The Land of Sometimes Review

“Over the ocean, far away, there is a magical place called ‘The Land Of Sometimes’ where four seasons pass within one day, and everyone who lives there has a song…”

The Land of Sometimes is an audio storybook created by Francesca Longrigg for children aged 2-99 that tells the story of twins Elise and Alife’s magical voyage to The Land of Sometimes after making a wish asking to go to the silver line where the sea meets the sky.  In the magical place of The Land of Sometimes four seasons pass within one day as the seasons change according to the time of day not the time of year and everyone who lives in the is magical world has a song.

Elise and Alfie

The story of the twins on their grand adventure weaves in and around original songs, one for each unique character from The Land of Sometimes.  As the story unfolds the eccentric characters of The Land of Sometimes join the magical journey and are introduced using their unique songs; the wonderful characters that Elise and Alfie encounter along their journey include Little Twink, The Frosty Fish and River Slouch 
Sling to name a few.

River Slouch Sling

We dared to make a wish and have enjoyed exploring the mysterious and magical ‘Land of Sometimes’ with Elise and Alfie.  I really think this CD is lovely, it is utterly compelling capturing your heart, and it is charming and uplifting.  I find the CD on a whole very relaxing and this is definitely a children’s CD I enjoy listening to, my favourite songs are ‘Dare Make a Wish’ and ‘What Colour Are Your Days?’  My nieces loved this CD, they talk about Elise and Alfie and their adventure and love singing along to the songs.  Some of the lyrics are funny, Mrs Blip’s song in particular made my nieces giggle as her favourite thing is to make people slip.  We have all been enchanted by this magical world of The Land of Sometimes and the beautiful songs and storytelling of this captivating, delightful CD.

The CD has 15 songs and I like how each song is very different to one before, the use of varying styles means the CD is refreshing and it captures your attention.  I think it’s fantastic that a variety of genres of music are included on this CD; reggae, disco, Irish folk, poetry and New Orleans Jazz are all featured on the CD.  The CD is a great introduction for children to a variety of musical styles, instruments and voices in a fun way with these original, catchy songs.  The songs are well written, very original and quirky, the quality of the singing and musical production is superb with the songs being harmonious and tuneful.  The story is narrated by Nicolas Jones; the narration is simple and clear, piecing the whole story and characters together.

I love the story of the magical world of The Land of Sometimes, I love the combination of a story with songs and I think the CD is universally appealing to all ages, young and old.  This CD is perfect for encouraging your children’s imagination to come alive and is a great, fun way to introduce music to young children.  I love that it is so different from other children’s songs CD’s, there is no sign of the usual nursery rhymes that to be honest tend to get on my nervous after listening to them again and again especially when they are sung in a too cheery, high pitched way.  I have actually enjoyed listening to this CD; it is so different to other children’s CD’s with the clever mix of story and song and it is sung well; it’s great for enjoying in the car especially on long journeys, lovely to listen to when snuggling with your little one and the lovely story is nice for bedtime if your little ones don’t get too excited and want to sing along to the CD instead of sleeping.

Little Twink and Mrs Blip

The Land of Sometimes is more than just a CD, it is not a standard CD case as it has a beautifully illustrated book to accompany the CD which is a great, physical way for children to follow the story, songs and see the myriad of weird and wonderful characters.  The packaging is superb and the illustrations have a magical air about them.  I love art and beautiful illustrations and I am very impressed with the illustrations which are magnificent, they are captivating, exquisitely drawn with vibrant colours and help bring the Land of Sometimes and the characters to life.

Holly and George

Not only is this exciting story on the enchanting ‘Land of Sometiems’ great for sparking children’s imaginations, bringing it to life and for introducing them to a variety of music genres but I also think its great for encouraging and teaching children language skills as the lyrics contain a fabulous array of words and include rhymes.  I think this CD is perfect as a gift, especially for any child who enjoys music and stories.  This magical musical CD can be enjoyed for a long time by children of all ages.

Mrs Blip's online profile

You can stay in the magical Land of Sometimes by visiting the fantastic website that supports this CD.  The website helps bring The Land of Sometimes to life, you can learn more about all of the characters by reading their profiles which includes information about their hobbies, likes, dislikes and listen to a musical clip of that character’s song.    You can also download the lyrics, print off pictures of the characters to colour in and learn more about the island including learning about the seasons and a map of the island to bring the tale to life.  To get updates and find out what the characters are doing you can sign up to the Sometimes Society.  Like the CD’s book the website is stunning with gorgeous illustrations and beautiful colours, it really does bring this magical land alive.  You can also keep up to date with their magical adventure by following them on twitter @LandOfSometimes and becoming their facebook friend.

The CD was released on the 6^th of Feburary, you can purchase a copy of this magical CD on the Land of Sometimes website or on Amazon for £8.99.  I highly recommend getting a copy of this beautiful audio storybook.

* The Land of Sometimes kindly gave us this CD to review for free, despite this I have written a honest review that contains my own words and opinions *