"Turkey in the Straw" - Andy Z

Artist: Andy Z

Song: "Turkey in the Straw"

Album: Classic Songs and Traditional Tunes

Description: Much like the album the song comes from, there's nothing particularly novel about this video, but that's OK.  Genial musicians, farm animals, and the occasional costume are all that's necessary to make this worthwhile if you need a video for this (very) traditional song.

Source: YouTube

"Ballphabet" - Andrew & Polly

Artist: Andrew and Polly

Album: N/A

Description: This quick video surprisingly sn't from A&P's new album Odds and Ends, which is released this Friday.  Instead, it's a quick video for a quick song from their excellent Ear Snacks podcast.  All sorts of balls, including a few you'd never guess.  (John Baldessari?)

Source: YouTube

"Gather Round" - Renee and Friends

Artist: Renee and Friends (in this case, Renee Stahl and Lisa Loeb)

Song: "Gather Round"

Album: Simpatico

Description: The lead single (and opening track) from Renee Stahl's album featuring duets with a whole bunch of people not named Jeremy Toback (except for the one track that is) is a warm compote of smiling faces, food, and games.  It is comfort food, and a sweet slice of kindie pie.

Source: YouTube

"The Cat Came Back" - Laurie Berkner

Artist: Laurie Berkner

Song: "The Cat Came Back"

Album: Whaddaya Think of That?

Description: That's one persistent cat (and one annoyed kid in fake mustache and straw hat).  Also, stay tuned for Berkner's mugging for the camera at the end of the video.

Source: YouTube

"Lighter Than Air" - Recess Monkey

Artist: Recess Monkey

Song: "Lighter Than Air"

Album: Hot Air

Description: "Penguinese" was the first video from the forthcoming album Hot Air, but "Lighter Than Air" is the first full song on the album.  If you listened to this track alone, you might be forgiven for thinking that it's nothing but a mellow '70s soft-rock fest.  (Spoiler alert: it's not.)  As for the video, it essentially summarizes the first 80% of Hot Air's accompanying DVD.  (There's a plot! It involves penguins and balloons!  Any more you'll have to find out for yourself, I'm not telling.)

Source: YouTube

"One Love" - 1World Chorus

Artist: Aaron Nigel Smith and the 1World Chorus

Song: "One Love"

Album: Celebrating Bob Marley

Description: If I had to think of one artist or band whose songs have so totally permeated the culture, my first thought would the Beatles.  But I'm sure that for a lot of other folks, it might be Bob Marley.  Celebrating Bob Marley isn't the first album to use Marley's songs as the basis for a kids' album, but the fact that this album is a) being released by Ziggy Marley's Tuff Gong Worldwide record label, and b) features the 1World Chorus, which is led by Aaron Nigel Smith's 1World Chorus, featuring singers from the U.S., Jamaica, Kenya, and Columbia, lends this album a level of significance that other cover albums might not.  The video for one of Marley's most famous songs, "One Love" isn't complicated -- shots of kids singing, both in concert and "behind-the-scenes," but in its picture of kids from all around the world singing the song, it does Marley's request to "let's get together" justice.

Source: YouTube

"The Siblings Shake" - Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band

Artist: Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band

Song: "The Siblings Shake"

Album: N/A

Description: This is a video that's part of a longer show called Ruby's Studio: The Siblings Show (more details here).  As you might guess, there are a lot of shots of dancing siblings.  (It's a dance song about siblings -- what did you expect?)  Best poolside kindie music video since this one.

Source: YouTube