OWTK has been covering the WorryWoos from the start (hi Nola!). You remember, those adorable, beautifully illustrated books and snuggly plush monsters of emotion?
Today the world, or at least those who watch morning TV, discovered 'em too.
The WorryWoo Monsters were featured on NBC's The Today Show (holy cow!) this morning. The nation saw Squeek and Rue, heard about The Monster in the Bubble Book and learned a bit about the idea behind the Woos.
I could sum up this review in two little words: NO FAIL.
If your kids are anything like mine - young and, at times, easily frustrated with failure - you've probably had a hard time playing Rock Band with them. A half a minute or so of missed notes and wham! - they're gone. As a family, we hardly play our Wii Rock Band because of the impossible expectations - hell, I can't even master the guitar on EASY. So, to paraphrase Vampire Weekend, "my kids don't stand a chance."
Along comes LEGO Rock Band to change all that, making the Rock Band experience easy enough for even 2-year old kids to enjoy thanks to a Super Easy Mode. Add some sweet tunes from the aforementioned Vampire Weekend, Blur, Kaiser Chiefs, Foo Fighters and a ton more, including, um Korn? seriously? (click here for full song list), and you've got the making of a fun, interactive game that the entire family can enjoy.
The ability to rock out as pirates, the band members of Queen, Blur and Spinal Tap, or crazy LEGO people doesn't hurt either!
If you've got kids, love music and know your way around a pile of a LEGOs, you're going to have a blast playing LEGO Rock Band - we do (even if the font size for the lyrics is woefully small, even on our big screen).
LEGO Rock Band is fully compatible with Rock Band instruments, so if you've got those already, all you need is to buy the game. That being said, how cool would a primary color LEGO guitar and drum kit be?
I won't go as far as to call LEGO Rock Band a modern classic, but it's a fantastic way to allow very young kids into the Rock Band club.
*The LEGO Rock Band game for Nintendo Wii was provided to OWTK for review. The opinions expressed above are unbiased and true - no arm twisting took place in the review process.
I cannot play the guitar. I'm also inept on the drums, harmonica, kazoo, trumpet, bongos and triangle. I cannot play anything. Got no musical game at all. That's why I RAN a record label, as opposed to being in a band that's ON a record label.
While I don't know how to use musical instruments to produce sounds worth hearing, I do have a good enough sense to tell if an instrument is well made. Okay, maybe I couldn't tell you about the differences, pro and con, between a Gretsch and a Ludwig drum kit but in general, I can put stuff through a decent eye test.
With children's musical instruments, these tests are usually a breeze. That's because there is so much junk for sale and said junk is usually painted with a multitude of primary colors (you know, just like real instruments!) and are predominately made of cheap plastic. Throw some images of the latest Disney branded "stars" onto the packaging or the product itself (or both!) and the job of deciphering between quality and crap gets even easier.
When I first saw the First Act Discovery 30" guitar, it had already passed it's first test - it actually looks like a real acoustic guitar. It also feels like a real guitar and that's because it's a real hardwood instrument. Now, it's not a Gibson - First Act certainly isn't giving tours of their guitar factory - but it's much more than a toy.
The guitar, at 30 inches long, is the perfect starter instrument for the music-lovin' kindergarten/grade school age child. The size is perfect for 4-8 year olds...the Bear, a tallish gal who just celebrated her 5th birthday, has no problems grasping and hanging on to this axe.
The First Act Discovery Guitar comes complete with chord cards that your child can slide between the fret board and the strings. Doing so will show your future Jimmy Page where exactly they must place their little fingers to make a C chord, D Minor, etc. It's a nice touch that can only assist in the musical development of a young child. Additionally, the guitar features a zero fret that ensures low string action for easier playing.
Missing here (and to be fair, it's missing with every kid's guitar I've ever seen) is a way to tune the thing. It'd be a nice touch to find a way to incorporate some sort of basic tuning device so a child can hear how an acoustic guitar is supposed to sound, you know, the way the instrument sounds on the great kid's records that I review here on OWTK.
Priced at a fair and friendly $30, you should set your expectations accordingly. You won't be stunned by the craftsmanship, as you might if you'd plunked down 4-5 times this dollar amount for a pint-sized guitar from a music shop. Rather, you'll be quite pleased that you've found a sweet little acoustic guitar to launch the musical life of a young child...and did so for less than the cost of a new Nintendo DS game.
OWTK is a daddy blog where musings on parenthood, society and culture mingle with kid's music reviews, children's book reviews, and reviews of various toys and films. If you've got a family-oriented product and would like to submit it to OWTK for a possible review, please contact me (email address in the logo)
OWTK has been covering the WorryWoos from the start (hi Nola!). You remember, those adorable, beautifully illustrated books and snuggly plush monsters of emotion? 
