Sesame Road (by Sesame Street, Children's Music)

The album's cover is priceless, although a little misleading. Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, and Elmo are walking in a line in a crosswalk -- just like John, Paul, George, and Ringo on the Abbey Road cover. But this isn't just a Beatles parody. Sure, the album starts off with "Letter B" (in the style of "Let It Be"), and it concludes with Cookie Monster singing "Hey Food" ("Hey Jude"), but there are take-offs of many other artists and styles, too.

Eighties stars Billy Idol and Cindy Lauper get the Muppet treatment on "Rebel L" and "Grouch Girls Don't Want to Have Fun," and Elmo steals a page from Chuck Berry's playbook with "Off to School."

Each song includes a lesson, ranging from practicing certain sounds to stressing good nutrition. There's even a great zydeco song that teaches kids different ways musical textures can be created with their voices. Best of all, the lessons are cloaked in parodies that are so goofy and irreverent, kids don't realize they're learning.