Fire up the grill, get a pick-up soccer game going, hook up the outdoor speakers, and blast these summer family favorites.

Asheba — In the Kidzone
Asheba is one of the only Caribbean artists in kids’ music — and he’s good. Some of his earlier releases have been a little frantic for my tastes; here, he seems to have realized that he can include some mellower music (e.g., “Beautiful Welcome,” for newborns) and still appeal to kids. For the most part, this record sounds like you’d expect a Caribbean record for kids to sound: plenty of steel drums, warm-weather songs (a reggae-tinged version of “I Scream,” for instance), and so on. It’s a nice changeup from the more rock-oriented stuff, and your family will enjoy it even if you don’t have a tropical beach in your backyard. (And if you do, can we come over?) Asheba.net

Various Artists — European Playground
The Putumayo formula is well known but rarely works as well as it does here; they’ve found some really spot-on numbers for this CD. It’s fun, upbeat, and familiar enough (with ska, reggae, and other common vibes) to be comfortable but foreign enough to feel adventurous. Just like, well, almost everything else, kids’ music sounds infinitely more charming and sophisticated in French. Putumayo.com

Laura Freeman — Somersault Season
This is a record I’ve been waiting to be released for over two years (Freeman sent me an advance copy of it that long ago) and I’ve been waiting, not very patiently, for it to actually come out. It’s a terrifically entertaining CD, themed (sometimes loosely) around the seasons. Like her previous (and very good) Color Wheel Cartwheel, the record does some genre-hopping — which usually falls into the “Jack of all trades, master of none” category, but not with Freeman. No matter the style of music, her personality provides a foundation to make it all work. In addition to doing kids’ music, Freeman performs cabaret and early-20th-century music in her hometown of Austin, Texas, and that theatrical vibe serves her very well here. LauraFreemanMusic.com

Rocknoceros — Pink!
More than maybe most modern kids’ poppy rock, the Virginia-based Rocknoceros’s lyrics seem to me to be more precisely aimed at the younger set. Consider “Put a Hat On,” which is about, well, the importance of putting on a hat in cold weather. There’s nothing surprising about the reasons (heat escapes through your head, you know), but given how frequently parents tell kids to put on a hat, the song is going to resonate with kids. But it mostly isn’t overly simplistic to the extent that it’ll make parents nuts. I particularly like the rhyme in the Lindbergh story “Lucky Lindy” of the phrases “Spirit of St. Louis” and “he overflew us.” Sometimes the lyrics feel like they could have used another bit of polish (“fly like Peter Pan” in that same song seems a bit obvious and inaccurate at the same time), but the sweet melodies and production make up for it — and your kids will be having too much fun to be the annoying reviewer picking apart lyrics. Rocknoceros.com

Bill Childs is a law professor in western Massachusetts. He and his kids produce a radio show, “Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child,” weekly; check it out at Sparetherock.com. Contact him at [email protected].

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Fire up the grill, get a pick-up soccer game going, hook up the outdoor speakers, and blast these summer family favorites.

Asheba — In the Kidzone
Asheba is one of the only Caribbean artists in kids’ music — and he’s good. Some of his earlier releases have been a little frantic for my tastes; here, he seems to have realized that he can include some mellower music (e.g., “Beautiful Welcome,” for newborns) and still appeal to kids. For the most part, this record sounds like you’d expect a Caribbean record for kids to sound: plenty of steel drums, warm-weather songs (a reggae-tinged version of “I Scream,” for instance), and so on. It’s a nice changeup from the more rock-oriented stuff, and your family will enjoy it even if you don’t have a tropical beach in your backyard. (And if you do, can we come over?) Asheba.net

Various Artists — European Playground
The Putumayo formula is well known but rarely works as well as it does here; they’ve found some really spot-on numbers for this CD. It’s fun, upbeat, and familiar enough (with ska, reggae, and other common vibes) to be comfortable but foreign enough to feel adventurous. Just like, well, almost everything else, kids’ music sounds infinitely more charming and sophisticated in French. Putumayo.com

Laura Freeman — Somersault Season
This is a record I’ve been waiting to be released for over two years (Freeman sent me an advance copy of it that long ago) and I’ve been waiting, not very patiently, for it to actually come out. It’s a terrifically entertaining CD, themed (sometimes loosely) around the seasons. Like her previous (and very good) Color Wheel Cartwheel, the record does some genre-hopping — which usually falls into the “Jack of all trades, master of none” category, but not with Freeman. No matter the style of music, her personality provides a foundation to make it all work. In addition to doing kids’ music, Freeman performs cabaret and early-20th-century music in her hometown of Austin, Texas, and that theatrical vibe serves her very well here. LauraFreemanMusic.com

Rocknoceros — Pink!
More than maybe most modern kids’ poppy rock, the Virginia-based Rocknoceros’s lyrics seem to me to be more precisely aimed at the younger set. Consider “Put a Hat On,” which is about, well, the importance of putting on a hat in cold weather. There’s nothing surprising about the reasons (heat escapes through your head, you know), but given how frequently parents tell kids to put on a hat, the song is going to resonate with kids. But it mostly isn’t overly simplistic to the extent that it’ll make parents nuts. I particularly like the rhyme in the Lindbergh story “Lucky Lindy” of the phrases “Spirit of St. Louis” and “he overflew us.” Sometimes the lyrics feel like they could have used another bit of polish (“fly like Peter Pan” in that same song seems a bit obvious and inaccurate at the same time), but the sweet melodies and production make up for it — and your kids will be having too much fun to be the annoying reviewer picking apart lyrics. Rocknoceros.com

Bill Childs is a law professor in western Massachusetts. He and his kids produce a radio show, “Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child,” weekly; check it out at Sparetherock.com. Contact him at [email protected].

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