These reviews by Fred Koch appeared in the January, 2005 issue of "Chicago Parent Magazine."

Reviewed in this column:
Ship of Chocolate Chips - Joel Frankel

After more than a year and a half in the recording studio, irrepressible children’s musician Joel Frankel finally felt confident enough to declare his latest creative endeavor finished. Fans, as well as those not familiar with his music, will find his “Ship of Chocolate Chips” impossible to resist. The recording explodes with fanciful songs, delightfully arranged and produced music and enough variety to keep kids (and adults) dancing and singing along.

SHIP OF CHOCOLATE CHIPS, by Joel Frankel, Crunchy Records, www.joelfrankel.com; ages 5-10. I knew this was a remarkable CD the first time I heard it—not just because I loved it, but because my family did. That is astounding simply because it does not happen very often. My wife, Teddi, our 8-year-old, Matthew, and I were driving to Grandma’s when I put “Ship of Chocolate Chips” in the CD player to get their response.

Not since I unveiled “Singin’ in the City—Children’s Music, Chicago Style,” the CD I helped produce for Chicago Parent, have I been able to play an entire children’s recording without one, or both, of them asking me to turn it off. That speaks volumes. Teddi loved the variety and thought Frankel’s playful personality came through beautifully. She also found a couple of great movement songs that she wants to use with her young students. Matthew was totally engaged—singing along and often asking me to “play that one again, Dad!”

The voyage begins with a great movement and participation song, “Hey Little People,” which Frankel says is always a big hit in his live shows, followed by another concert favorite, the catchy singalong “Bagels and Cream Cheese.” The title track is next and showcases Frankel’s sparkling songwriting skills and features a darling child singer, Leah Barr, who helps Frankel create some delicious imagery as they sing of a “Ship of Chocolate Chips.”

Then comes the song that caused quite a ruckus, even before the CD was released. As of my writing this, Frankel says the song has scared off at least two prominent publicists who did not want to take on the project simply on the basis of “The Big Backyard.”

The song, subtitled “The Squirrel’s Sonata,” is a squirrel’s account of life in the big backyard since the bothersome and dearly departed family dog is no longer around. Here is the first chorus: “Things are great / since the dog exploded / our cheeks are loaded with the best acorns / Things are great / since the dog went boom-boom / there’s much more room room / in the big backyard.” The song goes on to say “I guess we’ll never know the mystery / of how that hound became history.” All we know is that “He went poof right through the roof / Why? Don’t know / He goofed.”

Is this really so offensive? To my parental sensibilities, it is not. It is fantasy. I think about all the junk media out there for our kids and find this to be rather tame and actually very humorous (which is its intent). It is a happy, squirrely little tune with a country-folk feel that brought a howl of delight from my son the first time he heard it.

I find myself getting more and more conservative (parenting wise) in my views about what is appropriate media for kids, especially age-appropriate media. For instance, I’m on a big soapbox at my school because I’m furious that some of my parents think it is OK to show their second-graders the “This Land” video at www.jibjab.com, which uses the great Woody Guthrie tune to poke fun at President Bush and his Democratic challenger John Kerry—but that’s another story for another time.

If “The Big Backyard” were a video that forced images into the mind of the viewer, I would feel differently. I know from studying child development that children will let something be only as scary or violent as their own mind can handle. That’s why experts say it is OK to read stories such as the Grimm fairytales to children. Without the visuals, children use their own imaginations to interpret the stories according to their own sensibilities. When they see violent or grotesque scenes in video, however, they are forced to see someone else’s imagery.

The bottom line is that I believe kids will love this song but some tightly wound adults won’t see the humor. Consider yourself forewarned.

The remaining 11 songs are equally memorable and worthy of review. They include “Are We There Yet?”—another ode to the long family car trips spun out as only Frankel can—and the zany “Wacky Weather Watcher,” which is a hybrid of an Irish sea chantey and a pirate song. Both songs fit the childlike persona Frankel wears so well.

“Fly Fly Butterfly” is a wistful, jazzy excursion that starts out as a spoken-word piece then glides into a song extolling the beauty of the butterfly. Again, the music track helps paint the picture with a flowing flute that dives and dances like the butterfly as Frankel’s daughter, Layla, and Jenee Lucas add an innocent charm with their background vocals.

Then there is “Wilbur, the Baseball Cap,” a story about a baseball cap that gets blown into the pond during a fishing trip, only to be retrieved by a bullfrog. My son’s reaction to it is another testament to Frankel’s songwriting ability. About a week after my son first heard the CD, I heard him singing, “Wilbur, the baseball cap, sat on top of my head / Up on my head he was mostly red / With a ‘W’, a ‘W’ / A big blue ‘W.’ ”

Since Chicago is the home of the blues, it makes sense to feature some talented Chicago bluesmen (including guitarist Dave Specter) to back up Frankel as he belts out “Shoe Blues.” It is a simple story about those of us who have a hard time remembering where we put our shoes. It might be true that “they walk off by themselves.”

There are many other great songs (“Nobody’s Lunch” and “Ukelelewho?” to name two) on “Ship of Chocolate Chips,” but the final track “Boom Sh’boom” is destined to be a classic.

As Frankel explained it to me, there’s always a part of a song or CD where you sing along and you are waiting around for that cool part to come back so you can join in.

Well that part on this CD is this song—the catchy, singable and fun “Boom Sh’boom.” You’ve got to hear it. Even if all the other songs on this CD were terrible—and they aren’t—it would be worth the price just for this one song.

You and your kids are going to have a great ride aboard the Ship of Chocolate Chips.

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Fred Koch lives in Lake Bluff with his wife and son and is an award-winning music educator, children's musician and producer. His Web site, www.BestChildrensMusic.com, helps parents, teachers and librarians select quality children's music. The Web site also includes an archive of all Koch's past reviews published in Chicago Parent. Please e-mail notes and comments to fred@bestchildrensmusic.com.