Let's Wiggle (Blisterpack)
The Wiggles are fast becoming the 2- to 6-year-old crowd's answer to the Fab Four in their native Australia, inciting ants-in-the-pants squirming, squeals of delight, and worshipful sing-alongs all across the nation. With their eponymous TV show, they're poised to widen the Wigglemania. OnLet's Wiggle, Anthony Field (the blue-shirted Wiggle), Murray Cook (the red-shirted one), Greg Page (always in yellow), and Jeff Fatt (perennially purple) and their costumed pals Dorothy the Dinosaur, Captain Feathersword, Henry the Octopus, and Wags the Dog settle in for some serious silliness on such songs as "Fly Through the Air," "I Look in the Mirror," and "Little Brown Ant." Simple musical arrangements and easy-to-grasp themes ("I love it when it rains / And I lie in bed at night / I listen to it patter" is the extent of one lyric) pave the way for attentive listening. The Wiggles also earn a nod in the credibility category: 13 of this album's songs were written by group members (the rest, like "Sing a Song of Polly" and "Bound for South Australia" are traditional songs), and they even handle their own guitars. Overall, despite what sometimes feels like overkill on the Australia angle (lots of kangaroos and kookaburras scamper through these songs), parents would be hard-pressed to find a better bunch of guys for their preschoolers to wiggle with.--Tammy La Gorce