Phineas McBoof, a rock star monkey and member of the touring Band of Misunderstood Geniuses, eventually finds the crowds too unwieldy, so he sneaks away. The other band members, including Backbone the Octopus, Bottomus the Hip Popotamus, Riley the Robot, Lenny Longtail, Sidney the Beak, the Ooh Gah Boo Gus monsters, Placido Flamingo, Luciano Frogerati, and Dr. Noize, go looking for him and find him conducting an orchestra. So the band members decide to join the orchestra as well. Phineas and the orchestra members have to overcome obstacles such as interfering parents and levitating instruments on their way to putting on their concert. This two-act musical comedy features Grammy-winning stage singers Isabel Leonard and Nathan Gunn, the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Colorado Children’s Chorale. Opera and show tunes dominate the musical styles. During the course of the story, the orchestra explores types of music from different eras: early (Gregorian chant), baroque (Bach), classical (Mozart), romantic (Chopin), and contemporary (jazz). They also play and discuss Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.

Our grammar is worse than it has ever been and many of us are concerned that we are dumbing ourselves down with each innovation in technology. Fortunately, if you seek it, you can find it. This vocabulary-rich and easy to follow story is cute and clever. Each part of speech has a song and musical style. My children absolutely gobbled up the book and music; whereas many teaching tools tend to be girl-centric this is something that appeals to both genders. Perfect for home, school, and homeschool environments, Grammaropolis is just what I was looking for when I was teaching and I’m excited to have it for my own children’s use. Visually designed to keep young children engaged, with energetic music to boot, kids will connect and have fun learning. It’s clever enough that adults could benefit from a refresher course as well. After a couple of sessions with Grammaropolis the whole family will be ready for the next episode of family Mad Libs.

I just have to say thaaaannnk you! I wish you could have seen the smile my son had on his face when I told him that you had made him the Noizemaker of the Month. And, when I read what you said in your blog — it just made him smile bigger. I think it was a huge ego boost especially coming from Doctor Noize who is his favorite artist to listen to….we’re still listening every day! So, I thought you might like to see how much my son has grown as a singer since that last video. He normally doesn’t allow me to videotape as he prefers I watch and he will usually do 4 of your songs back to back doing all the instruments (kazoo, drums, guitar) himself depending on the song. But, on this occasion he had Dad play most of the instruments except the short stint of guitar playing (using his golf club). He really belts it out there. Take a look. Thanks for being such a wonderful influence on our budding musician.