“My mom raised me since I was a baby, thought I knew her well”– so begins the title track about a kid’s agonizing embarrassment over his mother’s unbridled cheerleading at the big game. Singer-songwriter and children’s author-illustrator Barney Saltzberg sets a child’s day-to-day experiences and flights of fancy to pop and country rhythms with a warm and familial manner that invites listeners to join in. Child-savvy songs include “I Want a New Toy!,” “What Would You Do If You Had Nothing to Do?,” and “I’m Not Tired, I Don’t Want to Go to Bed!”
The only misfit is a mournful recognition of the plight of coyotes trying to survive in suburbia (“We’re Coyotes”). It seems out of place among the other tracks. Saltzberg is at his best inviting excursions into the imagination, transforming an ordinary “Yard Sale” into a treasure hunt for little explorers; understanding those times when a kid just needs to be “Mad” for awhile, and offering comfort that “Best Friends” are forever, even if one has moved away.
Lynne Heffley ©2002 Parents’ Choice
To purchase album on iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/soccer-mom-from-outer-space/id72795138