I still have my vinyl record of Free to be You and Me
and I loved Really Rosie & the Nutshell kids so much I played them for my (Gen Z) kids, and like all great things they have not died! Some of my kids' friends had never heard of CHicken Soup with Rice until they came over to our house.
THanks for your entertaining & informative posts guys!
Oh man, all of those classic Sesame Street songs circa 70s and 80s, but especially “Doin’ the Pigeon, “I Love Trash,” “Would You Like to Buy an O” and the entire My Name Is Roosevelt Franklin album!
Another classic burned into my brain: Cat Stevens’
As soon as I saw the title of this post, my brain went: "Did my cow get sick? Yesssssss ma'am. Was she covered with tick? Yesssss ma'am." I have a vinyl record of Ella Jenkins songs (that was deaccessioned from the Free Library of Philadelphia, so it has a cool durable case!) and my kids were obsessed with it when they were little.
**mumbles to self for the rest of the workday: "How did she die? Uh, uh, uh..."**
If anyone else has littles and is shopping for some new tunes, around Seattle, Caspar Babypants--the kidsong-performing name of Chris Ballew of the Presidents of the United States--is definitely the go-to; I hear it being played all over.
Our family, who has since aged remarkably (and not just because of our current administration), was always a huge fan of the "Snacktime!" album by Barenaked Ladies. Also, even now with a tween and a HS senior, we listen to the Muppets Most Wanted soundtrack more than we ever would have guessed (Spotify is good about pointing things like this out to us).
My kids were big into Caspar Babypants. His show is the only way I found myself in the Neptune in the early days of parenting. I’ll take it! His music really is good though. One of my favorite tracks is Bunny Brown (a ballad of the tortoise and the hare), which I assumed was a nod to Dylan’s the Ballad of Hollis Brown, which is frankly a really dark bridge to a kid’s song…only to learn that it is actually a nod to Pretty Polly, which is equally dark. I also like Banana Bread — “we’re not pretty, but we’re not dead \ we can be banana bread”. :)
Ha! Love ALL of that. I think the first song we ever heard of his was (and this is a time machine button pushed) because we bought a *Starbucks CD* called "Music for Little Hipsters--which we listened to as a family WAY too much--and it had Stompy the Bear on there, along with songs by Devo, etc. I'll have check out to Bunny Brown! (I feel like I've heard Banana Bread, but will check it out to be sure, too, ha ha.) (Edit: Okay, just checked them out--Banana Bread was funny!!)
We’re in the thick of figuring out what my nearly 2 year old daughter responds to, and as a music LOVER, it’s wild to me how unmoved she is so far. But! The quest to find her preferences has taken me on a journey of discovery through the music I love and have loved and the new-to-me artists.
Joe Scruggs was a childhood favorite of mine: Bellybutton and Late Last Night still hit. And we recently found The Okee Dokee Brothers on a search for songs about trains (“Music Train”). The fact that they have a song about the mycelium network really clinched the deeper dive.
There’s so much magic and ingenuity in children’s music. Thank you for sharing y’all’s selections!
Glad to see Raffi represented here! He was one of our family’s favorites and we still sing him around the house on occasion! I even taught my college roommate the brush your teeth song 😅 Also glad to see Langley School on here! I learned about the album from the 99% Invisible podcast and its version of Desperado is my favorite.
Hi, look forward to having a listen to the playlist (123 and Oo-de-lally standing out for me).
As soon as I read your post, Louis Armstrong's 'Cheesecake' song popped into my head! If you haven't heard it, I'd strongly recommend you have a listen. It is a song for everyone, but kids LOVE it!
(It's 8.30am here in Scotland and I have just put 'Cheesecake' on and have noticed a genuine shift in my slight morning grump...although I am also having a craving for sweet creamy pud with a biscuity base. Ah, the impact of music!)
Glad to see REALLY ROSIE, SESAME STREET and animated ROBIN HOOD represented. IMHO, They Might Be Giants and Schoolhouse Rock also have some great songs for kids.
Love these picks! I also want to plug a great blog post from Annamarie Carlson about getting more representation into kids' music/storytime music (which is often pretty overwhelmingly white) -- much of my own storytime playlist comes from this post! (Teddy Bear by Jazzy Ash and I Am Enough by SaulPaul are tops for me)
I still have my vinyl record of Free to be You and Me
and I loved Really Rosie & the Nutshell kids so much I played them for my (Gen Z) kids, and like all great things they have not died! Some of my kids' friends had never heard of CHicken Soup with Rice until they came over to our house.
THanks for your entertaining & informative posts guys!
I also have my Free to Be vinyl and was so excited to share the album with my kids (who also loved it)! Can still recite most of it by heart ❤️
Oh man, all of those classic Sesame Street songs circa 70s and 80s, but especially “Doin’ the Pigeon, “I Love Trash,” “Would You Like to Buy an O” and the entire My Name Is Roosevelt Franklin album!
Another classic burned into my brain: Cat Stevens’
Teaser and the Firecat book/album
As soon as I saw the title of this post, my brain went: "Did my cow get sick? Yesssssss ma'am. Was she covered with tick? Yesssss ma'am." I have a vinyl record of Ella Jenkins songs (that was deaccessioned from the Free Library of Philadelphia, so it has a cool durable case!) and my kids were obsessed with it when they were little.
**mumbles to self for the rest of the workday: "How did she die? Uh, uh, uh..."**
How fun! :)
If anyone else has littles and is shopping for some new tunes, around Seattle, Caspar Babypants--the kidsong-performing name of Chris Ballew of the Presidents of the United States--is definitely the go-to; I hear it being played all over.
Our family, who has since aged remarkably (and not just because of our current administration), was always a huge fan of the "Snacktime!" album by Barenaked Ladies. Also, even now with a tween and a HS senior, we listen to the Muppets Most Wanted soundtrack more than we ever would have guessed (Spotify is good about pointing things like this out to us).
My kids were big into Caspar Babypants. His show is the only way I found myself in the Neptune in the early days of parenting. I’ll take it! His music really is good though. One of my favorite tracks is Bunny Brown (a ballad of the tortoise and the hare), which I assumed was a nod to Dylan’s the Ballad of Hollis Brown, which is frankly a really dark bridge to a kid’s song…only to learn that it is actually a nod to Pretty Polly, which is equally dark. I also like Banana Bread — “we’re not pretty, but we’re not dead \ we can be banana bread”. :)
Ha! Love ALL of that. I think the first song we ever heard of his was (and this is a time machine button pushed) because we bought a *Starbucks CD* called "Music for Little Hipsters--which we listened to as a family WAY too much--and it had Stompy the Bear on there, along with songs by Devo, etc. I'll have check out to Bunny Brown! (I feel like I've heard Banana Bread, but will check it out to be sure, too, ha ha.) (Edit: Okay, just checked them out--Banana Bread was funny!!)
Robin Hood was my favorite Disney movie when I was a kid primarily due to my dedication to the song “Oo-De-Lally.” I love seeing that on this list.
We’re in the thick of figuring out what my nearly 2 year old daughter responds to, and as a music LOVER, it’s wild to me how unmoved she is so far. But! The quest to find her preferences has taken me on a journey of discovery through the music I love and have loved and the new-to-me artists.
Joe Scruggs was a childhood favorite of mine: Bellybutton and Late Last Night still hit. And we recently found The Okee Dokee Brothers on a search for songs about trains (“Music Train”). The fact that they have a song about the mycelium network really clinched the deeper dive.
There’s so much magic and ingenuity in children’s music. Thank you for sharing y’all’s selections!
Might I put in a plug for Dan Zanes Sidewalks of New York?
I came here to mention Dan Zanes! His music took us through both of our kid’s early years. The best!
Great list and I second the Pete Seeger. Also, Laura Viers kids album Tumblebee is the greatest!
Glad to see Raffi represented here! He was one of our family’s favorites and we still sing him around the house on occasion! I even taught my college roommate the brush your teeth song 😅 Also glad to see Langley School on here! I learned about the album from the 99% Invisible podcast and its version of Desperado is my favorite.
My daughters now both request "the cow song" every time we enter the car.
In My Roooom!
Hi, look forward to having a listen to the playlist (123 and Oo-de-lally standing out for me).
As soon as I read your post, Louis Armstrong's 'Cheesecake' song popped into my head! If you haven't heard it, I'd strongly recommend you have a listen. It is a song for everyone, but kids LOVE it!
(It's 8.30am here in Scotland and I have just put 'Cheesecake' on and have noticed a genuine shift in my slight morning grump...although I am also having a craving for sweet creamy pud with a biscuity base. Ah, the impact of music!)
Glad to see REALLY ROSIE, SESAME STREET and animated ROBIN HOOD represented. IMHO, They Might Be Giants and Schoolhouse Rock also have some great songs for kids.
Love these picks! I also want to plug a great blog post from Annamarie Carlson about getting more representation into kids' music/storytime music (which is often pretty overwhelmingly white) -- much of my own storytime playlist comes from this post! (Teddy Bear by Jazzy Ash and I Am Enough by SaulPaul are tops for me)
https://bookcartqueens.com/2024/03/16/diversify-your-storytime-music-2024-updated-list/
So many childhood memories! Thank you for this! I just sent it to my 3 daughters to share with my grandkids. Just lovely.
Nice playlist!
‘It Feels Good to Write a Song’ by Vulfmon, Antwaun Stanley and Jacob Jeffries is a great song that would be right at home on Sesame Street.