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ThingamaKid
ThingamaKid

Here's a great combo: take a cartoon-packed DVD and combine it in one case with an audio CD for hours of good times for preschoolers. That's exactly what the Thingamakid series does, and it's a hit with the 2-to-5-year-old set. In the Sunday Bible Toons edition, animated cartoons bring classic Bible songs like "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" and "My God Is So Big" to life. The DVD features ten animated sing-a-longs (perfect for the car or at home), plus bonus features that include karaoke versions of all 10 songs and 3 original animated Bible short stories based on Psalms and prayer. The soundtrack CD offers all the songs from the DVD plus 5 bonus songs and interactive online content—all for under $10. Good stuff!

VeggieTales
Big Idea

It wouldn't be a favorite kids' list without a generous serving of animated vegetables, and they do so again with a collection of radio hits past and present, all performed by Bob, Larry, Junior and some of their human friends. Check out "Big House" featuring Audio Adrenaline, "Baby Baby" with Amy Grant, "Dive" featuring Steven Curtis Chapman, and "Shine" with newsboys. You'll also find the vegetables' hilarious takes on Relient K's "Sadie Hawkins Dance," dc Talk's "In the Light," Switchfoot's "Meant to Live," Jars of Clay's "Flood," and covers of Avalon, Chris Rice, and MercyMe. There's something strangely worshipful about the childlike voice of Junior Asparagus singing "I Can Only Imagine."

Boz
Exclaim Entertainment

Boz the Green Bear Next Door burst onto the kids' video market two years ago, and the DVDs of this colorful bear have stayed on the Christian children's best-sellers charts since then. In 2007, Boz added his first audio title to the growing brand, and it's a hit with preschoolers too. What makes Boz successful is that the series contains educational components (teaching shapes, colors, and numbers) with life lessons and values teaching (similar to what you get on mainstream shows like Arthur and Dora the Explorer). What Boz does even better is add a spiritual component, with prayer in each episode. On this CD, tots can sing 22 tunes that teach and reinforce values, such as "God Sees You and He Likes What He Sees" and "Look in a Book" (a song about going to the library). Kudos to Exclaim Entertainment for giving moms, dads, and kids alike a CD of catchy original songs that teach important life lessons, and aren't too cheesy to listen to the four thousand times little fans will want to hear them.

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