What a way to start off the new year! Here’s a catchy, clever album all about the brain. Roger Day had the great idea of creating an entire album around the brain: Why Does Gray Matter? …and other brainy songs for kids! Overall, the album reminds me of all the things I love about They Might Be Giants: smart lyrics and upbeat tunes.
Roger Day appeals to my parenting side by incorporating words like ‘lycopene’ and ‘deep basal ganglia’ into his songs as he extols the virtues of healthy food for the brain and the finer details of how the brain works. Then he also brings to life the kid in me who loves corny wordplay and geeky facts.
But, don’t take my word for it! I wasn’t the only one who loved this album. We were headed out through winding roads on Saturday. So naturally I drove to avoid motion sickness. Brent typed notes for me on my phone as we talked about the songs. When I checked out what he wrote down, I found this: “Husband really enjoys this album.” And that’s coming from my very music savvy sweetheart. Sammi had something to say about it, too. A few songs into the album she commented that “these are songs to help us stay awake!” Which is a compliment since we usually try to sing them to sleep with lullabies on long road trips.
Random Things I Like
- Roger Day is from Tennessee which significantly increases our chances for seeing him live!
- On the back side of the lyrics sheet is a nifty poster for the album that I’m actually considering hanging in my office.
- He started performing his children’s music at community service shows for local Head Start programs where he was scheduled for his regular college coffeehouse shows. (One location he played was right here at Lincoln Memorial University! though I don’t know if he did a children’s performance here.)
Win Your Own Copy
We’ve got a copy of Roger Day’s new album Why Does Gray Matter? …and other brainy songs for kids! to give away to one Because Babies Grow Up reader. To enter, please leave a comment telling me something smart about you or your little one. For additional entries you can blog, tweet, facebook or delicious this post. Just leave another comment telling me what you’ve done and I’ll tally all the extra entries in when I randomly select the winner.
This giveaway is open until Monday, January 11 at midnight, EST. Please help spread the word and good luck!
45 Responses to “Why Does Gray Matter? Review and Giveaway-CLOSED”
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Let’s see…something smart about my child or myself…my little girl has learned that if she pushes her bottle into her forhead, milk squirts out all over and she can giggle. Silly but it shows cause and effect as well as a way to keep oneself occupied and content
Adrienne, that is seriously adorable!
My one year old son is smarter than the experts who write child care books.
Following the advice in my child care books, I used to take his bowl of food away from him when he stopped eating the food and started playing with it.
Now, since he knows that his bowl of food is supposed to go away from him when he finishes eating, he helps me out. When he’s full, he drops his bowl to the floor and announces, “All done”.
something smart about you or your little one:
My 2 year old (26 months) can dress himself and put his own shoes on. This also means he can undress and take his shoes off and taking off clothing seems to be his favorite!
My little guy is only 6 months but I think he’s figuring things out. He’s starting to realize that I’m still here when I leave the room so he cries and yells until I come back and pay attention to him.
My Grandson is 2, and we are expecting a baby Sister for him in May, 2010 – I gave him a “Baby Sister” doll for Christmas, as my Dtr-in-law wanted a ‘visual aid’ she can use when telling him about the new baby. He sits and talks to ‘her’ while he’s playing, coloring etc. like he’s explaining things to her – ‘course WE can’t understand much of it, but it sure is cute!!! (Great giveaway, by the way!)
JDaniel at 22 months old reminds me to take poupons to the store and get the reusable bag out of the pantry for me.
Well, we all think our kids are super smart, of course! My daughter has amazing people skills and remembers faces & names & social interactions. My son is very book smart and reads voraciously. They’d love this new album – they enjoy They Might Be Giants, too. Thanks!
Corrigan is a “delayed darling” but is the brightest little fighter I know…of course, I am his mama so I think everything he does is smart….but I think it is pretty smart that when I build a tower of carboard bricks really tall…he wants to knock them down but doesnt want to get whacked in the head, so he finds something long and pokes the tower down from a safe distance!
I like to think of myself as a smart mama because while my little one naps I read blogs and try to win her cool cds and toys! That means I get to have “conversation” with others who are not three years old, therefore I remain SANE, and it means my daughter gets to try out new stuff we can tell friends and family about for free, so we can afford to take Kindermusik classes and karate. It’s a win win situation, folks
Renee, I wish you were just a bit closer. It’d be fun to take a Kindermusik class with you!
My little one whose not even 2 yet mimics her older sister in almost every way when her older sister wasn’t doing these things for another year!
Extra:
I tweeted: https://twitter.com/jkgorcery/status/7456700478
My three year old daughter has convinced my five year old son to play “baby” so she can tell him what to do for a change. A creative way to finally get her way!
I love how my 2 1/2 year old picks up books and “reads” them to her baby. Some of them she knows by heart now but some of them she just makes up stories based on the photos!
I was smart to give up my corporate job making big bucks to stay at home and raise my three toddlers ages 2, 3 and 4. I can always rejoin my career but teaching my children is the “smartest” thing I have done in my life.
maureenruble@yahoo.com
my young grandson must have a flashligt to go out at night to see he says although he shines it about everywhere but in his path hes just turned 3
mverno@roadrunner.com
a smart thing i have learned is to listen to your elders advice!
She knew colors at 3 like gold, can spell her name at age 4 and has a good memory
Lydia has down’s syndrome but she is learning sign language. She is very sweet too.
my sweet little baby is named julius, juicy is his nickname. he is 17 months old and he is the smartest little guy! his grammy got him cookies that are shaped like letters. we opened them up, told him all the names of all the letters. he picked it up so quickly and started pulling them out and telling us what they were and we would cheer for him every time. he loves learning!
Here is my extra entry.
My 2 year old granddaughter has a great extensive vocabulary!
My 26 month old already knows her colors, shapes and can count to 13.
My son is 3 and can name all the planets!
My Teddy can already read along when I read him his bedtime stories. Thank you for having this giveaway.
litefoot873 (@) hotmail.com
I tweeted-https://twitter.com/litefoot873/status/7579408521
litefoot873 (@) hotmail.com
My kids are bigger (youngest is 4) but they are all smart! My mom is a retired neuro nurse, so these songs appeal to me!
juliesweeps at hotmail.com
My just-turned-2-year-old has been learning new songs recently, and recalls them whenever something related happens. Like when we were practicing animal sounds yesterday, after he made several animal sounds correctly (cow? moo! sheep? baa! lion? roar!) I asked him what a monkey says and he said “no more jumping on the bed!” after the 5 Little Monkeys. Tonight we were reading a book that had a picture of stars, and he looked at me and said “twinkle, twinkle star!” I love seeing his mind work!
My two year old used the words “extremely” and “apologized” the other day. This mom was impressed!
At 8 months old my daughter has learned to say “cat.” I’m so proud! macd82 at gmail dot com
At 3, my son was doing 50 piece puzzles. He really has a knack for spatial relationships.
I like doing New York Times Crossword Puzzles!
Okay, Ed, I think you just won the title “Smartie Pants.” I’m uber-impressed! I hear Saturday’s is the hardest. Do you tackle it?
I think all of my children are pretty bright. My oldest is a freshman in college and we talk about psychology terms (I love those conversation and I’m learning more and more each time!). My 4-year-old daughter has conversations with me about the perfect way to take a photograph. My 6-year-old son and his sister discuss where God is and … And my 2 year old knows that her oldest is in college. Instead of just asking, “Where’s Amber?” She says, “Is Amber still at college?” LOL… she’s so funny. I love the question you asked ’cause it made me think about how talented and wonderful my children are.
My son can debate with the best of them. At 5 I swear he could convince Santa that he really is the Easter Bunny. Part of this is because he has a great memory and stores away tons of information he reads or hears..
My daughter already reads some words and she isn’t even 1 1/2 yet…
I went back to college! Thats smart right?!
Thanks for the great contest!
bahjeep@aol.com
My two-year-old got a play kitchen for Christmas, and the first thing he did was pretend he was washing the dishes and then he flipped each one upside down to dry. It was hilarious, and I couldn’t believe he knew to do that. See, kids pay attention to EVERYTHING!
My niece is so great about picking up on peoples emotions and can tell a lot of the time what their behavior is going to be. She is the baby of the family and is and blond and will play that up if she needs to also. Pretty smart for a 7 yr old!
my sons fav.read aloud at five was a bref history of time.i found books on tape after that
The kinder could read those big Sesame Street books at 4 years. I didn’t know anything was odd, since she was my one and only.
Tweeted – http://twitter.com/choochoo428/status/7654979580
my little one is a cutie and knows it:)
he is a big show off 2 all:)
My 8 year old daughter can beat me at simpsons trivia LOL.
I enjoy reading.