If it’s in the car, Mr. FP won’t listen to anything else. But he does like it equally well performed by Raffi and the Chenille Sisters.

Bananaphone by Raffi So often when I’m reviewing children’s music, I’ll talk about whether or not it’s solo voice with guitar. After listening to this album, I think what I’m aiming for is avoiding bad Raffi knock-offs. Raffi is basically the king of children’s music. In another artist’s voice, the silliness and seriousness would be insincere and make you gag. From Raffi, you find yourself singing along before you quite realize what’s happened. The title song, Bananaphone, includes all the banana puns you can think of, plus the groaner “It’s a Grandpa phone and a gramophone too.” There are is a nice song about the First Peoples, listing names of numerous Native American Tribes, and songs about organic gardening, silly rhymes and more. I would be the last person on earth to say that children need to listen only to children’s music, but if you want the Platonic ideal of kiddie songs, do put Raffi on your list.