I have an idea for Jay-Z's next album ...

So I'm working on updating the library's children's audio collection, and it turns out that there's been an explosion of kiddie rock to go with the explosion of hipster parents (or yupsters). I know, I'm behind the curve. I just wish I were time-wasteful enough to illustrate "the explosion of hipster parents" with a violent animation. Instead, I've made a list of sites that review and recommend children's CDs.

However, the list seems incomplete, because I have yet to locate the aging O.G.s who are blogging about children's music. Is it possible that the most commercial genre of popular music has yet to tap into the under-10 market? Or is it just that urban kids don't need kids music, because they're already rocking bootlegs of stuff that's parental advisory-certified? Is this the best we can do?

For now, I'm going to order the soundtrack to Jump In! and hope that my constituents don't consider it passé by the time it's cataloged ...

Review Sources for Children’s Music

Bill Board Kid’s Chart
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?f=Top+Kid+Audio&pageNumber=Top+1-10&g=Albums

About.com Guide to Children's Music
http://kidsmusic.about.com/
New reviews and lists on different topics published regularly. Reviews are signed by Fran Grauman, but no biographical information is provided.

Pickleberry Pie/Children’s Music Network
http://www.childrensmusic.org/
This public charitable organization hosts annual children’s music web awards. Their annual report explains how kids vote.

Common Sense Media
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/music-reviews/
This non-profit organization has a manifesto in the "about us" section. It basically says that they support media literacy—not censorship. They provide information about questionable content like sex, violence, and commercialism, and they allow users to post. Reviews are signed but no biographical information is provided.

Zooglobble
http://www.zooglobble.com/ and http://zooglobble.blogspot.com/
Reviews by guru Stefan Shepherd. Hear him get name-dropped on NPR, Salon.com, etc., etc.

Kids Music that Rocks
http://kidsmusicthatrocks.blogspot.com/
Reviews by a New York Public Library Children’s Librarian in blog format. My fave.

Small Ages
http://smallages.blogspot.com/
Reviews by Clea Hantman, children’s and YA author and doting mommy. A meandering and refreshing mix of music that's OK with kids, whether it was marketed to them or not.

The Lovely Mrs. Davis Tells You What to Think
http://lovelydavis.blogspot.com/
Reviews by a mom in Bolling Green, Ohio (seriously), who makes a good case for her credentials in the “about me” section. She’s worked with people at Zooglobble and Spare the Rock and has her own “review guidelines.”

Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
http://sparetherock.com/
Playlists from a kids’ rock radio show on Valley Free Radio.