Reviewed by Ian Hayter

Somewhere in Tennessee there must be a locked room where a small group of Wonder Workshop staff writers toil away at their word processors, cutting and pasting sentences from the Bible with lines of half-forgotten children's songs and passing them on to a musician with a fairly basic Portasound keyboard, pre-programmed with bouncy musical phrases which can be rearranged at will to provide another set of happy sounding melodies. The results are rushed off to a studio full of young children and a guest vocalist (in this case Marty Magehee of 4HIM) and hurriedly recorded by someone on a work experience scheme. From such a factory of faith-filled fun comes this next offering from Wonder Kids, 12 songs (repeated in split-track, as always) based on Bible verses and intended to teach faith. So, from the opening "My Compassionate Friend", based on Psalm 111:5, which teaches about God's provision, we move through to the final "Our God And Friend", based on Psalm 40:14 and teaching about God's guidance. They're all very jolly and, no doubt, the kind of songs that stick in kids' minds (I couldn't get a couple of them out of my mind all morning). The teaching contained in them cannot be faulted (of course it can't - it's Bible-based) and the idea behind them is a very good one. But it's all so unimaginative and same-y (although Mr Magehee does make a brave attempt to add a little something extra). Maybe I'm getting Wonder Kids fatigue, but surely they must be capable of better than this.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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