…why there never seems to be anything good on the radio for your children to listen to, especially when you most need it - in the car, at bedtime, or on a rainy afternoon?

Are you tired of hearing the same old kids CDs time and time again?

Radio Dinosaur is the answer to your problems. Our mission is to give smart kids from the age of 5 upwards great stuff to listen to - original and classic music and stories that will delight them time and time again. We offer parents and carers reliable suggestions for intelligent, age-suitable audio entertainment for children to listen to whenever and wherever they want - with links to where to buy it.

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Have a listen to what we’re talking about…

Radio Dinosaur sampler

“Pure pleasure.  Raucous, irreverent, inventive.”
Times Literary Supplement

A hilarious take on different fairy tales with lots of funny voices!  Children will love the revolting details, the twists and turns and how the rhymes push the stories on at a rollicking pace, delivering a viciously different perspective on the familiar.  Red Riding Hood, for example, carries a pistol tucked into her knickers (just in case), Cinderella wonders whether the prince is such a good deal anyway, and Goldilocks gets her come-uppance for breaking and entering!

Justin Roberts is truly one of the “all-stars” of the indie family music scene in the US. Logging thousands of miles on the road each year, Justin and his wonderfully named bandmates “The Not Ready for Naptime Players” dish out unexpectedly intelligent and whimsically rocking music for kids and their parents.

He has now released eight albums, including Way Out, Not Naptime, Yellow Bus and his most recent, Pop Fly, but he is best known for his excellent 2006 album Meltdown!.  For me, the stand-out track from this album is My Brother Did It, a great example of witty, insightful songwriting from a child’s perspective (an extract from this appears on our sample audio on the home page).

In a recent feature, the New York version of Time Out chose Meltdown! as one of its Best Children’s Music Albums of the last 30 years…

His fifth album sounds like something you might have pulled out of your own power-pop collection, were it not for lyrics about how Mama’s “‘just a minute’…means more than just a minute.” Secret Agent 23 Skidoo calls him “the Buddy Holly of the kids world, perhaps with a better voice.”

Sadly Justin’s music is not available from iTunes in the UK, but you can hear some samples at his website.

Click here to buy Meltdown! from CD Baby (cheapest available option at the time of posting).

Once you’ve exhausted the possibilities of the Famous Five, then it’s time to move on to the Secret Seven.  Originally created by Enid Blyton as a series for younger readers, with simpler language than the Famous Five stories, the Seven don’t seem to have quite the same charm as the Five, and the characterisation is certainly more two-dimensional.  However, the full cast dramatisations are still entertaining, and stand up to repeated listening, especially with the under-sevens.

Recommended for girls and boys aged 5 and over.

View the download options from iTunes here

See the range of CDs available from Amazon here

Enid Blyton’s most famous creations are still among the most compelling stories for young listeners.  The mystery-solving adventures of Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the dog are captivating, and even though there have been numerous attempts to update them - most recently with a new animated TV series - there’s a timeless appeal in the originals.

When it comes to audiobooks, forget about the straight readings - the full cast dramatisations are much more fun, and may inspire your kids to pick up the original books for themselves.

Recommended for girls and boys aged 5 and over.

See the range of CDs available from Amazon here

It must say something about the longevity of a musician’s career, but there is a growing trend for pop and rock artists to delve into the world of children’s music, presumably inspired by having kids of their own.

For some, this is a natural extension of what they do anyway… They Might Be Giants’ quirky songwriting and odd production style naturally lends itself to songs about robots, grocery bags and balloons, and their kids’ album No! is a classic of the genre, and one of my family’s long-term favourites.

Similarly, it is no great surprise to see Canadian band Barenaked Ladies dip into kids’ music with their Snacktime album. While arguably less essential than No!, this abum does nevertheless feature some great (and funny) material, including Pollywog in a Bog (about tadpoles) and Seven Ate Nine (a nice musical setting for a favourite kids’ joke).

Perhaps less expected is the collective foray into the genre of some of Britain’s most popular and credible indie artists - Colours Are Brighter. This compilation, led by Belle and Sebastian, also features Franz Ferdinand, Snow Patrol, the Kooks, the Divine Comedy among others.  As well as including songs with great titles like The Monkeys are Breaking Out the Zoo and Go Go Ninja Dinosaur, the albums is also raising funds for Save The Children, so what’s not to like about it?

All of this goes to prove that it’s entirely possible to have interesting, original music that both kids and parents can enjoy listening to. You don’t need to put up with the Wiggles or Barney the Dinosaur any longer!!

Click here to buy No! from Amazon (not available on iTunes )

Click here to listen to Snacktime on iTunes.

Click here to buy Snacktime from Amazon.

Click here to listen to Colours Are Brighter on iTunes.

Click here to buy Colours Are Brighter from Amazon.

A truly multi-faceted musician, Peter Himmelman is a critically lauded rock troubadour, a Grammy nominated creator of children’s music, and an Emmy nominated film and television composer.  He has been producing consistently good music since the early 1980s, although he has never really hit the bigtime as a mainstream artist.

While other “adult” artists have dipped their toe into producing children’s music, Peter has immersed himself in the genre, having now produced five albums: My Best Friend Is A Salamander (1997), My Fabulous Plum (2000) and My Lemonade Stand (2004), the Grammy-nominated My Green Kite (2008), and his latest release, My Trampoline, now available to download from Amazon’s MP3 store.

Peter has worked closely with the Land of Nod in the States, producing an entertaining podcast.

Click here to listen to Peter Himmelman on iTunes.

Click here to buy Peter Himmelman albums from Amazon.

Often generously described as “a timeless classic”, Swallows and Amazons is redolent of a bygone era (it was published in 1930), but continues to captivate children even today.

It is the wholesome story of four young children, John, Susan, Titty and Roger, who set out in their boat (the Swallow of the title) to an island of adventure. All seems well until they encounter their enemy. At first they are angry at the invasion of their peaceful haven by these Amazon pirates, Nancy and Peggy, who claim ownership of the land. But in time a truce is called and the Swallows and Amazons become firm friends - camping under open skies, swimming in clear water, fishing, exploring and making discoveries together.  Swallows and Amazons transports children to a time of innocence, and a fantastical place where they can play safely and roam freely, without an adult in sight.

Recommended for boys and girls aged 5+

Available to download from iTunes here.

This series of books by Steve Cole is a great favourite with my boys, and pulls off the not inconsiderable feat of being easy enough to read for my six year old to cut his reading teeth on, while still interesting enough to keep my nine year old quiet.

The broad plot synopsis of the Astrosaurs series is that the dinosaurs were not in fact wiped out when a large meteor hit the earth millions of years ago; they had discovered space travel during the Triassic period and had already left earth by the time the meteor struck.  The dinosaurs subsequently settled in a part of space called the Jurassic Quadrant.  The heroes of the series are a group of elite Astrosaurs from the Dinosaur Space Service, whose mission is to explore space, go on exciting missions, protect the innocent, and fight evil wherever they find it.

Three books from the series (there are fifteen in total) have been produced as audiobooks, read by the excellent Toby Longworth (a renowned narrator and radio actor, who has also appeared on TV in Extras).  This is a great way to get your kids interested in the characters, and (hopefully) interested in reading some of the other titles in the series.

Recommended for boys aged 5+

Browse and audition the available titles on iTunes here.

View the titles available on CD from Amazon here.

View the range of Astrosaurs books on Amazon here.

The success of “veteran” Doctor’s assistant Sarah Jane Smith’s guest appearance in the Doctor Who episode School Reunion in 2006 led to the creation of a spin-off television show, The Sarah Jane Adventures, in 2007.  Sarah Jane, helped by a group of teenage neighbours and her faithful robot dog K9, investigates alien activity on Earth and saves the world from a series of dastardly visitors from space and time.

Mirroring their policy of extending the Doctor Who franchise into books and audio adventures, the BBC has subsequently released six original audiobook Sarah Jane Adventures.  In my view they are actually better for the under-12s than the Doctor Who audio adventures, as they are shorter (around an hour), and less scary.  They also all feature the real star, being read by Elisabeth Sladen (who plays Sarah Jane on TV).

Recommended for boys and girls aged 7+

Check out The Glittering Storm - one of a range of Sarah Jane Adventures available for download at iTunes here.

Buy Sarah Jane Adventures CDs from Amazon here.

The Land of Nod is an American retailer of homewares, gifts and toys for babies and children.  They are avid supporters of intelligent kids’ music, and have given a leg-up to many of the US-based artists featured at Radio Dinosaur.  As well as selling these artists’ music, they have also created a series of (free) podcasts - the Land of Nod’s Nodcast Podcast - featuring artists such as Justin Roberts, Dan Zanes, Peter Himmelman and The Barenaked Ladies.

Check out these free podcasts here.