When I was a child, the music geared toward my age group was limited. With the exception of "The Muppets" and "Schoolhouse Rock," most children's music was cheesy recordings of nursery rhme songs.

Thank goodness things have changed.

Today, kids have a lot more options, and the music is as entertaining for the parents as it is for the kids, expecially from lesser-known independant artists.

If you don't believe me, go to www.cdbaby.com and search for children's music.

You'll find great tunes from Trout Fishing in America, The Jimmies, Dan Zanes and Friends and more.

You'll also find a little CD called "Dos Ninos" by Norman's very own Sugar free Allstars, a band comprised of vocalist/keyboardist Chris Wiser (who got his musical start in the Noble seventh-grade band) and drummer Rob "Dr. Rock" Martin.

The duo's first children's effort is getting great reviews, whether it's from children catching the band live during its summer tour of libraries in the Pioneer Library System or librarians from one of the largest libraries in the nation.

"Who knew Oklahoma could be so funky?" wrote Warren Truitt, senior children's librarian for the New York Public Library. "The two dudes from Norman, Ok, who call themselves the Sugar Free Allstars lay down some.....grooves with nothing but a Hammond B-3 and a drum set, showing that less is more on their first CD for kids, 'Dos Ninos.'"

Zooglobble.com, a Web site for kids and family music news and reviews, also praised the pair.

"This will be one of those CDs you pull out to show others that kids' music these days isn't just pop or folk," the Web site stated.

I couldn't agree more. the minute my CD came in the mail, I popped it into my CD player and haven't taken it out since.

From the jazzy "Bathtub Boy" to "Buck Up Little Camper," a happy western tune that will have frowns turned upside in no time, "Dos Ninos" keeps it soulful and simple.

"Poppy and MeeMaw," talks about the importance of grandmas and grandpas; the house pet gets some one-on-one in "Its P. Kitty Time," and the mostly instrumental "Stinky" - a remake of a classic Sugar Free Allstars song - will have kids and adults singing along as they hold their noses.

I tested "Dos Ninos" out on my 4-month-old, and he loved it, especially "Petting Zoo," a catchy pop tune about a trip to the zoo with Mom.

If you didn't get a chance to hear the band at a library this summer, you can catch them on the CD.

It will have your head bopping as it puts a boost in your baby's bouncy seats - expecially when Wiser goes into overdrive on his Hammond B-3 organ during "Banana Pudding."

-Tami Althoff