Dingle Dangle Scarecrow product reviews

Excitement and laughter rang out when I opened our review box of goodies! We are already huge fans of the singing books and have acquired the likes of Do You're Ears Hang Low and She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain into our home library from Jenny Cooper and The Topp Twins. The Dingle Dangle Scarecrow didn't fail to entertain in our household.

We were already familiar with the chorus of this book from toddler music class, but had no idea there were so many verses! It was brilliant to read through them all, and then work out the music with the enclosed CD. The repetition was fun and educational, and by the 2nd time, Miss 5 was singing the chorus with me and helping to read the words in the book. The pictures helped as the worked matched up perfectly to the song. Miss 1 really enjoyed the book also, and the colourful pages helped keep her attention for the entire book...twice! The board book is an excellent idea as it is more resilient to toddlers so I wasn't too worried about her holding the book by herself.

The story song itself kept me interested as well! The bright and colourful pages helped lead us through a fun adventure with different farm animals with the scarecrow as the main character. The Dingle Dangle Scarecrow is a funny and interactive book which I can't recommend enough, and I won't hesitate to buy as a gift. At around $20, the price is perfect and definitely value for money.

Dingle, Dangle Scarecrow is such a fun book that every daycare child and teacher who I have ever introduced this book to has loved. The fact that it has a CD with it which is sung by the Topp Twins is an even bigger bonus, and adds a whole other level of fun to it. As a teacher I must admit that I just love it when books come with a CD as it means that I don't have to listen to the sound of my own voice, especially when it comes to such a book which is more of a singing book that a reading book.

At my daycare we have a song which we sing about the Dingle Dangle Scarecrow so this was a great addition to this song, the children loved listening to the story being read/sung on the stereo while looking at the pages, but even more they loved being able to jump up and join in with all the silly, crazy scarecrow actions. While my 3 year old used to adore this book, she had gone right off it in the last few months due to having a fear of the scarecrows in her room at night, luckily this phase seems to have passed and this book has made a reappearance in the last few days which I was delighted to see, as I just love it.

The illustrations in the book are a pure delight and feature very cute, friendly scarecrows and a whole lot of lovely animals who Miss 3 just loves to name and make the corresponding sounds of. The chorus of the song is very catchy and children just love to join in with this, after reading/listening to the book only 2 or 3 times I find that many children do pick up the words to the chorus.

A very delightful book which I would definitely recommend purchasing, it's great to read along to with children, but it is also a great book which they can be left alone with to listen to and enjoy due to it having a read along Cd, it gets a big thumbs up from me, and being only $21 it makes it a great buy.

I like the Topp Twins' music - they have the knack of making a very simple song sound amazing! But we did not start with the CD as Miss Four was in the bath when I arrived with it, so I read it to her and showed her the pictures while I was perched on the edge and trying to avoid the splashes. By the third chorus, Miss Four was already joining in with great energy and splashing her legs in time with the music. And by the end of the book, she pretty well knew the chorus by heart.

After she was safely in her pyjamas, we went out into the sitting room and put on the CD so we could find out how the tune went. It was very easy to follow and we were quickly singing along to it at the tops of our voices. Miss Four added some actions, shaking her hands and then her feet at the appropriate places, and trying to join in with the last words in each verse. The chorus kept repeating so that was very quickly mastered. When we got to the final chorus and the words changed slightly to show that the Scarecrow was sleepy, Miss Four stopped dancing and subsided gently on to the floor. At this stage, Mr Six arrived home and joined in with the second run through.

The graphics are seriously cute. Miss Four was able to identify all the animals although we disagreed on one of them - I thought the little creature on the top of the scarecrow's hat was a rat but Miss Four said it was definitely a mouse! We talked about the meaning of the word scarecrow and how it is really made up of two words, and Miss Four learned that a crow is a bird. She commented that the crows did not seem to be too unhappy even though they were meant to be frightened.

As I write this review, I am listening to Miss Four singing the chorus over and over. And I am even humming it myself. It will be quite some time before either of us can get it out of our heads! Another winner from Scholastic.

I was given a copy of this book to review and was keen to introduce it to the 2, 3 and 4 year olds at the presechool where I work, as they are familiar with (and love) the others in the Top Twins series. I love that it has a CD with it, as it's definitely a book that lends itself to singing and I can't help but sing along... so at least I'm drowned out by some decent singing!

However it wasn't long before I was drowned out by great hilarity too, as both times I've read it to a large group of children, they laugh and laugh at the chorus. I myself can't quite see why it's quite that hilarious, but it seems to really tickle children's funny bones! The pictures are certainly well drawn and provide a great visual to what is going on in the song. I love that in all the hilarity though, the scarecrow calms down and goes to sleep at the end... so the children calm down by the end of the book too - perfect.

I then brought the book home to read to my 7 year old who really enjoyed it and loved that she could follow the words and turn the pages at the correct place on her own. We noticed that the CD plays a musical only version too, so you can also sing along on your own. This is a great book that can be enjoyed over and over again and if you get sick of reading it, then you just put the CD on and let the child 'read' it themselves. I'm a huge fan of CD books and this is no exception. I highly recommend it.

The first time I showed this book to Miss 3, she said "no! no Scarecrows, mummy!". I showed her the cover art, and she just kept pushing it away and asking for another dinosaur related book. But as she has enjoyed our copy of "Do your Ears Hang Low?", I refused to give up. I started to read and then sing the verses in the book. She pushed her hands at me for the first verse. The next verse she was looking surly but doing the actions. By the third verse she was doing the actions, singing heartily along to the chorus. At the end she said "again!"

That is the magic of a book like this. Even though she didn't think it had anything to offer her, once her eyes were open to the fun inside, she was sold. Every night for the last week she has asked for dinosaurs AND scarecrows. Which is amazing, because I really didn't know if anything would squeak in around her other obsession.

On the second, third and fourth read through, she started to take note of the animals in the book She likes to point to the detailed illustrations of the farm animals and say what they are. Then she offers me more information on each, such as what noise it makes or what it might eat. She likes the way the song has actions for us to do, but also we vary the way we sing it depending on the verse - quiet or loud, for example.

Lastly she noticed the CD, and how it throws a rainbow at her when she moves the case open and shut. I put the CD one for her the other day and she loved it. The CD has one sing through with The Topp Twins which is excellent, and then a karaoke style track for you to use as well. I can imagine this will go in the car on repeat for a wee bit. It's a catchy wee tune so I don't mind, great excuse to be silly together.

The price on this book is pretty standard for a soft cover with CD. It is great value, and would make an excellent gift. While Miss 3 has been enjoying it, Miss 8 has definitely participated in a bit of silly dancing as a result of me singing along to this book.