Hands up if you know who Justin Fletcher is! Unless you live under a rock or have managed to avoid the Cbeebies trap, as a parent you will be aware of Justin Fletcher. He seems to have the magic touch with children; entertaining them, engaging them and teaching them. The marvellous Justin is a very popular performer having been awarded an MBE for his services to Children’s Television in 2008 and he is the only presenter of a pre-school programme to win a much deserved BAFTA. Not only does he entertains little ones on children’s shows including Gigglebiz and his new show Justin’s House but he is now also entertaining little ones with an album filled with songs that will make them squiggle and wiggle. After a delay last year his new album “Hands Up… The Album” will be released in less than a week on the 5th of March.
As Tristan is getting older he is enjoying shows on Cbeebies more and more. He isn’t quite into Justin at the moment like his older cousins are but he is intrigued by his shows, giggles at them and enjoys Justin’s DVD ‘Let’s Sing Nursery Rhymes’ and I am sure when he is older he will love Justin’s House. My little nieces, Tristan’s cousins are huge fans of Justin and when they saw that I had his album they wanted to listen to it straight away.
The album consists of a generous 20 songs with some classic children’s songs and a few new songs.
2. The Hokey Cokey
3. Music Man
4. The Sun Has Got His Hat On
5. The Grand Old Duke Of York
6. The Teddy Bear’s Picnic
7. Heads, Shoulders, Knees And Toes
8. Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf
9. The Laughing Policeman
10. Old MacDonald
11. Nellie The Elephant
12. Oh I Do Like To Be Beside the Seaside
13. Incy Wincy Spider
14. The Wheels On The Bus
15. If You’re Happy And You Know It
16. Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush
17. Ten In A Bed
18. Frere Jacques
19. The Sailor’s Lament
20. Justin’s Lullaby
I thought the album would be annoying or poor sung versions of loved classics but I must admit the songs are well sung, well recorded and catchy. The album is what you would expect by the entertaining Justin, it’s incredibly cheerful and very enjoyable and entertaining for little ones. A lot of the songs are recognisable to those who know the old classics but they are jazzed up versions with a fun, upbeat backing music which makes little ones want to jump and dance about. The lyrics and backing music are in harmony without one overpowering the other. The songs are sung in Justin’s distinctive voice which my nieces easily recognised and little fans of Justin Fletcher can picture him singing the songs on this cheerful album.
The album is a great all rounder and I think the songs included in the album are a lovely variety for little ones; upbeat songs like “Hands Up” that they love to dance madly too, funny songs such as his version of the old classic “The Laughing Policeman” which has a comedy element to it, songs that encourage movement and actions such as “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and calming songs like “Frere Jacques.” The song “Hands Up” is very catchy and has a disco feel to the music, the little ones loved dancing to this song. They had so much fun doing the actions to “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and the “Hockey Cockey.” It’s so much fun to watch them gigglging and dancing round the room. Even Tristan loves to dance to the songs; having a mad little boogie, waving his arms around and laughing. Little ones can burn off some energy whilst having fun dancing to this album and it’s hard to resist a little boogie with them which gives mums and dads a workout too.
I really love how the album finishes off with the lovely versions of Frere Jacques and The Sailor’s Lament that little ones can chill out to after all the mad dancing. I think it’s fabulous that theses are followed by a nice, calming lullaby which is perfect for calming everyone after having a crazy boogie and being extra excited.
I love the artwork; bright colours and very fun. I think this album is perfect for entertaining little ones and it gets children dancing in seconds, jumping about madly and putting their hands up! The combination of upbeat, dance-y beats and Justin’s performance is a success and I think it makes the album more enjoyable and entertaining than other children’s song CD’s. The generous variety of songs means you will at least like a few of the songs so it won’t be a wasted, annoying album if you don’t like a few songs; I’m not so keen on his Nellie the Elephant but as I like some of the other songs I think overall it’s a great album. It’s perfect for birthday parties, for listening in the car and for mad boogieing at home. Hands Up for those who love his album…..we give this album a big ‘hands up.’ My little man and his cousins loved the album; if my little ones are happy, I am happy and this album is a big hit with them so I think it’s great!
The first single from this album, was ‘Hands Up’ which was released on the 20th of November. The upbeat song has a fun video that my little ones love watching.
Justin is on twitter, why not tweet him @_JustinFletcher
He also has a Facebook page, pop over and say hi.
“Hands Up… The Album” is released on the 5th of March and can be pre-ordered now.
Check out the competition where one lucky Bumps 2 Babies fan will win a copy of Justin Fletcher's album.
* Justin Fletcher kindly gave us this album to review for free, despite this I have written a honest review that contains my own words and opinions and is 100% my own *
He's still our favourite character on CBeebies.
ReplyDeleteWe love everything Justin Fletcher! Would love to get this CD of songs.
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