Uncle Moishy – Welcome!

“Hey dum diddly dum” and “Now it’s time to say Shalom” take a backseat as Uncle Moishy introduces a new batch of songs on his latest album, Welcome!  Everyone’s favorite Uncle has loads to share about mitzvos and middos and anything your little ones might think about…  The introductory Welcome song sets the tone with a fun musical intro, and sets the stage as kids enter the world of Uncle Moishy.

The Clean Up song is my kids’ favorite track on the album.  Musically, it’s an exciting and upbeat song that’s super catchy; cleaning up has never been this much fun!  Clean Up may just be the new universal song to replace “Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share…”  As a mother, I love that Uncle Moishy addresses putting toys in their respective places so that they easily be found the next time around – maybe now our cleaning up process will involve more than just dumping toys from the playroom floor to the windowsill!

Can You Lend a Hand is jam packed with practical examples of mitzvos that are so simple for kids to do – from holding open the door to putting a penny in the pushka, each one is relatable and doable for the young listeners (for older listeners, too!).  Throughout this album, I keep finding myself amazed at how much information Uncle Moishy manages to squeeze into each song, while still iterating each word slowly and clearly to best speak to his child audiences.

Musically, Take Turns is my favorite – the instrumental and tempo are enough to brighten anyone’s day.  The song is prefaced by a short narrative depicting an experience of sharing, and leads into a fun and spirited rendition about the beauty of sharing.  I find sharing to be one of the biggest challenges in my household – if anyone can solve this age-old issue, it’s gotta be Uncle Moishy, no?

The Achdus song is so beautiful – while geared towards younger listeners, I can absolutely see this song making the cut for Color War and ‘round-the-fire Kumzitz renditions.  The message resonates through all age groups, “K’ish Echad… together you and I…”

I’m still not sure why this album is titled “Welcome,” but I guess when there are so many great songs, it must be hard to highlight one track over another!  While there are some children’s albums I am tempted to hide after the first listen, I have found this one to be both enjoyable and enlightening, and fun and practical for my kids.  We have reserved this CD for bedtime listening, and night after night, my kids race happily to bed, eager to take delight in Uncle Moishy’s “Welcome.”