My final entry in my list of the best kids music of 2010 is my list of my favorite kids music albums of the year. (And by "year," again, I mean Nov. 1, 2009 through Oct. 31, 2010 release dates available to the general public.) I do use the word "favorite" advisedly. I get what I'm guessing is close to 300 family music albums every year. I review maybe 20% of those (if that much), even picking out 20 means that some albums in my top 10% of favorite albums don't get listed. (No Ralph's World? No Moona Luna? No Essie Jain or Keller Williams? Albums I genuinely liked considerably? That's how hard it is at this point.) So the difference between what goes in this list and what stays off is as much about personal preferences as it is about "objective" quality. (That's why I came up with the idea for Fids and Kamily, thinking that the personal preferences of many folks would be a much better approximation of "best.") In any case, here are those albums, ranked from most favorite to a little less most favorite, that I (and we) most appreciated this year. (The top 10 reflects my Fids and Kamily ballot.) 1. Justin Roberts - Jungle Gym (review): Justin Roberts is starting to make family music reviewers look bad because his continued excellence leaves us scrambling to find new ways to write the same old thing -- how do we talk about his songcraft without repeating ourselves or draining all the enjoyment out of his music? How about this, then? Roberts is our generation's finest family music songwriter and Jungle Gym, his best album yet, is my favorite kids music album of the year.

OK, the next part of my review of the best kids music of 2010 focuses on debuts. I can't even say that I'd thought about this seriously until Warren Truitt put together his list of top debuts of 2008. But I don't think he did it last year, so since I abhor vacuuming (or a vacuum), I'm going to appropriate the idea. While there are a couple of exceptions, for the most part we didn't know about these bands twelve months ago. And there was a fair amount of competition for these slots -- I could've expanded this to a Top 15 list fairly easily. In addition to quality of music, I'm also thinking about intangibles -- does their entire approach suggest that they could have a large fanbase and a Top 10 overall album 5 years from now as well? (Some of them do right now.) It wouldn't surprise me if that were the case with any of these artists. I should note that by using the word "debut," I'm assuming that this isn't the last family music album from each of these artists. Albums from Haley Bonar, Keller Williams, and Essie Jain, for example, would've been considered for this list, but I made the assumption that their family albums would be their sole foray into the genre. I would be happy to be proven wrong. Anyway, here's ten debut albums (listed alphabetically by artist) worth celebrating. Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem - Ranky Tanky: Why Rani Arbo and not Keller Williams? Do I have any inside information that would suggest that this fine album, a worthy companion to many of Dan Zanes' albums drawing deep from many musical wells, is just the beginning? No, not really. So consider this a hopeful wink and nudge to the fine quartet from New England. We'd like more of this, please.

My first entry in my list of the best kids music of 2010 is something I've pondered for awhile, and that's album packaging. I know that Jeff over at Out With the Kids has already posted a similar list, but his is as much about album cover art as the whole packaging. I love that Pop Ups cover art, but there's not much to the packaging beyond that. (Except, of course, for the music itself, which is awesome.) While I wouldn't call my entry into the digital world as "being dragged kicking and screaming," any long-term reader here would recognize I still have a 20th-century predilection for the physical object. And my kids still listen to musical using CDs, not iPods. So consider these ten albums as examples why your iPhone and iPod and iPad can't replace your CD collection just yet. And if you're looking for something more than a download code to put into someone's stocking or birthday pile, these will do nicely. Randy Kaplan - The Kids Are All Id: I tend to prefer lyrics in my liner notes, but with notes as offbeat (yet illuminating) as Kaplan's, I'm willing to make an exception. Plus, the packaging is gorgeous, with some silly illustrations to keep the kids amused.

I know, it's March now, and I'm still trying to sum up 2009. I already gave you a list of my 20 favorite kids music albums of 2009, now it's time for my 20 favorite kids music songs of 2009. As with the albums, I tried to limit myself to songs on albums from a general Nov. 1, 2008 - Oct. 31, 2009 timeframe, consistent with the Fids and Kamily Awards. I've tended to think of music in terms of albums and not individual songs, so I know that I've omitted some great songs here, but I'm working on changing that in the year ahead. Anyway, in alphabetical order, here they are...

Wow. Trying to narrow down 2009's list of my favorite albums for kids and families was tough. (That's why I'm doing this in 2010, right?) Seriously, 2009 was a great year for kids music. When the year started, I was unsure whether we'd reach 10 really good albums, but as I put together this list, I realized how there were some really good albums I had to leave off this Top 20 list. I mean, there are albums like Milkshake's Great Day that just missed this list, which I think shows how crowded the field became. I always base these lists on my lists for Fids and Kamily Awards, so the album year for my purpose is from Nov. 1, 2008 through Oct. 31, 2009. This means that there are some pretty old albums out there, and some good ones from the past couple months (say, that new Dean Jones/Felice Brothers disk) are going to have to wait another 10-12 months before getting their due. But, before any more time elapses, here's the list...

It's that time of year once more, time for me to give you my rundown of my favorite kids and family albums from 2008. As always, I use the adjective "favorite" deliberately, as opposed to "best," because taste is subjective. It's why I came up with the idea for the Fids and Kamily Awards -- because I think the opinions of 20 or so attentive listeners are worth more than the opinion of just 1 listener. (I should also note here that "2008" really means Nov. 1, 2007 through Oct. 31, 2008, which means I've already reviewed a few CDs late this year that don't make this list but have a good shot at next year's.) But for those of you who are interested in what particularly tickled the fancies of this one attentive listener and our family this year, read on... 1. (tie) They Might Be Giants - Here Come the 123s 1. (tie) Barenaked Ladies - Snacktime 1. (tie) Medeski, Martin & Wood - Let's Go Everywhere Yes, my top 3 albums of the year are from artists who usually make music for adults. OK, perhaps They Might Be Giants have been doing this for the kids long enough to be counted as a full-fledged member in the kids musician union, but the Barenaked Ladies and Medeski, Martin & Wood put forth adventurous and fun albums for the family their first time out of the gate. TMBG rounded up a bunch of excellent videos to go with their occasionally educational songs. Barenaked Ladies applied their their pop-folk humor to a younger age set; to no one's surprise, it worked. Medeski, Martin & Wood's album was playful and totally accessible (psst, don't tell anyone it's jazz or they might not want to listen). Fabulous music all around -- 2008's best.