Frivolity and fun rule this recording from its opening lines, featuring Dad's forays into home repair, to the finale, featuring the airborne antics of the Fearless Flying Hot Dogs "ketching up with each other" and spreading "wings with mustard." Along the way, listeners will need to seek protection from fearsome tigers, consider a new pet—perhaps a porcupine or a giraffe—and peruse the remarkable menu at the school cafeteria. The recitation of Jack Prelutsky, the nations’ first Children’s Poet Laureate, is crisp and paced for appreciation. Whether humorous or more serious, his sentiment for the characters of his poems is heartfelt. When Prelutsky sings, with engaging accompaniments, one can only appreciate more fully the connection between poetry and song.
Ages 6+Pub Date: March 27, 2007
Duration: 1 hr
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Narrators John Lithgow and Kate Mulgrew alternately share poems and songs created by Fred Rogers for his long-standing television show. Rogers's messages affirm children and give voice to the myriad feelings, good and bad, that all people feel from time to time. Wonder, joy, questions, exploration, outsides and insides, a new baby, one-of-a-kindness, needs emotional and material are examples of the breadth of Rogers's words. Lithgow's voice has its own richness, reminiscent of Rogers's own. His tone is firm and straightforward. When his voice expresses the anger of a poem, for example, he soon becomes calm as the anger fades. Kate Mulgrew is equally genuine and sets a pace for children's consideration of each message.
(Poetry. 3-8)Pub Date: March 19, 2019
Duration: 1 hr, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781683691808
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Updike’s 12 poems celebrate the changing seasons with images that might catch a child’s eye. His verses, some of which are very lovely, focus on changes in the natural world (from snow to mud to crocuses) and on celebrations that accompany these changes (Christmas, Valentine's, Fourth of July). Each verse ends with a sound image that connects to the month’s poem (such as the sound of fireworks or baseball heard on TV). Updike’s presentation is earnest. While he sometimes overemphasizes line breaks in his poems, he has a kind voice and reads carefully, allowing time for children to enjoy the lovely gem-like illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman.
Ages 4-6Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2004
Duration: 13 mins
Publisher: Live Oak Media
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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