phrase more o’ ya to rhyme with euphoria—which isn’t on any easy reader list, I might add. Creator Michael Rachap deserves a whole lot of credit for this approach.
The release of the Songeez CD, which has songs from both volumes of Readeez, tells the world that the music is strong enough to stand on its own. Yet, the songs never seem to break free from their visual counterparts. The CD is packaged with a rather lovely booklet (see samples) with lyrics and illustrations that immediately call the videos to mind. Even without the booklet, just listening to the songs reminds you of the videos. Geraldine’s first response to hearing “How ’Bout that Cow” in the car was to bring up the fact that “we haven’t seen that one yet.”
I should mention that the girls love both Readeez, Vol. 2 and Songeez. The songs worked their way into our daily lives within the first day of watching the DVD; we went to Livingston Park later that afternoon, and Rhys was singing “We’ll make it up the mountain/ Make it up the mountain” at every little incline on the path around the pond. We’ve also caught each other singing “The Duck Song,” “Modes of Transportation,” and “April Fool” from time to time, and no one seems to mind a bit.
Visit the Readeez YouTube Channel, watch a bunch of videos, and see if you don’t get hooked.
Disclosure: Review copies were provided by Michael Rachap. He has neither paid nor pressured me to speak well of it.
Other reviews:
Dadnabbit | Out with the Kids | Zooglobble
[1] This snarky aside is not meant to compare Baby Einstein to Readeez…it’s just a below-the-belt jab at those uptight agenda-pushers at the CCFC. I’ll tell you how I really feel (wink) in another post sometime.
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