Jessica Harper’s Voice, Lyrics and Music Add Up to Magic

Audio

Jessica Harper: Inside Out! Rounder Kids. CD: $18; cassette: $11. (800) ROUNDER, https://www.rounder.com.

Children’s music doesn’t get any better than this. When TV and film acting veteran Jessica Harper became a parent several years ago and channeled her extraordinary musical gifts into writing, composing and singing songs for children, she upped the bar considerably for the best of the best. With the expressive warmth of her clear alto, her multilayered, satin-smooth vocal harmonies, her kid-smart and from-the-heart lyrics and creative use of various rhythms, Harper sailed past much of the competition in her earlier “40 Winks” and “Rhythm in My Shoes” albums.

This collection of memorably arranged traditional songs (“Yonder Come Day,” “Happy Talk,” “Down By the River”) and quirky originals (“A Little Brown Dog Named Joe,” “Walk It While You Talk It,” “Shout the Happiness,” “Lizzie’s Do’s and Don’t’s”) continues that trend.

Harper smoothly mixes children’s voices into the mix, including those of two of her inspirations: daughters Nora and Elizabeth. The result is musical magic.

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Wendee: Animal Dance ... and Other Silly Songs. Wendee’s Music. CD: $15; cassette: $12. Pages Books in Tarzana, Learning Express in Valencia, https://www.amazon.com, https://www.CDBaby.com.

Longtime children’s music teacher, performer and singer/songwriter Wendee has put out her first CD, a pleasing traditional mix of early rock ‘n’ roll, country, hip-hop, calypso and folk styles to inspire preschoolers to play, dance and sing along. The 14 humorous, easily accessible original tracks include messages about safety, good grooming and eating vegetables, as well as a “Thumb Pinkie Rap,” a playful “Animal Dance,” a “Wiggle Wiggle” exercise routine and a sunny invitation to go “Walkin’.”

Video

Barney, Let’s Go to the Zoo. Lyrick Studios/Barney Home Video. 50 minutes. $15 (available in English and Spanish).

Barney goes on location in this very nicely produced direct-to-video release, taking a tour of the Fort Worth Zoo with dino pals Baby Bop and BJ and accompanied by stowaway Scooter the Squirrel. There are oodles of song stops along the way, well-integrated footage of real animals, animal facts, playful real children for viewers to identify with and giggles and hugs aplenty.

The Wiggles: Wiggly Play Time. Lyrick Studios/HIT Entertainment. 50 minutes. $15.

The Wiggles, four clean-cut guys in pullovers and black slacks, are Australia’s equivalent of Barney and the Teletubbies. In these three episodes from the effervescent quartet’s TV series there, the Wiggles sing and dance in front of their legions of Aussie fans and inhabit a candy-colored, make-believe world with puppets and costumed characters. It includes a talking door, a dainty dinosaur with a rose garden, a dancing octopus in a plaid suit, a pirate captain who’s outsmarted by his dog and the magician-wannabe Wiggle who isn’t quite as smart as his rabbit.

The faces may not be familiar to most preschoolers here, although the Wiggles have toured in the U.S., but the sunny, hugs-all-’round atmosphere is feel-good cozy.

Madeline: Manners. DIC Home Entertainment/Lions Gate Home Entertainment. 75 minutes. VHS: $10. DVD: $15.

“In an old house in Paris/that was covered with vines/lived 12 little girls in two straight lines ... “ Ludwig Bemelmans’ “Madeline” has retained her simplicity and charm, even as she progresses from book to audio to video and now to DVD in new story after new story. The introduction to each remains the same and the stories honor Bemelmans’ style by including rhyming couplets in the telling of the song-filled tales.

Here, Madeline and her friends, including next-door neighbor Pepito, learn to be polite and considerate, the lessons reinforced by an unexpected source: a reformed soccer star. Then, when Madeline’s friend Yvette lets a painter’s interest in her go to her head, everyone learns what really makes someone special.

The DVD includes the option of English-or Spanish-language versions (but, oddly, not French) and a perky “Madeline’s Sing-A-Long”; a “game” feature is much less appealing. Answer all the questions and the “reward” is a promotional trailer for the new “Madeline” videos and DVDs. Tacky.