Putumayo Kids announces the newest addition to its award-winning catalog: French Playground, a musical rendez-vous of fun French and French Creole songs that will delight children of all ages. French Playground reflects the rich variety of Francophone music. It features 12 songs by artists from France, the Caribbean, Africa and Quebec.

Bilingual families and children learning French or English will enjoy the fact that the complete lyrics for each song are printed in both languages. As with all Putumayo CDs, French Playground features full-color liner notes with artist and cultural information. The CD is a great resource for language and social studies teachers.

The artists on French Playground include some of the most popular children’s performers in their respective countries, along with successful pop artists such as Pascal Parisot, Thomas Fersen, Tryo and Ariane Moffat whose songs were selected for their all-ages appeal. Musical styles range from French chanson and Gypsy jazz to the twoubadou music of Haiti and the rootsbending style of Triton, who is from Mauritius, an island off the east coast of Africa.

Gallic joie de vivre is expressed in each of the tunes, from the opening song’s invitation to “tickle the sun” with a ladybug (Chatouiller le Ciel avec Toi), to songs that celebrate the beauty of the South of France (Clic-Clac Oh C’est Beau!). Some of the tracks provide tasty little slices of French life, including "Bonjour, Bonjour," which tells of a little bus’s journey past boulangeries and other neighborhood spots. Children will also enjoy a young man’s memories of staying with his grandparents (Petit Francais).

Other family-friendly CDs and multicultural activity kits are included in the multi-award winning Putumayo Kids collection. Putumayo Kids CDs are regularly selected for “Best of the Year” lists by national parenting magazines and organizations. Since the 1999 release of World Playground, Putumayo Kids has built a strong following among kids, parents and educators. The company’s multicultural educational programs have reached more than 300,000 students and teachers.