Josephine is a huge hit in my house right now. We listen to it two to five times a day, and this is a thirty minute story.

Josephine the Short Necked Giraffe isn't happy about how she looks. She sings about it. Then her friend Hazel the elephant comes home, singing all the way. "We Are Elephants" is our absolute favorite song on the record, followed by the climactic "I'm Glad I'm the Way I Am."

This is a story narrated by Mr. Rogers with his trademark gentleness. There's no modern day irony or nudge nudge wink wink to the adult audience. The moral of the story is heavy handed but it doesn't feel trite the way a similar lesson from Bearnstein Bears or Dora might. For one thing, the quality of the singing and the songs is so much higher than in those shows. We had one really funny dinner time moment:

John: We
Rose: All
Debby: Are
David: Elephants!

All of us putting on our best gravely elephant voices.

My bottom line is David is eager to hear it as we drive half an hour to a friend's house and will curl up with Josephine as I take my nap.

I think you can download it for free here.