C&.notes Beyond Nursery Rhymes: Today’s Kids’ Music Is For Adults, Too (NAPSA)—Music to the ears of many parents may be the idea that good songs for youngsters can be fun for grown-ups too. In fact, veteran music critic Ann Powers says this is a golden age for children’s music. Consider Jamie Presock. For much of her life, Saturday night meant dinner with friends, then a visit to a club or theater to hear live music. Then she hadherfirst child. She worried that her days as a music fan would soon cometo an end. “lm a huge rock ’n’ roll fan, but I thought that as a parent, I’d have to spend mydayslistening to nursery rhymes and annoying singalongs,” Presock said. Presock turned to the Internet for help and soon realized that rock music and children’s music come together more often than many people think. “A lot of parents would be surprised to learn just how much high-quality children’s music exists today,” said Powers, mother of a 22-year-old. “A lot of rockers who started making music in the "80s and ’90s are now parents themselves and are writing songs that have an adult’s sense of melody with lyrics that kids can relate to and understand.” Powers has posted her recommendations of kids’ music that adults can also enjoy at http://music.msn.com/kids. She created lists of songs appropriate for the six stages of a child’s day: wake-up time, car time, meal time, dancing time, singalong time and bed time. People canlisten to song clips for free and Parents can get a big kick out of music made for little kids—and conversely. download them for 99 cents each. “Finding good kids’ music isn’t easy,’ Powers said. “Most stores don’t carry it and you almost never hear it on the radio. By using the Internet, parents can find out about a lot of great musicians they might never hear otherwise.” Powers’ recommendations include songs from legends such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger as well as those from alternative artists such as They Might Be Giants, or Dan Zanes and Ralph’s World, who recently began making kids’ music after spending years in rock bands. Presock says Powers’ recommended songs have madethe days go by a lot faster. “Listening to music with my daughter used to be one of the most trying parts of my day,” Presock said. “Now it’s one of my favorites. I sometimes even find myself putting on kids’ music when my daughter is asleep. I never thought Id do that.”
