Jim Gill Sings The Sneezing Song and Other Contagious Tunes (Remastered) - Jim Gill

Album: Jim Gill Sings The Sneezing Song and Other Contagious Tunes (Remastered)

Age Range: 2 through 7

Description: The Illinois-based Gill has been making music for families for more twenty years. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of his first album, he's digitally remastered it and added a couple new songs. Gill's called his songs "music play," and it's true that you (regardless of age) are going to get the most out of it if you interact with it -- "Silly Dance Contest" isn't nearly as interesting heard buckled in the car as at home dancing around the family room. Gill's affinity for wordplay ("Old Sock Stew" and one of the new tracks, "Teapot Variations") and physical play ("I Took a Bath In a Washing Machine," "Spaghetti Legs") will appeal to playful families. And while Gill is hardly alone in making music that encourages movement, his songs (and musical arrangements) are among the better ones out there. Stream some samples of the 35-minute recording here. If your family just wants to veg out and listen to well-crafted pop tunes, this is probably not for you, but for some families, libraries, and early education settings, this 20-year old album sounds just as fresh and inviting today. For that set of folks, definitely recommended.

Kepi For Kids - Kepi Ghoulie

Artist: Kepi Ghoulie

Album: Kepi For Kids

Age Range: 2 through 6

Description: Just like his Fun Fun Records bandmates Play Date, the first album from pop-punk rocker Kepi Ghoulie shouldn't scare anybody who thinks that punk rock isn't appropriate for preschoolers. (That's not necessarily true all the time, but that's a separate discussion.) There are some similarities with Caspar Babypants, and it's not just the bald head -- Kepi's album is a mostly acoustic poppier and goofier version of Mr. Ballew's preschool-aged tunes. I prefer the CB stuff, but there are some really good tracks here, most notably the sweet "Moonbeam" and the lovey-dovey country-fried "Days That End In 'Y'," which deserves to be on some dopey romantic comedy (or kid-friendly comedy) soundtrack. I'm pretty sure it'll give your kids (and you) at least a handful of smiles in its 30-minute run-time. Recommended.

Note: I received a copy of this album for possible review.

Imagination - Play Date

Artist: Play Date

Album: Imagination

Age Range: 2 through 6

Description: Don't let the punk backgrounds of Greg Attonito (the Bouncing Souls) and Shanti Wintergate fool you -- the tunes here are, for the most part, very poppy. As I noted in my NPR review of the album, there's a less aggressive sound than on a lot of punk records (and it takes a particularly mellow turn near the end), so if you're looking for a kindie mosh pit and outright rebellion, this might disappoint you. But songs like "Rad" and "I Can Sing" feature a celebration of self-expression, and that's a pretty punk attitude to try to retain as kids grow up. You can listen to the 35-minute album here. Imagination is pop-punk catnip for the preschool set. Recommended.

Bunny in the Moon - DidiPop

Artist: DidiPop

Album: Bunny in the Moon

Age Range: 2 through 6

Description: For her latest album, Los Angeles-based Deborah Poppink AKA DidiPop structured tracks into two parts: 1) calm down!, 2) go to sleeeeeep. The "calm down!" part didn't interest me given its more "do this" bent, but the last track of the four, the samba-inflected "I Love You Mommy" and a lot of the lullabies on tracks 5 through 14 work quite well. The title track and "Snuggles and Books" (featuring a lot of shout-outs to famous bedtime stories) are the standouts. The 37-minute album (listen to it here) has a very personal feel and takes awhile to fully slow down, so it's not perfect for everyone. (I personally like my lullaby albums hushed and rustic.) But it's well-produced and not too goopy. Recommended.

Hola Hello - Mariana Iranzi

Artist: Mariana Iranzi

Album: Hola Hello

Age Range: 2 through 6

Description: Argentina-born and Boston-educated, bassist Iranzi's 2013 album continues her Latin kindie rock career with Hola Hello. The song topics -- the colors of the rainbow, modes of transportation, monkeys unable to stay upon their beds despite repeated warnings from their mother -- stay clearly in the preschool camp. The songs themselves, however, with their mostly (not exclusively) Spanish lyrics and usually laid-back eclectic musical vibe, may also work for a slightly older crowd. (I particularly liked the Bebel Gilberto groove of "Barquito de Papel" and I thought "Arco Iris" was a very good bilingual introduction to colors. Listen to samples here. The kids music market is now swarming with Spanish-language disks. This is one of the better ones, particularly for a more modern, but not still Latin, sound. Recommended.

Note: I received a copy of this album for possible review.

Singing Our Way Through: Songs for the World's Bravest Kids - Alastair Moock

Artist: Alastair Moock

Album: Singing Our Way Through: Songs for the World's Bravest Kids

Age Range: 2 through 10

Description: Whew. An album that grew out of the Boston-based singer-songwriter's experience with the leukemia diagnosis of one of his twin 5-year-old daughters, Singing Our Way Through might not be the first album a family thinks of to purchase for their own family, assuming that their family hasn't been struck with a serious disease. And the first couple tracks, "I Am the Light" and "When I Get Bald," deal with cancer head-on. But once you get past that, the songs just deal with tough times and humor in those tough times. (I particularly liked "Have You Ever Been Jealous?," Moock's duet with Rani Arbo, in terms of a clear-eyed perspective from the sibling not given the cancer diagnosis.) Everything else I might say about the album I already said in my NPR review. Stream the album here. Highly recommended for families struggling with a serious disease, and definitely recommended for lots of other families, too.

Note: I received a copy of this album for possible review.

Martykins & Friends - Martykins and Friends

Artist: Martykins and Friends

Album: Martykins & Friends

Age Range: 4 through 8

Description: I suppose any album gutsy enough to feature a song called "The Funky Lumberjack" had better be willing to follow through and, you know, be kinda funky. Surprisingly enough, that song, off the debut album from bassist Martin McSweeney is, well, kinda funky.

It's also about a lumberjack (presumably that's him doing the bump with Grandma from "Grandma's Pantry" on the album cover), which gives you a sense of the free-for-all approach on the album. The bluegrass track "Magic Pick" features some nifty mandolin work from Shawn Cunnane; that track segues into the full-on Hammond B-3-assisted rock track "Ice Cream."

The 29-minute album moves by quickly, nothing earth-shattering, but at points, it's like a somewhat more cartoon-y Okee Dokee Brothers. That's not a half-bad place to be. Recommended.

Listen to the Birds: An Introduction to Classical Music - Ana Gerhard

Artist/Author: Ana Gerhard (music selection) / Cecilia Varela (illustrator)

Book/Album: Listen to the Birds: An Introduction to Classical Music

Age Range: 4 through 11

Description: Another book/CD collection from The Secret Mountain , this one uses bird-themed excerpts from classical music to introduce readers to some famous classical melodies and classical terminology. Older readers will get a fair amount out of Gerhard's text (which also includes biographical info); readers of all ages will probably enjoy the charming illustrations of Varela. I was impressed that the music Gerhard selected spans literally 500 years. Be forewarned that the 20 selections from artists such as the London Symphony Orchestra are in many cases just excerpts. So you might have to explore further, which wouldn't be the worst thing, right? Recommended.