Not for Kids Only

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Great collection of mellow folk tunes.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

Find out more

Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

Find out more

Parents say

Kids say

Not yet rated

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that there is nothing of concern in this quality collection.

  • As in many folk songs, rotten behavior is tunefully related - and so is its punishment. "The Miller's Will" describes the fate of a greedy miller; in "When First Unto This Country," a horse thief is thrown in jail.
  • No violence, other than (friendly) dueling guitar and mandolin.
  • There are no sexual references.
  • These folk classics have no objectionable language.
  • There are no references to brand names in these folk songs.
  • In "Hot Corn, Cold Corn," the corn refers to corn whiskey, but the drinking references are subtle.

What's the story?

This album sets a high standard for children's music that might be equaled, but never surpassed. Before he died, the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia joined the hugely talented David Grisman, whose "dawg music" combines jazz, bluegrass, and klezmer to create this fabulous collection.


Is it any good?

 

It's a lively album of foot-tapping harmonies that can inspire three generations of listeners to rock to the beat as Garcia's guitar matches Grisman's mandolin. It's all good, but special highlights include "Arkansas Traveler," and maybe the best-ever version of "Teddy Bears' Picnic," where a brass Dixieland-style band backs Garcia's gravelly melody.


Sign Up Message
Sign up for our weekly newsletter
Each week we send a customized newsletter to our parent and teen subscribers. Parents can customize their settings to receive recommendations and parent tips based on their kids’ ages. Teens receive a version just for them with the latest reviews and top picks for movies, video games, apps, music, books, and more.
Please enter an email address.
Please check your email address for possible typos.
Sorry, you must be 13 or older to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Sign me up!

What families can talk about

Families can talk about musical collaborations. Talk about the backgrounds of the two artists, and what each brings to the album. What do you think is important to a successful collaboration?


This review was written by Cynthea Riesenberg
Parent of 4 and 9 year old
April 9, 2008
 

Flag as inappropriate 
Parent of 5 year old
December 8, 2009
 
Just plain great music for all ages.
Fun old-time folk music, beautifully played. Babies react to the music, toddlers dance to the rhythm and mimic the more repetitive choruses, preschoolers start getting the jokes, giggling, and singing along. And most of this is true folk music, too, not folk-influenced acoustic pop. Chords, guitar tab, variant lyrics, and sometimes even full sheet music can be found free online or at the library for many of the songs, so if your family has a musical bent, you can adapt them and sing and play along or even add a few extra verses of your own.

Flag as inappropriate 
Adult
June 20, 2009
 
no comment
no comment

Flag as inappropriate 
Kid, 11 years old
August 11, 2010
 
Just one obscene word.
"h**l" is used once in There Ain't No Bugs on Me.

Flag as inappropriate 

This review was written by Cynthea Riesenberg
Artists:David Grisman, Jerry Garcia
Release date:October 13, 1993
Label:Acoustic Disc
Genre:Children's Music
Parental advisory:No

This review was written by Cynthea Riesenberg
 

Review It

Share your review with others

Hang on! You need to be a member to post your review.
A safe community is important to us. Please observe our guidelines.
About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

Great alternatives handpicked by our editors

 

vote now

Will you add Not for Kids Only to your playlist?


Already listened to it? What do you think?

 

Been There? Tell us about it