Track #2 is now LIVE!!! Watch & subscribe here:

Listen to "Brushing Them" here:

Click here for the "Brushing Them" Silly Songbook!

SILLY SONGBOOKS: WHAT ARE THOOOOOOOSE???

Banboo Silly Songbooks™ are literacy-boosting singalong songbooks which turbocharge reading education. They contain as many reading tricks, hacks, and shortcuts as possible in a single book that helps kids practice reading without even realizing it. We're talking about proven reading education accelerators, like:

  • music,
  • rhyme,
  • repetition,
  • shared reading,
  • predictable text,
  • letter-sound correspondence,
  • same-language subtitling, and
  • a big, fat hefty dose of silly FUN!

We stuffed these research-supported methods into an educational experience that makes even adults start nodding their heads to the beat. The first track, "Wash Your Hands a Lot," is a parody of rap legend Snoop Dogg's "Drop It Like It's Hot"* and is already available on all your favorite streaming services. Just think of Banboo as a rounder, fluffier, kid version of the great "Weird Al" Yankovic (who just so happens to be one of our idols).

For more info, check out our Kickstarter right here!

COOL STORY, BRO. HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT THAN EVERY OTHER KID THING OUT THERE?

WHY YOU SHOULD GET THIS:

Banboo Silly Songbooks help children become better readers without even trying.

Did you know that turning on subtitles while children are watching TV can double the chances of a child becoming good at reading? IT CAN! In fact, according to a 2014 academic study of 2,350 children, 34% became good readers with schooling alone. But when exposed to 30 minutes a week of subtitled film songs, that proportion more than doubled to 70%.† So, if we can get kids to follow along to a song they know, then their reading skills will automatically improve.

AND THAT'S PRETTY DARN COOL!

HOW IT WORKS:

Although it's tough to learn if you're not paying attention, kids learn more if they're interested in what's happening in front of them. Subtitled audio-visual content that is interesting to children creates associations in their brains by leveraging the language and letter-sound correspondence that they already know. Sing-a-long songs and repeatedly listened to music have the additional advantage of predictable text. By watching and listening to content that children are motivated to watch, their visual and auditory pathways involved in reading are strengthened gradually, seemingly without any effort at all.

And you DON'T even need to play the song each time your kid picks up the book! Children's brains are like sponges, so just listen in the car, and the magic will happen later even without the song playing along.

TLDR: HIGH INTEREST CONTENT IS THE KEY TO READING PRACTICE, AND READING ALONG TO A SONG YOU KNOW IS A GREAT WAY TO LEARN.

IS THIS REAL LIFE?

According to MIT’s John Gabrieli, a leader in the field of cognitive neurosciences, emotion and motivation “propel learning very powerfully.”‡ And according to every single teacher, coach, and instructor in the history of time, "practice makes perfect."

Kids will want to listen to these catchy and fun songs whether they're in the car or at home with the book in their lap, and adults will love that they're learning while doing so.

NO MESSING AROUND WITH APPS, SUBSCRIPTIONS, OR OTHER HEADACHES. JUST SCAN & PLAY!

First thing's first: Banboo doesn't require any subscription fees or annoying apps.

Getting the correct song to play couldn't be easier: The first page of each songbook contains QR codes to scan with any smartphone camera which let's you play the song on the streaming platform of your choice (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, etc.), play it 100% free on the website, or download it for a couple quarters into the jukebox for offline play. Again, Banboo requires no extra fees or subscriptions. NADA!

So, what are you waiting for? GET OUT THERE! But be careful, because these lyrics are dangerous!!!