Grammy Award for Best Children's Music Album

For other Grammy Award categories, see List of Grammy Award categories.

Grammy Award for Best Children's Music Album
Awarded forQuality performances aimed at children
CountryUnited States
Presented byNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First awarded1959
Currently held by123 Andrés, We Grow Together - Preschool Songs (2024)
Websitegrammy.com

The Grammy Award for Best Children's Album (from 2020: Grammy Award for Best Children's Music Album) is an honor presented since 2012 at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards.[1] Honors in various categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position."[2]

History

The Best Children's Album award is given to recording artists for works containing quality performances aimed at children. The award has had several minor name changes:

  • From 1959 to 1960 the award was known as Best Recording for Children
  • In 1961 it was awarded as Best Album Created for Children
  • From 1962 to 1968 it was awarded as Best Recording for Children
  • In 1969 no award was given in the Children's Field
  • From 1970 to 1991 it was awarded as Best Recording for Children
  • From 1992 to 1993 it was awarded as Best Album for Children
  • From 1994 to 2011 the award category was split into Best Musical Album for Children and Best Spoken Word Album for Children
  • From 2012 to 2019 it was known as Best Children's Album, after the Best Musical Album for Children and Best Spoken Word Album for Children categories were merged (basically returning to the situation as it was prior to 1994, although with a small name change).
  • In 2020, spoken-word children's albums were moved to the Best Spoken Word Album category.[3] The category was renamed Best Children's Music Album.

The 2012 restructuring of these and other categories was a result of the Recording Academy's wish to decrease the list of categories and awards. According to the Academy, "[it] passed the proposal that a return to one category for all types of recordings for children, as it was from 1958 to 1993, would be most appropriate in this new context."[4] As of the 67th Annual Grammy Awards in 2025, the category defines the intended audience range as "infant to 12 years old", and requires lyrics and English language translations to be included in entry submissions.[5]

Recipients

Year[I] Recipient(s) Work Nominees Ref.
1959 Ross Bagdasarian Sr. (artist) "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" [6][7]
1960 Peter Ustinov (artist) Peter and the Wolf [6][8]
1961 Ross Bagdasarian Sr. (artist) Let's All Sing with The Chipmunks [6][9]
1962 Leonard Bernstein (artist) Prokofiev: Peter And The Wolf [6][10]
1963 Leonard Bernstein (artist) Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals/Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra [6][11]
1964 Leonard Bernstein (artist) Bernstein Conducts For Young People [6][12]
1965 Dick Van Dyke & Julie Andrews (artists) Mary Poppins [6][13]
1966 Marvin Miller (artist) Dr. Seuss Presents: "Fox in Socks" and "Green Eggs and Ham" [6][14]
1967 Marvin Miller (artist) "Dr. Seuss Presents - "If I Ran The Zoo" And "Sleep Book"" [6][15]
1968 Boris Karloff (artist) "Dr. Seuss: How The Grinch Stole Christmas" [6][8]
1970 Peter, Paul and Mary (artist) Peter, Paul and Mommy [6][16]
1971 Joan Cooney & Thomas Z. Shepard (producers) Sesame Street [6][17]
1972 Bill Cosby (artist) Bill Cosby Talks to Kids About Drugs [6][18]
1973 Bill Cosby & Rita Moreno (artists)
 · Produced by Christopher Cerf, Joe Raposo, and Lee Chamberlin 		"The Electric Company" [6][19]
1974 Joe Raposo (producer) Sesame Street Live! [6][20]
1975 Paul Winchell, Sebastian Cabot & Sterling Holloway (artists) "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too" [6][21]
1976 Richard Burton (artist) "The Little Prince" [6][22]
1977 Hermione Gingold & Karl Böhm (artists) Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf/Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals [6][23]
1978 Christopher Cerf & Jim Timmens (producers) Aren't You Glad You're You [6][24]
1979 Jim Henson (producer) The Muppet Show [6][25]
1980 Jim Henson & Paul Williams (producers) The Muppet Movie [6][26]
1981 David Levine & Lucy Simon (producers) In Harmony: A Sesame Street Record [6][27]
1982 Jim Henson & Dennis Scott (producers) Sesame Country [6][28]
1983 David Levine & Lucy Simon (producers) In Harmony 2 [6][29]
1984 Michael Jackson (artist)
 · Quincy Jones (producer) 		E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial [6][30]
1985 Shel Silverstein (artist)
 · Ron Haffkine (producer) 		Where the Sidewalk Ends [6][31]
1986 Jim Henson & Steve Buckingham (producers) Follow That Bird: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [6][32]
1987 Jim Henson, Geri Van Rees & Kathryn King (producers) The Alphabet [6][33]
1988 Bobby McFerrin & Jack Nicholson (artists)
 · Produced by Bobby McFerrin, Mark Sottnick, and Tom Bradshaw 		The Elephant's Child [6][34]
1989 Robin Williams (artist)
 · Music by Ry Cooder
 · Produced by Mark Sottnick and Ry Cooder 		Pecos Bill [6][35]
1990 Tanya Goodman (artist)
 · David R. Lehman & J. Aaron Brown (producers) 		The Rock-A-Bye Collection, Volume 1 [6]
1991 Alan Menken (composer) Howard Ashman (lyricist) The Little Mermaid: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack [6]
1992 Clifford "Barney", Robertson (producer) A Cappella Kids [6]
1993 Alan Menken & Howard Ashman (songwriters) Beauty and the Beast: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [6]
2012 Gloria Domina, James Cravero, Kevin Mackie, Patrick Robinson & Steve Pullara (producers) All About Bullies... Big and Small
  • Are We There Yet?
  • Fitness Rock & Roll - Miss Amy (artist)
  • GulfAlive
  • I Love: Tom T. Hall's Songs Of Fox Hollow
 [6][36]
2013 The Okee Dokee Brothers
 · Engineered/Mixed & Produced by Dean Jones 		Can You Canoe? [6][37]
2014 Jennifer Gasoi (artist)
 · Engineered/Mixed by Pierre Messier
 · Produced by Jennifer Gasoi 		Throw a Penny in the Wishing Well [6][38]
2015 Neela Vaswani (artist) I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World [6][8]
2016 Tim Kubart (artist) Home [6][8]
2017 Secret Agent 23 Skidoo Infinity Plus One [6][8]
2018 Lisa Loeb (artist) Feel What U Feel [6][8]
2019 Lucy Kalantari & The Jazz Cats All The Sounds
[39]
2020 Jon Samson & Al Walser Ageless Songs for the Child Archetype
[40]
2021 Joanie Leeds All the Ladies
[41]
2022 Falu A Colorful World
[42]
2023 Alphabet Rockers The Movement [43]
2024 123 Andrés We Grow Together - Preschool Songs
2025 Winner TBA on 2 February 2025 [44]

Multiple wins

Wins Recipients
5 Jim Henson
3 Leonard Bernstein
2 Howard Ashman
Ross Bagdasarian Sr.
Bill Cosby
David Levine
Alan Menken
Marvin Miller
Lucy Simon

References

  1. ^ "Grammy Awards at a Glance". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  2. ^ "Overview". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on October 27, 2009. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
  3. ^ Billboard.com, 19 June 2019
  4. ^ "Grammy Awards Restructuring". Archived from the original on December 3, 2011. Retrieved April 7, 2011.
  5. ^ Grein, Paul (June 14, 2024). "Grammys 2025: No New Categories, But 10 Rule Tweaks". Billboard. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao "Past Winners Search". Grammy.Com.
  7. ^ "Grammy Awards 1959". Awards & Shows.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Grammy Awards 1968". Awards & Shows.
  9. ^ "Grammy Awards 1961". Awards & Shows.
  10. ^ "Grammy Awards 1962". Awards & Shows. Archived from the original on June 2, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  11. ^ "Grammy Awards 1963". Awards & Shows. Archived from the original on December 7, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  12. ^ "Grammy Awards 1964". Awards & Shows.
  13. ^ "Grammy Awards 1965". Awards & Shows.
  14. ^ "Grammy Awards 1966". Awards & Shows.
  15. ^ "Grammy Awards 1967". Awards & Shows.
  16. ^ "Grammy Awards 1970". Awards & Shows.
  17. ^ "Grammy Awards 1971". Awards & Shows.
  18. ^ "Grammy Awards 1972". Awards & Shows.
  19. ^ "Grammy Awards 1973". Awards & Shows.
  20. ^ "Grammy Awards 1974". Awards & Shows.
  21. ^ "Grammy Awards 1975". Awards & Shows.
  22. ^ "Grammy Awards 1976". Awards & Shows.
  23. ^ "Grammy Awards 1977". Awards & Shows.
  24. ^ "Grammy Awards 1978". Awards & Shows.
  25. ^ "Grammy Awards 1979". Awards & Shows.
  26. ^ "Grammy Awards 1980". Awards & Shows.
  27. ^ "Grammy Awards 1981". Awards & Shows.
  28. ^ "Grammy Awards 1982". Awards & Shows.
  29. ^ "Grammy Awards 1983". Awards & Shows.
  30. ^ "Grammy Awards 1984". Awards & Shows.
  31. ^ "Grammy Awards 1985". Awards & Shows.
  32. ^ "Grammy Awards 1986". Awards & Shows.
  33. ^ "Grammy Awards 1987". Awards & Shows.
  34. ^ "Grammy Awards 1988". Awards & Shows.
  35. ^ "Grammy Awards 1989". Awards & Shows.
  36. ^ "Exploring The Children's Field Nominees". Grammys.
  37. ^ "Meet the 2013 Grammy Award nominees for Best Children's Album". Time Out.
  38. ^ "Grammy Awards 2014: Full Nominations List". Billboard.
  39. ^ Grammy.com, 7 December 2018
  40. ^ 2020 Grammy Awards nominations list
  41. ^ 2021 Nominations list
  42. ^ "2022 GRAMMYs Awards: Complete Nominations List". GRAMMY.com. November 23, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
  43. ^ "2023 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Nominees List". www.grammy.com. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  44. ^ "2025 GRAMMYs: See The OFFICIAL Full Nominations List | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com. Retrieved November 11, 2024.