I’ve mentioned this before, but one of the ways that Sarah and I trying to branch out here at the ol’ blog is to include non-book resources in our library of reviews. Up today are the fantastic Slugs & Bugs CDs!
What first drew me to Slugs & Bugs was Andrew Peterson, who co-created the first S&B album with Randall Goodgame. I’ve been an Andrew Peterson fan for years (please tell me you know and love his Christmas album!) and I’d listen to anything by him. We all know there is plenty of children’s music out there that we’d really rather not listen to, but I was absolutely sure that if Andrew Peterson was behind a CD for kids it would be worth trying out. And… I was right!
Since the first Slugs and Bugs album, Randall Goodgame has taken the driver’s seat (though Andrew Peterson does make appearances in each recording) and now I can say that I’d listen to anything he writes or sings as well. Randall has an incredible knack for songwriting for children and their parents. His funny songs are hilarious. His serious ones are tender and moving. His God-centered ones are just right for little ones – he deals with all sorts of meaty topics but always in ways that communicate God’s love towards children.
Thematically there is an incredible variety of songwriting going on in these CDs and I adore that about them. Over the course of an hour you hear an ode to Mexican food, a song about confessing wrongdoing, a moving lullaby, and a song about potty training. The silly songs and the spiritual songs and the sleepytime songs are all right there together, comfortably side by side. In other words, it’s just like life. We can’t artificially divide ourselves into mind and spirit and body, and the Slugs & Bugs songs really reflects that.
Our very favorite way to listen to Slugs & Bugs is a playlist with a handful of songs from each album, but I personally think that the best album as a whole is Under Where? so if you’re new to Slugs & Bugs I’d recommend starting there. All of the current CDs are available at Rabbit Room (do yourself a favor and poke around there for a few minutes) and the most recent two are at Amazon, too. Happily, there’s a new one coming out this fall, but this one will be slightly different: just like the wonderful Seeds Family Worship, all of the songs will be Scripture set to music! You can check out the details on their Kickstarter page and see lots of song previews at the Slugs & Bugs blog. We will be the first ones in the (virtual) line ready to buy it on release day!
Aslan's Library 
We love, love, love Slugs and Bugs at our house: and in general (full disclosure), I avoid kids’ music like the plague. It actually took me about 3 months to put the CD in the player after Haley sent it. And of course, I was immediately charmed. It’s a hoot. At any given point my children perplex innocent bystanders by suddenly breaking into song about bears and their lack of cares, or being “adopted” (into God’s family, of course).