Review of Back to the Garden: Robert Louis Stevenson's 'A Child's Garden of Verses' in Song by Ted Jacobs

I love listening to my little ones' music collection.  There seems to be some great options for tykes, these days, especially tunes that pump one up and encourage them to rock out.  For the evening hours, however, it's altogether too difficult to put anything too stimulating on if I want my kids to go to sleep.  I also struggle with the issue of trying to teach my kids the amount of poetry I know they should have in their lives -- especially as a supporter of the Charlotte Mason method of home learning.

Of all the albums I have reviewed in 2012, I can say that my all-time favorite had to be "Back to the Garden: Robert Louis Stevenson's 'A Child's Garden of Verses' in Song" by Ted Jacobs.  It's a musical rendition of the poetry we all know well (or should know, if we had been exposed to such treasures.)  It isn't done in a condescending, sing-songy, or childish manner.  It's a beautiful, moving, and soothing collection of the kind of music you wouldn't ever associate with "kid music."  If I could describe it in one sentence, I would say that it rings very similar to the ballads sung by one of my favorite bands "Toad the Wet Sprocket."

For children who still know how to play, for days when the imagination is still the best toy, and for memories of adventures that have yet to happen, this is the soundtrack of life.  I love this CD.  I hope my children love it as much as I do.  I am thrilled that, not only will my kids learn the words to the world-changing poems of Stevenson, they will sing them (and hum them...) without effort or protest.

Isn't that how poetry should be for us all?

You can find this treasure at iTunes, or buy it directly from the company's store.  You can also find updates on their Facebook page.

*Review copy received quite some time ago.  Opinions are 100% my own.