Music

Ages 3 and under | Ages 4 to 9 | Ages 10 and up | More expert picks

David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf
(RCA, 1992)
Generations have discovered classical music via Prokofiev’s well-loved Wolf, in which the flute, oboe, bassoon and other instruments each represent a fabled character. Of the legion of narrators (Sting, William F. Buckley and Peter Ustinov among them), Timm favors David Bowie, who “brings just the right amount of drama to the story.”

They Might Be Giants, No!
(Rounder, 2002)
Anyone who can write from the point of view of a grocery bag knows how to get into the head of a kid. On the first of their four discs for children, Brooklynites John Flansburgh and John Linnell wittily muse about the elusive manufacturing hub of balloons, New Jersey’s Edison Museum and other oddball themes that seem of little interest until TMBG broach the subjects.

Various artists, The Bottle Let Me Down: Songs for Bumpy Wagon Rides
(Bloodshot Records, 2002)
This irreverent, punky roots-rock roundup also has its sweet spots. We’re awfully fond of Kelly Hogan’s cover of “Rubber Duckie,” and Alejandro Escovedo’s “Sad and Dreamy (The Big 1–0)” is as stirring as many an adult-themed song. But when Robbie Fulks introduces “Godfrey,” about an unemployed amateur children’s magician who’s later “incarcerated up in Belleville,” you’ll fully appreciate the compilation’s wonderfully deranged essence.

Justin Roberts, Meltdown!
(Carpet Square, 2006)
His fifth album sounds like something you might have pulled out of your own power-pop collection, were it not for lyrics about how Mama’s “‘just a minute’…means more than just a minute.” Secret Agent 23 Skidoo calls him “the Buddy Holly of the kids world, perhaps with a better voice.”

Standout
Dan Zanes
We may be sick of hearing about him, but we’ll never tire of hearing from him. With Catch That Train! and other gems featuring friends like the Kronos Quartet and Nick Cave, Zanes kick-started kid-music’s ascendance. Jon Langford sums it up: “I have a problem with most kids’ music. No rainbow puppy songs in my car.… Dan proved you could make kids’ music that didn’t destroy adult brain cells.”