People fear most children's music for good reason, for a large part of itissaccharine coated cheese. Barney is the intellectual equivalent of a potato chip, and not one of the goodpotato chips either. Barney is one of those potato chips with themanufactured fat that makes your ass leak. No!,onthe other hand, is a never-ending cornucopia.

I cannot help but love an album that starts out telling your child of thejoys of lying (Fibber Island), tells her that brooms have minds oftheir own (I Am Not Your Broom), and uses ping pong paddles asmusical instruments (Bed Bed Bed).

TMBG aren't afraid to play in the thematic territories you would expect tosee on a kid's album, like the safety first theme of In the Middle IntheMiddle In the Middle

Don't cross the street in the middle in the middleIn the middle in the middle in the middle of the blockDon't cross the street in the middle in the middleIn the middle in the middle in the middle of the blockUse your eyes to look upUse your ears to hearWalk up to the corner where the coast is clearAnd wait and wait until you see the light turn green.

You may have heard that the best way to remember something is to sing it. Ibelieve it. An episode of Cheers, one that I haven't seen for years, hasCoach and Sam memorizing facts about Albania for somereason. They sing them to remember them. I don't know if Ted Danson canstill recall, but I still know that Albania is mostly mountainous, borderson the Adriatic, and exports chrome. I will never fear for my daughter atstreet corners, because the song has infected her, body and soul.

"Don kass da steet inda midda inda midda inda midda inda midda a da woad"she told me this morning.

Most kid's albums have some tortured attempt by the artist to sing abouttheworld from a three year olds point of view. This factor alone maydeterminean artist's popularity among the diapers and pull ups crowd. Raffi does this well, so I am told, asdo the Wiggles. TMBG take the ideato its logical end, and sing about the one thing Toddlers know above allothers-The word "No!"

No is noNo is always noIf they say no it means a thousand times noNo plus no equals noAll no's lead to no, no, no

If I don't want her zoning in front of the television, I can slipNo!into the DVD player, and she'll stay within earshot of the music, and thatis a gift beyond compare. I can think of five or six infants that will begetting No! from me on their second birthday, but it will really beagift for their parents.