I was in Kohls one day and at the check out there were stuffed animals and books by Sandra Boynton. Now any kid growing up in the 80s has probably seen a Boynton sticker. Or maybe it was just because I collected stickers so I could hang out with all the girls in my class.

Sandra Boynton has many books out based on her cartoon character drawings of dogs, and cats and cows and chickens and such. She also has a line of books that come with CDs of amazing music that she wrote as well. The songs are performed by many big name acts and each one is a rocking good time.

So far we only have Dog Train but I am really excited to get a bunch more. Dog Train is subtitled ‘A Wild Ride on th Rock-And-Roll Side’. That subtitle isn’t a lie, this cd rocks. Here is the lineup of performers:

Allison Krause – Evermore
The Bacon Brothers & Mickey Hart – Pots & Pans
Billy J. Kramer – Cow Planet, Cow Planet Episodes 2 & 3
Blues Traveler – Dog Train
Doshie Luther – Wave Bye-Bye
Hootie & The Blowfish – Rock To Sleep
John Ondrasik of Five For Fighting – Penguin Lament
Kate Winslet & “Weird Al” Yankovic – I Need A Nap
Mark Lanegan – Sneakers
The O.K. Chorale – Thus Quacked Zarathustra
The Phenomenauts – (Don’t Give ME That) Broccoli
Rob Hyman & Eric Bazilian – Dragonfire
Spin Doctors – Tantrum
Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme – Boring Song

Each song is fun and witty. The Dog Train, Pots and Pans and I Need A Nap are some of my favorites. I put on the CD and stand Eva up on my lap and we dance. Then I pick her up and dance around the room. She giggles and squeals in a delighted way as I stumble, mumble and fumble over the words.

The book itself is cute, it had Sandra Boynton’s distinct and accessible style of cartoons. Part one of the book is called Look as you Listen. The pages of this section have some lyrics to each song as well as artwork depicting the fun things happening in the songs. You can get the first couple of lines of the song and start singing. If you really want to sing along then Part 2 is for you. Part Two is called Sing and Play Along. In this section all of the lyrics to the song are presented as well as some sheet music for the chorus of each song. And then in Part Three there is a section about the Artists on the CD. There is a mini bio and some photos of each artist and a label showing what song they performed. Also at the very back of the book you can cut out a paper CD insert if you want to display your CD on the mantel.

This book and CD is great for all ages because the songs are catchy and the musicians are great. The book itself was part of a promotion through Kohl’s Cares for Kids and it only cost $5.00. This was an absolute bargain. Unfortunately it is not being sold at Kohls anymore. Dr. Seuss books are there along with Dr. Seuss stuffed animals.