Of four new kids' album we've been spinning in our house this month, we'd highly recommend three of them, and the fourth is sure to be of interest to some.

Enter Sandbox

StarFish

Sarina and I are in love with StarFish's second album. Enter Sandbox is a tongue-in-cheek look at childhood, as sung to rock music. "My Name is No" is about a child who hears the word "No" so often ("No, don't do that!") that he thinks it's his name; "Time Out" is the anthem for kids who are mad about being punished for their naughty deeds; "Spread Your Wings" is about leaving the video games and going outside to play. But our favorite is "Elephant," a silly song with a great chorus ("And if I can't tell right from wrong/My family's there to learn from/And if I can't tell what to do/My friends are there to lean on").

Sometimes, when music is done right, you can just feel the fun the band had when they were working on it - like in this case. My only beef is the rip-off of Shel Silverstein's poem "Sick," which has the same punch line as StarFish's song "Sick Day." Aside from that, these New Jersey dads really know how to rock the kiddie tunes. | $10 on CD from Amazon.com

Be Nice

Leeny and Steve

Be Nice is an infectious album. My favorite track, a rockin' tune called "What Have You Done With All The Penguins?!," is about a family trip to the aquarium, whereupon they find that the penguin exhibit is mysteriously closed. It's the kind of song that gets stuck in your head - but you don't even mind, because it's that cool. You'll catch yourself bopping along to it out in public and grinning.

The album is a combination of silly songs ("Stinky Diaper") and songs that have lessons ("Ain't Ain't a Word"). Overall, it's good-hearted and spirited music that should be a hit with the preschool crowd and parents. | $9 MP3 Download / $16 CD on Amazon.com

Tiny Cool

Princess Katie and Racer Steve

It normally takes me a few listens to really catch on to a CD and figure out if I like it or not, but Tiny Cool is one of those special ones that immediately became a hit in our house.

With subjects such as parties, sand in a sandwich at the beach, being shy, being honest about what happened at school, and individuality, this one is geared more toward the kindergarten and early grade school audience. It’s high-energy kiddie rock, and it shows serious musicianship. There’s even a horn section featuring members of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

Tiny Cool is the third release by this Manhattan-based husband-and-wife team, who are now touring nationally. | $9 as an MP3 Download from Amazon.com

Green Golly and Her Golden Flute

Flute Sweet and Tickletoon

Green Golly is an album with a mission, designed to introduce kids to classical music on the flute in an entertaining way. The bulk of this CD is the reimagined tale of Rapunzel, now known as "Green Golly." Green Golly's hungry parents trade her to a witch for a salad. The witch is concerned that Green Golly is getting very attractive and boys are paying too much attention to her, so she locks the girl in a tower. Green Golly has nothing much to do in her tower except grow hair and play her new flute. Luckily, it turns out that she really likes her flute, and she uses it to play Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, and others.

For us, this CD straddles the line between being entertaining and being just plain too weird and over-the-top. I wouldn't listen to it again. I have a feeling it works better in a live performance. However, my opinion may be against the grain; I've now read several reviews of this CD from people who found it creative and funny. | $9 MP3 Download from Amazon.com

Jenna Glatzer (www.jennaglatzer.com) is the author of 19 books. Her most recent collaboration is Unthinkable with Scott Rigsby, the first double-amputee to finish the world-famous Hawaiian Ironman triathlon. Jenna lives with her two-year-old daughter in New York. - Jenna Glatzer

Three CDs that we love this month, and one that… well, I vaguely abhor, but you might not. Hope you enjoy!

Why Does Gray Matter? and other brainy songs for kids

Roger Day (2010)

Must admit, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I saw Roger Day's album sleeve. Brainy songs for kids? Didn't sound like much fun. Especially since nearly every song had the word "brain" in the title.

Turns out Why Does Gray Matter? is, in fact, a ridiculously fun collection of songs. It's a tribute to intelligence that hip nerdster parents like me will adore. One of my favorite tracks compares the left brain and the right brain, declaring that the left brain loves to do taxes and the right brain wants to rock the house. It's one of my favorites because it's so unexpected: the left brain parts are sung to a string quartet, while the right brain parts are sung as British punk rock. And I am positive that I've never heard the words "deep basal ganglia" in a children's song before. Or any other type of song, for that matter.

If you liked Schoolhouse Rock, chances are good that this will be up your alley. [$15 CD]

Pickin' & Grinnin': Great Songs for Kids

Assorted Artists (2010)

Every family needs to have at least one CD like Pickin' & Grinnin'. It's a folk CD that's calming and simple, with mostly well-known songs by well-known artists, like Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Doc Watson, and Dan Zanes.

Pickin' & Grinnin' is the antithesis of today's fast-paced, PS3 society; it harkens back to simpler times, when people sat around their living rooms singing and making up songs together because that's just what families did to entertain themselves. This is the kind of CD that makes for great singalongs, and during a break in one of the songs, the singer even encourages kids to make up their own lyrics like he did when he was younger. The 25 tracks represent 25 years of music by this company, Music for Little People. [$10 CD]

We Are The Not-Its

The Not-Its (2009)

We Are The Not-Its is a solid debut by this five-piece band, fronted by Sarah Shannon (formerly of the 90s band Velocity Girl). It’s alternative pop, mostly, and it’s danceable. The title track (“We Are The Not-Its”) is one of those songs that’ll stick in your head and you’ll catch yourself humming it in the dairy aisle at the grocery store until someone stares at you.

Lyrics are mostly innocent and kid-oriented, with just a couple of lines here and there that would go over their heads. I was disappointed by the lack of lyric sheets with this CD. Topics include birthdays, camping, going to kindergarten, inviting kids over to play, baths, sharing, and helicopters.
When they perform, the guys wear black shirts with pink ties, and the gals wear long pink tutus. It’s a fun look for a fun band. This is a good pick for preschool to grade-school-age kids. [$19 CD, $9 MP3]

Silly Short Songs for Silly Short People

Rock Daddy Rock (2008)

On the back of this CD, it says, "FAMILIES with a sense of HUMOR will love these silly songs about EVERYDAY LIFE." At the risk of being thought humorless, I will tell you that I had to force myself to finish listening, and I definitely don't want my daughter hearing it. The first song is "Boogers." Other topics include dirty nails, passing gas, spitting, and warts, along with more benign topics like bedtime and eating healthy food.

To me? Gross and kind of obnoxious-sounding music. But I know there's an audience for this that will disagree, so I'm giving it a spot here anyway. This father was inspired by the "funny, gross, and wonderful" behavior of his four sons, who also provide backup vocals on this CD. [$14 CD]

Jenna Glatzer (www.jennaglatzer.com) is the author of 19 books. Her most recent collaboration is Unthinkable with Scott Rigsby, the first double-amputee to finish the world-famous Hawaiian Ironman triathlon. Jenna lives with her two-year-old daughter in New York. - Jenna Glatzer

Welcome to another music edition of Mini Media Mogul. Here are four CDs we've been listening to recently, arranged from our favorite to our least loved.

Pop Fly by Justin Roberts

Pop Fly isn't a new album, but it accomplished something that no other children’s CD has ever done - it literally made me squeal with delight when a scared little boy catches a pop fly ball (in the wonderfully energetic title track). Then, just a few songs later, it made my eyes well with tears with the beautiful “From Scratch,” a tribute to a grandmother who cooks everything from scratch.

This is our first experience with Justin Roberts, but certainly won't be our last. His voice is similar in tone to James Taylor's, but the songs are primarily lighthearted, entertaining slices of life about the elementary school years. They will bring you back to the best parts of your own childhood.

With subjects ranging from the student crossing guard to pool kickboards and stay-at-home dads (“If I were giving grades, he'd get a B or an A”), this collection hits just the right chord.

High Roller by Hullabaloo

Hullabaloo is a children's band for people who like country/folk/bluegrass music. The lyrics on the catchy High Roller often move fast, so you have to pay attention, but it’s worth it - they’re really funny. (“Sometimes things get crazy back home in my crib/ Sometimes I eat breakfast wearing nothing but a bib.”) They mix originals with a few traditional songs.

You can figure out if you like their style on the band's YouTube page, which has plenty of good samples. Their ode to caffeinated moms, "Sippy Cup" (not on this album), made me laugh out loud:

Rockin', Rollin' and Ridin' by Rebecca Frezza and Big Truck

You may recognize this band from their music videos on Nick Jr. and PBS. I'd never seen them before, and this eight-song EP is the first I've heard of this band.

It's high-energy pop written with elementary-school-age kids in mind. One of the album's selling points is that one song features Roscoe Orman, better known as Gordon from Sesame Street - but this was a letdown because the song is in too high a key for him, and it just sounds like he's straining.

Overall, this one's a mixed bag. Out of only 8 songs (23 minutes running time), I thought about half were entirely forgettable, with lyrics that didn’t do anything for me, but the other half were fun and danceable. My daughter was already singing along with “Hey-O” before the end of the song the very first time she heard it.

Somersault Season by Laura Freeman

I have a feeling Laura Freeman must be a hit in person with little kids. That doesn’t automatically translate to a good CD, though. I'm iffy on it; she's very “dramatic” on Somersault Season, and into using weird voices and repetition, which got grating to me. If I were a completely selfless person, I'd probably let my daughter listen to this again - but I'm actually afraid she’d like it.

That said, it's a compilation of songs about the four seasons, and has plenty of opportunities for kids to “play along” and help act out the songs. This might work well in a preschool or day care setting.

Jenna Glatzer is the author of 19 books. Her latest is the inspirational Christian memoir Unthinkable with Scott Rigsby, a double-amputee who completed the Hawaiian Ironman. Visit her at www.jennaglatzer.com. - Jenna Glatzer

Amazon.com has a no-questions-asked, free MP3 download section that offers hundreds of tracks that I hear rotate frequently. There's a lot of good stuff here, and cheapskate/obsessives like us will certainly be poring through it. There are even some fun kids' tracks! [Via A Freebies Free For All] - Jennifer

There's not much that can pull me out of a funk faster than some good ole Dixieland Jazz. The first time I saw a Dixieland jazz band, I was about 12 years old and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band had come to play a performance in my town. I still remember them playing "When the Saints Go Marchin' In" and playing and marching their way off the stage and through the audience until there was a huge Dixie style conga line marching and dancing and singing with the band. I've since seen Dixieland in New Orleans, San Francisco, Prague and Budapest (where I encountered one of the world's best Dixieland bands, Hot Jazz Band). So it was with more than a little anticipation that I put on a couple of Dixieland CDs for Z and I to listen to lately.

We started out with Dixieland Jazz for Children by Johnette Downing and Jimmy LaRocca's Original Dixieland Jazz Band. You can buy it on CD or for just $9 in MP3 format - Amazon's MP3 page for the album has samples of every song.

Z's favorite song on this CD by far is the first one, "Dixieland Jazz' - "Dixieland Jazz, Dixieland Jazz the best jazz in the land..." - the song then goes on to introduce all the different instruments in the standard Dixieland Jazz band. Other favorite songs from the album include "Throw Me Something Mister" - all about getting some beads and doubloons from a float in a Mardi Gras parade (I can't wait to take Z to a proper Mardi Gras parade), "I've Got Happy Feet" - which for some reason reminds me of that famous New Orleans con where the con bets the mark that he can tell you where you got your shoes. (The answer plays on the New Orleans' substitution of "you've" with "you," and it's whatever street you're standing on - if you're on Decatur, for example, it's "you got your shoes on Decatur right now.") But the song is really about dancing your way through New Orleans.

Then we turned on Putumayo Kids' New Orleans Playground. This is a compilation of songs from different jazz musicians which we first reviewed here and of course, Z's favorite song was Hack Bartholomew's "When the Saints Go Marchin' In." You also really can't beat a Dr. John rendition of "Row Row Your Boat" or Buckwheat Zydeco's "Skip to My Blues." You can hear short song clips from this album on Amazon as well.

The only video I could find to represent either of these CDs is an awesome video of one of my favorite Dixieland artists, Ingrid Lucia, singing "Do They Play Jazz in Heaven?" with Irvin Mayfield. It isn't on either of these CDs (why not offer some samples on YouTube, folks?) but it's a great video and if you aren't familiar with Dixieland, it'll give you a taste of what's in store on these CDs. It's a great style of music young children can easily relate to and that gets them moving. Best of all, it's just as much fun for the parents, who can enjoy the musicianship, drive, and mood-lifting melodies as well as the genre's varied subject matter.



Both are great CDs, and highly recommended for your little toe-tapper! - Jennifer

Combining elements from Latin music, jazz, folk rock and Afro-Caribbean rhythms, Hot Peas 'N Butter has created a series of kids' album parents can enjoy too. We dug this CD out out a couple of weeks ago and Z has been demanding to listen to it daily ever since.

The band has caught on in a big way, with videos appearing last year on both NOGGIN and Nickelodeon, and you can see why. Hot Peas 'N Butter makes the kind of music that compels to you to get up off the couch and move. We've found ourselves dancing while folding clothes, dancing while cooking, and dancing while dancing! (Have we mentioned that Z loves to dance?)

Funky track "Jack-A-Lacka" is a favorite in our house, causing Z to do a little booty shakin'. Here's the band performing it:


And the band recently released videos of several more songs. Some of them are on YouTube, but they aren't embeddable and they have higher-quality versions on their own website, where you can also preview tracks from Volume 4, The Pod Squad. - Jennifer