The first song Justin Roberts ever played for four-year-olds had no chorus, no repetition, and a plot involving a giraffe and a nightingale. He'd written it for his indie-folk band, for adults, with no real reason to think a room of preschoolers would sit still for it. They did. By the open house, they knew every word.

What Roberts discovered in that room was that kids were capable of far more than he'd been led to believe. The albums kept coming, and so did the recognition: five Grammy nominations, ten Parents' Choice Gold Awards. As the sound has evolved across albums, it's grown more expansive and harmonically rich: melodic indie pop with a kid's-eye view, drawing comparisons to Elvis Costello, Paul Simon, and Fountains of Wayne. "I write stuff that I would want to listen to as an adult," Roberts says. The songs are hooky, and honest in a way that sneaks up on parents.

He's also never kept the sadness out. There are songs about getting lost, about divorce, about being the odd one out, and the particular loneliness of being small. The New York Times called him "the Judy Blume of kiddie rock."

With his band, the Not Ready for Naptime Players, Roberts creates the kind of energy in his shows where kids dance so hard that mosh pits break out. He talks to the crowd the way he'd talk to anyone. He's played Lollapalooza, the Kennedy Center, and live on the Today Show. USA Today's take: "Hands down the best songwriter in the genre."