It's official. I'm a huge Gustafer Yellowgold fan.

If you haven't heard of Gustafer, he's a little yellow guy from the sun who came to Earth and now lives in Minnesota. He lives a kind of crazy life and enjoys jumping on cake and punching cheese and loves pinecones. His friends include an eel and a pterodactyl. And his story is told through songs and animated illustrations on DVDs created by the very talented Morgan Taylor. Kids ages 2 to 8 will like him the best, but this is one the parents won't mind at all.

I learned all about Gustafer a couple of months ago when Taylor made a stop in Carrboro for a concert at The ArtsCenter. The concert was great. Taylor's wife Rachel Loshak sang backup and worked the video as she bopped their infant son to sleep in a carrier. It was adorable.

We'd been listening to his first to CD/DVD sets "Wide Wild World" and "Have You Never Been Yellow?" for a couple of weeks before the concert. My three-year-old was completely smitten. She immediately caught on to the lyrics and joked about jumping on cake at an upcoming party we planned to attend. And I'll admit it, though Morgan says the CD and DVD are supposed to go together, she's never seen the DVD version except at the concert and still loves it.

The latest release by Taylor is absolutely a hit. "Mellow Fever" is a collection of fun, creative pop songs with some great hooks that just carry on the story of Gustafer's zany life. Taylor's friends Lisa Loeb and John Stirratt and Pat Sansone of Wilco help him out with his latest, which will be released Tuesday. The DVD includes the lyrics so you can sing along, a plus for beginning readers.

"Mellow Fever" might just be the best of the three so far with songs about panther stamp pants, climbing a tree and Gustafer's sunpod. It's all just a refreshing, creative alternative to most of the other kids music out there.

You can check out some of the music and video on YouTube or at the official Yellowgold Web site.

Check out our other daily themes at TriangleMom2Mom:

MONDAY: Meet!
TUESDAY: Ask!
WEDNESDAY: Eat!
THURSDAY: Play!
FRIDAY: Out!
WEEKEND: Relax!