Two of my very favorite art things I have ever purchased for my children are having special Cyber Monday deals. And two great tastes are even better together! I know this is late notice, but thought I would share in case at least a couple of you can take advantage….
I am mentioning these because I love their work and my kids have been enjoying them for years, and if you are fast, they have some great sales (that will unfortunately be ending today). That being said, I will get a small commission (THANK YOU!- and it won’t cost you anymore) if you buy after clicking through my affiliate links to Maestro Classics.
And I extra love their work together….
Maestro Classics makes classical music and story recordings. My boys have LOVED their CDs of Peter and the Wolf, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shove, and The Tortoise and the Hare. Now that I have a girl old enough to start paying attention, I’ll try to add in a “girlier” piece to our rotation, like The Story of Swan Lake. 😉
We have listened to them so much, I have large portions of these CDs memorized.
At odd times, I will find myself humming about selling pretzels along the Champs-Elysee, or thinking someone said something “in rather a mean way.”(These statements will make TOTAL sense once you have listened to these CDs. 
)
And, just in time for the Christmas holiday, they just came out with the Nutcracker! We just listened to it during a long drive yesterday, and it was phenomenal. My children haven’t seen the Nutcracker ballet yet, but the visual pictures the narrator (Jim Weiss, loved by many) painted were amazing. My middle child was already talking about “killing the Mouse King” (yep, he’s definitely a boy…) today. 
Through Cyber Monday, they have a special sale going on- up to 70% off, and free shipping!
Sarah Jane makes beautiful prints and illustrations. Some of her lovely pieces have been made into fabric, wallpaper, and even lovely charm necklaces.
I have some of her lovely prints, to inspire my littles, over our giant jacket and backpack rack.
But MY favorite thing is her stunning paper puppet sets. You buy an instantly downloadable pdf file, then hunker down with some great scissors and/or exacto knife. With the addition of a few miniature brads and some sticks (I actually used the wooden coffee stir sticks from Starbucks for ours, but the pictures below are hers), you have these amazing articulated puppets that your children can use to recreate these beautiful tales, or make up their own!
I have her Peter & the Wolf Set, which was her first one, that I made years ago.
I might try laminating them before I cut out my next set, to give them a little more longevity (our wolf lost a leg, and the feathers on the bird are a little sad after some toddler attention).
She also has out a new Alice in Wonderland puppet set, just in time for the 150th Anniversary of the story!
Sarah Jane has a lovely sale for Cyber Monday as well- 30% off!Just enter the promo code “GIVETHANKS”.
I am actually buying the Midsummer Night’s Dream set, as I have grand plans of trying to introduce my children to some Shakespeare soon.
So, in case you didn’t notice Maestro Classics AND Sarah Jane have BOTH The Nutcracker and Peter and the Wolf!!! Munchkins can listen, and act along with their puppets, or listen and use the puppets to “narrate back” the story after,… or your littles can just walk around with them and make them do crazy “dancing.”
Happy shopping, and, even more, happy great times with your children!