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

Indie animator and composer Cyriak has finally made something I can show my five-year-old without supplying her with a decade's worth of nightmare material. The video about teddy bears is engaging, richly patterned, and laugh-out-loud funny. Enjoy it with a child!


For an example of a Cyriak piece with dozens of ingenious jokes (and plenty of mildly amusing ones), try his entertaining "Animation Mix." If you start watching it and think it would be ok for your young child to enjoy with you, don't be fooled. Things get ugly and, for young viewers, very creepy.

Here's an interview with Cyriak that gives a few hints of his creative process. It contains a bit of the artist's gore but nothing likely to really scare a kid. But that's just my assessment.


- Jeremiah

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

Behold! This week we bring you four reviews of CDs. As we did in our previous installment of book reviews, I'll rank these in descending order of awesomeness. Watch out, Terrible Twos!

What a Ride! by Eric Herman and the Invisible Band

To our minds, children’s music doesn’t get any better than this. Other CDs have come and gone in our household, but Eric Herman’s stay in heavy rotation - and his latest, What a Ride!, is among his best.

We were introduced to Eric Herman’s music when we won a contest listed on Prizey. His YouTube video for "The Elephant Song" is ridiculously popular, with more than 8 million views so far, and it’s very cute:


But we soon learned that Mr. Herman is no one-hit wonder. All of his songs are good. Not one that I want to skip. And so Sarina and I both became huge fans when she was just 18 months old. She picked up on the lyrics easily, and before she turned two, we filmed a “tribute concert” where she sang her favorites. Take a look and a listen to this:


This music is fun, funny, catchy, and optimistic. You just can’t pout and listen to What a Ride! at the same time. Most of the topics are silly, like the snacks a baby leaves behind in a car seat, a stinkbug who bathes ten times a day, and a monster who sits on a school. But there’s also a serious side here: Two songs reminding kids and parents to enjoy themselves in the busyness of life (“Take a while to laugh and smile and say, ‘Hey, what a ride!’”) and to notice that their world is bigger than they can see (“So whether you're an itty bitty bug or a kid in a galaxy/Your life is always as big as you dream”).

Field Trip by Recess Monkey

Very closely pulling in to the second spot is Seattle band Recess Monkey with their latest album, Field Trip. Three elementary school teachers got together and decided to rock. For kids. And the thing about it is that they are all kinds of great. I listen to this CD in my car when my daughter isn’t even with me, ON PURPOSE. It’s that much fun.

It amazes me that these three people just happened to be teaching at the same school. They sound perfect together, with layered arrangements and a Beatles-esque vibe (though decidedly goofier).

Upbeat, very memorable, very danceable. And generous with their samples, too - check their website for free full-length videos. If you can get through “Haven’t Got a Pet Yet” without bopping around in your chair… well, I’ll be horrified. What kind of person are you, anyway? Just listen:

Picnic Playground by Putumayo Kids

I’ve seen so many positive reviews of Putumayo Kids around the web, and honestly, I couldn't help but wonder if there might be a “cultural correctness” at play - reviewers afraid to criticize a multicultural project for kids. I would not have picked up a multilingual CD on my own for my 2-year-old daughter because we like to be able to sing along to music.

I received Picnic Playground for review and was pleasantly surprised, for the most part. With the exception of "Mes Parents Sont Bio" (My Parents Are Organic) - which, if paired on repeat with eye surgery in a humid room, might qualify for legal torture - I thought it was a good album, with solid production values and bubbly melodies. But I swear if I hear "bio, bio, bio, bio, bio” one more time, I will not hold myself responsible for the safety of that CD.

Bad album spotlight: Jerzy the Giant by The Terrible Twos

What happened to my Terrible Twos? This album was a colossal disappointment for me. I loved their debut, If You Ever See An Owl. It’s our main breakfast CD - perfect for starting the day because it’s energetic, yet gentle and sweet. (Recess Monkey makes great car music; the Terrible Twos used to make great morning music.)

Their second album, Jerzy the Giant, came out last year, and somehow it lacked least 83 percent of the charm of the first one. It’s nowhere near as innocent-sounding, nowhere near as loving, despite that the song titles sounded just as cute. This selection of songs is more uneven, with some that seem to have been written because someone, somewhere told them they should be more "edgy.” How they made a song named “Olly Olly Oxen Free” sound angry is beyond me:


What’s funny to me is that my 2-year-old often requests The Terrible Twos, but now she always specifies for me: “I want the old Terrible Twos.” Me too, kiddo.

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

Strange and mesmerizing for toddlers, just plain funny for us. A bizarre introduction to a wonderful song. [Via BoingBoing]



Who knows, maybe your child will learn to do this:



- Jeremiah

Modeled on a Bohemian folk tale about how a blacksmith tricks the Devil out of collecting him to take him to Hell, I wrote "The Baker and the Monsters" to provide a less ominous, yet still plenty spooky, story for our nearly five-year-old daughter Z. I turned the Devil into a host of monsters, Hell into a dark cave, and the blacksmith into a baker who has decided to set up shop in an unlikely spot.

What emerged in the process was a protagonist with an absurdly sunny disposition he used to disarm as well as press forward toward his goals. Our audio producer, Joshua McNichols, took the theme and ran with it - the musical selections, and their nearly complete dissolution by the cheery words of the baker, had me laughing throughout this story, even as Z sat stock still to find out what monster was coming next.

Z asserted that this story wasn't too scary for her, and I believe her.



Enjoy, and let us know what you (or your kids) think of it! - Jeremiah