Jonathan's great for kids ( of all ages ).

The Ramones always go down a treat with my brood, as does Ian Dury (parental controls apply here though). Small boys "get" punk instinctively - it's noisy, it's naughty and the songs are rarely longer than their attention span. My five year old also has a thing for big beat - Frontier Psychiatrist by the Avalanches is a particular favourite, and anything by Fatboy Slim.

I think the works of Syd Barrett might be a little too disturbing for a six-year-old - I remember hearing Bike at around that age and realising even then that something was not quite right, but on the other hand, "Totally Wired" by the Fall and "Fish Heads" by Barnes and Barnes both proved to be surprise hits in our car, so who knows?

... Go Go Ninja Dinosaur by 4 Tet surely would appeal?

I loved Another Brick In The Wall by Pink Floyd as a kid for obvious reasons...

The Automatic was it? Kids seem to love that.

Could try a bit of glam rock as well - Suzie Quatro/Sweet/T.REx

Ring of Fire
Daydream Believer
Gypsys Tramps & Thieves
Uptight
The Chimbley Sweep & Billy Liar by The Decemberists (in fact most of their stuff goes down very well)
What's a Girl to do - Bat for Lashes
Postcard from Italy - Beirut
Mad World - Gary Jules

The final three are not exactly Junior Choice but they go down a storm. I blame the parents.

I threw on every song I had that I thought was kid friendly like "Who Let The Dogs Out?" and "Monster Mash."

I wasn't present but the song they all went completely nuts over was "Surfin' Bird" by the The Trashmen. Apparently it was played a dozen times or more at the kids request.

With that in mind the Ramones is probably a real good bet.

It's always worth checking the soundtracks of films. There is a Scooby Doo DVD which has Rockaway Beach by the Ramones on the soundtrack, that awful Cat In The Hat film features a version of The Beatles' Getting Better and the recent (with Robbie Williams et al) Magic Roundabout fearures a version of You Really Got Me (my 6 year old daughter was impressed when she heard The Kinks original on a car compilation CD).

Eton Rifles - The Jam
Relight My Fire - Take That
Dance Wiv Me - Dizzy Rascal
Echo Beach - Martha & the Muffins
American Idiot - Green Day (tho we have to cough loudly over the F-word!)
Vertigo - U2

That'll do for now...

'No' is great for kids big n small - particularly 'In the Middle' , 'Where Do they Make Balloons?' and 'Violin'

Try Dan Zanes, formerly of the Del Fuegos in the 1980s, who has found himself with whole new career producing children's music that doesn't patronise. The albums have heavy cardboard pages like an old-fashioned children's book.. "Rocket Ship Beach" and "Family Dance" both highly recommended as a place to start in what is now quite a catalogue (and major cottage industry). They're like the Basement Tapes or Harry Smith Anthology for kids...

And this never fails on any family road tape I've made..

but how about I'm the Leader of the Gang (I am), by Gary Glitter? Surely one of the most child friendly pop tunes ever recorded?

Seem to be penning Childrens TV show themes on the Playhouse Disney channel. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Higglytown Heroes both feature tunes by TMBG. Both popular with my tots.

But - and this makes me very proud - all three of them are confirmed fans of The Beatles after endless repeats of the No 1s CD in the car. When singing along, my 2 year-old girl insists on "being" Ringo.

The hands-down favourite at the moment is Hello Goodbye. The simplicity of the lyric is the winner here, I think.

are:
Can't Get You Out of my head (better known as La la la)
I'm from Barcelona - We're from Barcelona
Lloyd I'm Ready to be heartbroken - Camera Obscura
I'm a boy - The Who. The latest sensationn, currently receiving at least two plays per ten minute school run.

I have made a series of CDs for my kids (and myself) called The Treehouse; they mix up good kids and adult songs so we don't have to listen to Bontempi classics in the car. Tracklisting of the first is below (there are nine more so far and my eldest is only 2)...
I found a lot of original inspiration from http://fidsandkamily.blogspot.com/ and http://www.sparetherock.com/ - and there's a lot more in the States than the UK. Say no to Rubbish Kid's Songs!

1 The Treehouse Looper
2 Let's Build A Zoo Saint Etienne
3 At the Zoo Simon & Garfunkel
4 The Monkeys Are Breaking Out The Zoo Belle and Sebastian
5 My Brother Did It Justin Roberts
6 Big Rock Candy Mountain Harry McClintock
7 Little Red Caboose Lisa Loeb and Elizabeth Mitchell
8 Catch That Train! Dan Zanes and Friends
9 I'm An Ant Wee Hairy Beasties
10 High Hopes Frank Sinatra
11 In the Middle, In the Middle, In the Middle They Might Be Giants
12 Road Safety Song Wee Hairy Beasties
13 I Think I'll Need A Bandaid Trout Fishing In America
14 Stop and Go Lisa Loeb and Elizabeth Mitchell
15 Dance around Woody Guthrie
16 Clap Your Hands They Might Be Giants
17 Dance to Your Daddy The Flaming Drones
18 The 3 Rs Jack Johnson
19 Swimmy Swim Woody Guthrie
20 Bring Your Clothes Laurie Berkner
21 Bed Bed Bed They Might Be Giants
22 Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Lisa Loeb and Elizabeth Mitchell
23 Grapefruit Moon Tom Waits
24 Lazyhead and Sleepybones They Might Be Giants
25 Bedfordshire Saint Etienne
26 Night Baking Kathryn Williams
27 Sleepwalkers They Might Be Giants
28 Night Owl Saint Etienne
29 Back To The Treehouse Looper

for all the suggestions so far. Some great songs which I would never have thought of.

Effervescing Elephant is quite a charming little song

And how about the Frog Chorus? I get fed up with people knocking McCartney for this one, it's a lovely children's song with a great melody

I've seen a party of 6 year olds go crazy to Outcaste's finest three minutes. In fact I've never knowingly met anyone who doesn't like it.

My three year old likes:

Kooks - David Bowie (she'll have heard this in the womb)
Cool Water - Joy Askew (great for calming down)
Most of Sophie Solomon's album Poison Sweet Madeira, as featured in a Word CD.

This morning she heard a snippet of operatic baritone on the radio and thought it was hilarious, so I'm going to dig out some Ivan Rebroff. I defy anyone not to smile when his voice starts to climb up the scale...

I would say Lovefool by the Cardigans and Slight Return by the Bluetones. I've never tried playing these to kids, but I can't see how they would fail to entertain.

Inspired by the inclusion of Belle & Sebastian on the Treehouse mix, I would also suggest Me And The Major by them.

A big favourite with the wee ones at the moment. Desmond Dekker and the Specials also go down well.