For the Kids Too!

For the Kids Too!

1	I'm Different 2:25
2	I Like to Run, I Like to Jump 2:44
3	At the Bottom of the Sea 1:58
4	Everybody Came 3:14
5	Catch the Moon / Elizabeth Mitchell 3:06
6	Starfish and Coffee 2:59
7	John Lee Supertaster 2:00
8	Rainbow Connection 2:31
9	Peanut Butter Toast 2:19
10	Your Attitude Towards Cuttlefish / Paper Moon 3:34
11	I Often Dream of Trains / Robyn Hitchcock 2:45
12	My Favorite Things / Nathan 2:41
13	The Very First Day / Ron Sexsmith 1:57
14	Meow Meow Lullabye 2:40
15	Good Night 3:16
16	Telephone Song 2:29

Barnes & Noble

Kids' compilations come and go, but only a few stand up to the true test: repeated play. Parents will rest easy -- and dance happily -- while their children enjoy For the Kids Too. The follow-up disc to For the Kids spotlights a varied mix of artists that reaches across genre lines for a dynamic collection of new and classic children's songs. Kids' music veterans like folk singer Elizabeth Mitchell ("Catch the Moon") and Chicago troubadour Ralph's World ("At the Bottom of the Sea") make good company for more recent converts like alt rockers They Might Be Giants ("John Lee Superstar"). And then you have those who are kids at heart: Singer-songwriter David Mead explains in the liner notes that he wrote and recorded "I Like to Run, I Like to Jump" because he missed the feeling of "freedom and lightness" from his childhood, and his sweet, Beatlesque offering certainly evokes the sentiment. Another Beatles acolyte, Matthew Sweet, likewise succeeds on his faithful cover of the Fab Four's gorgeous "Goodnight." Jason Mraz takes a stab at the Sesame Street classic "The Rainbow Connection," leading one to wonder if the record label, Nettwerk America, will include a cover of this tune on each of their children's discs (not that we mind). And with proceeds from the disc's sale benefiting the Lili Claire Foundation, For the Kids Too proves it's got a lot to offer to kids of all ages. Amy Barkat

All Music Guide

Nettwerk America and VH1's second installment in their For the Kids series offers up an another eclectic roster of alternative, folk, indie, and modern rock faces to raise money for the Lili Claire Foundation. For the most part, the songs are genuinely fun, endlessly playful, and appealing to both young and old. Choice covers -- Bay area singer/songwriter Matt Nathanson turns Prince's "Starfish and Coffee" into a Dave Matthews-style acoustic romp, Matthew Sweet gives the Beatles' "Goodnight" all of the lullaby warmth that it deserves, and Ron Sexsmith takes a walk down Sesame Street with "Very First Day" -- and spirited originals abound, but it's the lack of pretense that permeates the project as a whole that makes each offering so listenable. So why does Jason Mraz feel the need to turn "Rainbow Connection," a track that already appeared on the first collection, sung by Sarah McLachlan, into a hack Jeff Buckley/Chet Baker cabaret piece? Somewhere Kermit the Frog is ripping out the webbing between his toes. Bonus creep points, however, for including Robyn Hitchcock's "I Often Dream of Trains," a moody ballad that wouldn't seem at all out of place emanating from a Roald Dahl book, in which Hitchcock provides the following insight, "When you're young, death is a long way off, like a very distant railway station on the horizon. Maybe death is collecting the tickets on the train." ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi

Time Magazine

Proceeds from this kids' alternative-rock collection benefit children with neurological disorders, but there are reasons other than charity to buy it. It combines playful tunes first recorded for grownups (Robyn Hitchcock's I Often Dream of Trains) with new originals and covers (among them a haunting, mandolin-laced My Favorite Things by Winnipeg band Nathan). It's a diverse hipster primer for your favorite alternatoddler.