FamilyWonder

FamilyWonder Grade 'A'
by Galia Baron

The goofy bespectacled farmer smiling on the CD cover (hugging a fat chicken and clutching a hefty "First Place" blue ribbon) is the proud Gunnar Madsen, whose first children’s music album received the Gold Award from the Parents’ Choice Foundation.
Mr. Madsen is best known as a composer, songwriter, and founder of the 1980s a cappella group the Bobs, a group best-known for witty covers of unconventional rock classics. (In 1984, Madsen was nominated for a Grammy for his arrangement of the Beatles’ "Helter Skelter.")
Here, Madsen serves up a creative, sassy, and utterly inventive set of whimsical tunes. "I'm a Little Twerp" is a personable depiction of a kid full of naughty mischief. In "Born to Chew (We Eat Meat)," Dinosaur Rex explains the meaning of the word "carnivore," and then bursts into a cheerful song reminiscent of 1950s rock-and-roll. "Chicken Road" finds Madsen listing chicken lipstick, chicken donuts, chickens pork chops, and any other chicken item that may amuse young listeners. Honking horns precede the "Elephant Traffic Jam," and the operatic waltz "Tiny Mosquito" makes a buzzing mosquito sound like a pesky little friend.