Search - Raffi :: Bananaphone

Raffi for teens and 'tweens?

Doughnut | So. Calif. | 11/28/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've had Raffi tapes in my car for 16 years. When my girls became old enough to listen to Radio Disney, they decided that they were too "old" for Raffi, so I set him aside and brought him out again later for my son, now 4 1/2.



I agree that this album appeals to an older audience than some of Raffi's earlier works. My girls recently rediscovered the Bananaphone cassette. My younger daughter and her carpool buddy, both 12 1/2, have made me play "Bananaphone" all the way to school every day for the past 2 weeks. (That two middle schoolers will listen to kids' music should tell you something!) The 16-year-old remembered that "The Gorilla Song" was on the same tape, and I had to circle the block a few times the other night, so we could all (Dad, too!) sing that one over and over.



It's more than nostalgia; several of the Bananaphone songs are just plain FUN (e.g., "Cowlit Night"), and both girls are delighted at picking out all the plays on words they missed when they were younger. They understand the environmental/nature songs at a different level, too. "It's a Gift to Be Simple," an old Shaker hymn, is one of my older daughter's favorites.



There are not too many artists that can interest toddlers and still be fun for adults, teens, and 'tweens, too. I plan to purchase the CD because we are all tired of trying to FWD/REW to the correct songs."