A Treasury of Songs

We actually love some of these songs especially the breathing song. But why do you need to perpetuate silly myths like sharks being fierce? Get your facts straight so you’re not teaching our children half truths. Fish do not blow bubbles and sharks are not scary! Also the gruffelo song teaches children to be afraid of differences/ ugliness. I really don’t want my child repeating some of the things he might hear in the songs.

If you have The Gruffalo or any of the other Julia Donaldson books (especially if you have most, if not all of her books) and your children enjoy the stories then you should also get this.A fab collection of songs that link to loads of JDs books. She says in the intro that she usually starts with a song before she works it into a story.Sang by Julia Donaldson herself, plus family members, this is a lovely book and CD that’s full of words/lyrics and more great illustrations by Axel Scheffler.Hours of fun as you go through the songs and see which is your favourite.

We put this CD in the car player to entertain our 2 1/4 yr-old on long journeys. He is now nearly 3 and though we don't use it as much any more, it's been a sanity saver!Contrary to other comments suggesting the tunes aren't easy to pick up, we found he picked up the tunes about his favourite characters and loved to repeat them back to us. He'd often ask for the CD or individual songs in the car, and there's enough different tracks that we didn't get too bored of any of them, particularly since his favourites kept changing. The songs are a great mix of being about favourite characters and about day-to-day activities like going to the shop, playing outside, exercising and so on, as well as common fables.While the vocal quality maybe isn't incredible (I have also heard Imelda Staunton's recording of 'squash and a squeeze' and it's better, as well as being a little slower which makes it easier to pick up), it's definitely not offputting as some suggest. The arrangements and instrumentation are really fun, adding to the interest level for adults!The book is also full of Axel's beautiful pictures to enjoy and entertain.Basically, it is wonderful!

Beautiful book and great CD with nice and easy to learn songs, I bought it for my children that are 4 years old and they absolutely love it. The songs are fun and beautiful without being too childish. Julia Donaldson's style, which I love! The CD has loooots of songs, so hours of entertainment guaranteed!

We have a promotional book of Julia Donaldson's 'What the ladybird heard' which our 20 month daughter loves. This has the melody along with the guitar chords also printed in it. She also has a number of Julia Donaldson's other titles which were listed as songs so I thought we would get this so I could sing the songs to whist strumming them on the guitar.Sadly it only has the lyrics, one or two illustrations by Axel Scheffler and A CD which we didn't open. As a result, it got sent straight back for a refund.The best thing that can be said about this title is that it acts a good compendium of her work. Overall, we were very disappointed.

The book is beautiful- Axel Scheffler's illustrations bring Julia Donaldson's stories to life. Some of the best known stories here in their original song form. However, you have to listen to the CD with it to grasp the tune and rhythm. I wish they had a professional to do the signing. I appreciate Julia wrote the songs and is passionate - performing them live, often - however, when devoid of the live performance the singing voice is left to stand alone and in this case it does not stand up. Such a shame.

This is wonderful introduction to Julia’s music for existing fans of Julia’s storybooks. She’s a great storyteller but even more, a beautiful songwriter with considerable range. The songs are both fun, and memorable melodies rather than nursery rhyme ditties. Plenty for everyone as lots of songs.Totally disagree with posters saying she should have hired a professional singer. It matters very much to my children (2 and 5) that it is Julia herself singing them, having seen her performing them live on various tv clips. Love Julia and brilliant husband Malcolm and his guitar as accompaniment.

Beautifully illustrated, lovely stories. As you’d expect from this pairing. The cd is an excellent bonus. Bargain price. I bought multiples as gifts for several kids, ranging from 6 months to 4 years.