Over the past year, there has been an increase in children-friendly CDs. Some feature popular cartoon characters, such as SpongeBob SquarePants, and others feature music of popular songs arranged by musical parents.

Here are a couple of recent CDs targeted to the young.

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS: THE BEST DAY EVER, (Nick Records/Sony/BMG). The ever-popular Nickelodeon icon SpongeBob SquarePants is educating the young with this album, formatted like a retro-music radio show. Much like those old radio revues in the 1950s and '60s. Bikini Bottom's transmission station WH20 spotlights SpongeBob's band, SpongeBob & the Hi-Seas.

The tracks are filled with bit pieces, music, announcers, call-ins and even commercials; the "Krusty Krab Radio Spot" will bring a smile to your face.

Young listeners who put this in their CD player will love the familiar voices — especially Tom Kenny and Peter Fagerbakke, who have voiced SpongeBob and Patrick, respectively, for the past seven years. Older listeners —parents and grandparents — will also enjoy the music because noted musicians and producers, such as the Ramones' drummer, Tommy Ramone, the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson and Tejano superstar Flaco Jimenez, are part of the musical mix.

Familiar tracks include the title track, "Under My Rock" and "Employee of the Month," which was taken from the "SpongeBob Squarepants" movie. New songs, such as "Fishin' for Money," "Who Wants to Race" and "You Will Obey," are also family-friendly tunes on the CD.

When the disc wraps up, be sure to check out the bonus music video of "Best Day Ever" and a new game on the CD's enhanced section.

ONE OF THE HARDEST things about being a parent is making sure your offspring get enough sleep. Baby Rock Records is offering some help.

Michael Armstrong has taken some heavy-metal and space-rock tunes of Metallica, Coldplay and Radiohead and transformed them into, uh, lullabies.

You read right. The "Rockabye Baby!" series include "Lullaby Renditions of Metallica," " ... Coldplay" and " ... Radiohead."

By taking the fuzz out of the guitar powerchords and replacing them with the glockenspiel, vibraphone and mellotron, the songs are toned down a few decibels for soothing arrangements. Without the kinetic and raspy vocals, the songs become nighttime instrumentals.

Coldplay's "Clocks," "Yellow," "Politik" and "In My Place" wind down from their already surreal sounds to downright dreamy.

Radiohead's stereophonic meanderings of "Let Down," "Subterranean Homesick Alien" and "Paranoid Android" get a somewhat music-box treatment.

And Metallica's anthems "Wherever I May Roam," "Enter Sandman," "Battery" and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" lose their edge.

Even the suicide homage "Fade to Black," one of Metallica's more mellow tunes, becomes a new-age gem. And, like the other songs, it works for the most part as a lullaby, but for those who know the lyrics, it may be a little unnerving to even think about playing a tune about self-murder to a drowsy infant.

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E-mail: scott@desnews.com