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Don’t Call Me a Koala Bear – Don Spencer and Michelle Pike (book and CD review)

June 5, 2015 By Emily 13 Comments

My not-so-little girl recently turned five, and received lots of music and lots of books for her birthday.

Today, I’m reviewing something that is both.

—

Don’t Call Me a Koala Bear (& Other Aussie Songs) / Don Spencer and Michelle Pike

(The Five Mile Press, 2011)

Don't-Call-Me-a-Koala-Bear-cover

Last year, I ran an Australian animals program for toddler music group. (And I’ll get around to sharing the program one day!)

Man, oh man, I wish we’d had this book then! I could have just played the CD, opened the book to the relevant page, and let music group run itself!

We’ve had this book for days, not weeks (let alone months) and already love it. The kids enjoy learning about all the animals and performing the actions, and I enjoy watching them. Which sounds like a cop-out, but the book is a very handy little prop when I’m too tired to join in the dancing and jumping. “I’ll hold this open for you so we can all see the words!” Winner.

Super-Marsupial

The kids’ favourite song would be Kangaroo (The Super Marsupial), mainly because they get to put capes on and pretend to fly around the living room. I love Lizards of Oz for the same reason that I love another of Spencer’s songs that unfortunately isn’t in the book (Where Does a Goanna Go?): because it’s clever.

Lizards-of-Oz

He’s just so clever.

Michelle Pike’s illustrations are perfect for the fun and the targeted age group.

Highly recommended for Aussie children aged three and up. It’d also make a great present for any little friends living overseas to introduce them to our animals. (Good thing there isn’t a song called The Redback from the Outback.)

You can buy Don’t Call me a Koala Bear from Don Spencer’s online shop. Or maybe you’ll fluke upon it at Aldi like I did!

 

Have you read (and/or listened to) Don’t Call Me a Koala Bear? What did you think?

Filed Under: Book reviews, For children Tagged With: Australia, book review, books, children, Don Spencer, Don't Call Me a Koala Bear, Five Mile Press, Michelle Pike, music, reading, songs

« Toddler music group – the body
How I stop myself from yelling at the kids »

Comments

  1. Lydia C. Lee says

    June 5, 2015 at 6:50 am

    I love that Don Spencer is still kicking around – he was on Playschool when I was a tot (about 102 years ago)

    Reply
    • Emily says

      June 9, 2015 at 12:55 pm

      Yes, I remember Don from Play School days too! Love his work.

      Reply
  2. Amy @ HandbagMafia says

    June 5, 2015 at 7:46 am

    I remember Don from Playschool! This looks wonderful, I’ll keep an eye out at Aldi for sure!

    Reply
    • Emily says

      June 9, 2015 at 12:55 pm

      It’s fabulous! Have since had a friend tell me it’s at Toys ‘R’ Us as well, so that’s worth a look.

      Reply
  3. Hugzilla says

    June 5, 2015 at 1:24 pm

    Yes! The name Don Spencer rang serious bells and it wasn’t until I got to the comments that the penny dropped. P;ay School! Of course.

    Reply
    • Emily says

      June 9, 2015 at 12:58 pm

      Hip hip hooray! Must hit YouTube for some ol’skool Play School clips.

      Reply
  4. Bec @ The Plumbette says

    June 5, 2015 at 8:32 pm

    I’ve been meaning to get Esther some books about Australian animals and wildlife. I reckon she’d love this. Thanks for the review. 🙂

    Reply
    • Emily says

      June 9, 2015 at 1:00 pm

      Pleasure! I hope you track it down and I hope she loves it!

      Reply
  5. Tash @ Gift Grapevine says

    June 7, 2015 at 1:43 am

    Great find Em. I love the look of a superhero kangaroo and Don Spencer was a favourite of mine from old Play School days! I used to love music/book combos when I was little. One of my favourites was The Gingerbread Man story which was on vinyl and came with a book (I knew to turn the page when the *ding* sounded).

    Reply
    • Emily says

      June 9, 2015 at 1:01 pm

      Ah yes, the tinkly sound when it was time to turn the page was always fun! No tinkles in this book (just the endings and beginnings of songs) but it’s no less fun.

      Reply
  6. Grace says

    June 9, 2015 at 10:11 am

    I have fond memories of watching Don Spencer on Play School. Maybe I should give this one a go. My boys are doing a lot of singing these days. Luckily they’re in tune 🙂

    Reply
    • Emily says

      June 9, 2015 at 1:02 pm

      Bonus points for being in tune! Love my daughter to pieces, but yet to hear something tuneful from her. She gets more than full points for enthusiasm though. Meanwhile, little man has some serious rhythm.

      Reply
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Hi! I’m Emily

I parent. I write. I blog. I play with words and numbers in my head. Constantly. It's crowded in there.

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