The Land of Sometimes Review

There's only so much CBeebies I can take.  And it's certainly less than Squeaky would like.  We discovered their podcasts recently, and she's taken to demanding them while we're out in the car, so I was really pleased when The Land Of Sometimes popped through our door to review.

From the fantasy cover, I figured we were in for an adventure.  We joined the twins, Alfie & Elise on their journey to "The Land of Sometimes", and met a whole host of characters, including Little Twink the fairy, the Willow Tree Choir Boy, and my personal favourite, Mr Smaller Than Smaller Than Smaller Small Thing!  (yes, you did read that right. I had to check it 3 times).

The CD is a mixture of a narrated story, and songs covering a whole range of musical styles, from reggae to Irish Folk, disco & jazz, it's a good introduction to different types of music, and it keeps your attention too.  Squeaky seems to enjoy it, I've seen her bopping around in her car seat, and she's not demanding "More Beebies" like she normally does, so that's a big positive.

The CD comes with an illustrated book, following the children's journey.  It's beautifully illustrated, but my one criticism is that I'd like to have seen more of the story written in the book, rather than just illustrations of the people and places.  I remember having the vinyl album soundtrack of The Water Babies when I was a kid (yes, showing my age), which had a booklet attached to the cover and you could follow parts of the narration, developing reading skills while listening to what becomes a familiar recording.

There's 31 tracks on the CD, which sounds like LOADS, but many of the narrated tracks are under a minute, and most of the songs are around the 3 minute mark, so it's no longer than, well a CD can't be more than 75 minutes anyway.  As most of the tracks are short, it's easy to dip in & out as well, just listen to a few minutes at a time.

The Land Of Sometimes is available to Pre-order on Amazon, and is released on 6 February 2012.

Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of The Land Of Sometimes to review. All opinions are my own, and I was not told what to write.  I am not an Amazon affiliate, the above link is provided for your convenience only, I will not gain from your using it.