Any mummy of a preschooler (who owns a television set) will know who Justin Fletcher is. He is the king of Cbeebies and even has an OBE! Currently on Cbeebies, Justin stars in and produces Gigglebiz, Something Special and Justins House – he is one busy fellow!

Over the years we’ve grown to love him and all his amusing characters. He has an incredible way of engaging with children through comedy and song. Around a year ago, Littlelish spent many, many months being obsessed with Mr. Tumble and we purchased Justin Fletcher Sings Something Special. We LOVED this album with all its quirky, catchy songs and it got a lot of play in our house!

Needless to say we were eagerly anticipating  the launch of “Hands Up” on the 5th of March and thanks to Louise at Rock and Roll Baby world we were sent the new CD to review for you all.

Littlelish and I were both quite surprised when we first put the new album on. It was not quite as expected. We were introduced  to “Hands up” by its title track and wow it was a disco tune, Ibiza style! Littlelish looked at me perplexed “erm, mummy shall we see what the next song is?” I agreed wondering if it was too much for her…. It turns out she actually she just wanted to do what mummy normally does when she gets a new cd, listening to 30 seconds of each song and excitedly declaring “oooh lets see what the next song is”.

There were plenty of familiar songs like the wheels on the bus, incy wincy spider, etc. Much to my delight there were also some new ones penned by Justin and some good golden oldies that I had forgotten about like Who is afraid of the big bad wolf, Nellie the elephant and Teddy bears picnic. Anyone who knows us personally will know that littlelish loves singing and at the grand old age of 2.5 can sing every childrens song I know from start to finish including Doe a deer, so all new songs are very welcome!

After doing a quick reconnaissance listen we went back to listen to the CD in more depth. By this time we were used to the disco beats and actually saw how cleverly they jazzed up these old favourites along with Justin and his many voices. We decided this would be an excellent party CD as it really makes you want to get up and dance. Yes even Daddylish and I were up dancing to many of the tracks including the Hokey Cokey. The music style is maintained throughout with excellent continuity which is also why I think it would really work well at a party. Having said this the variety of songs is perfect, there are songs to dance to, to do actions to, to sing along to… Something special for everyone!

I’m sure it is not the CD that you could quietly listen to in the background and I don’t know how long we will be able to endure the disco beats in the car. But this CD is meant to get you up dancing, having fun and giggling! And it certainly does just that :)

Hands Up by Justin Fletcher is available from Amazon

1. Hands Up                                                              
2. The Hokey Cokey                                                 
3. Music Man                                                              
4. The Sun Has Got His Hat On                           
5. The Grand Old Duke Of York                             
6. The Teddy Bear’s Picnic                                      
7. Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes                   
8. Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf                  
9. The Laughing Policeman                                   
10. Old MacDonald                                                  
11. Nellie The Elephant
12. Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside
13. Incy Wincy Spider
14. The Wheels On The Bus
15. If You’re Happy And You Know It
16. Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush
17. Ten In A Bed
18. Frére Jacques
19. The Sailors Lament
20. Justin’s Lullaby