Toddler
Sara Hickman's spring-loadedToddlerplays like a 2-year-old's trip to the zoo. What's around the bend is anybody's guess, but because each creature is as kooky or adorable or exotic as the one that came before it, you can hardly wait to get there. Think of it as a 31-track grab-bag: "I Got You Babe," its lyrics modified from "I got you to wear my ring" to "I got you to push me on the swing," butts up against "Storytime with Tish Hinojosa," a spoken-word saga of feline demise and rat liberation; the 1930s safety song "Remember Your Name & Address" swings out soberly on the heels of "Mr. Kawasaki (the Wok Song)," a gastronomic gross-out detailing a stir-fry gone wrong; and a hip-hop take on "This Little Light of Mine" thumps along in the hands of guest vocalist MC Overlord before this CD shoves off to Hawaii for "Pupu Hinuhinu." Interspersed are more spoken-word tracks (someone called Mr. Peppermint takes a turn, as do Sara and other friends), old standbys like "Freres Jacques" and "Duke of York," and, with "Waar Is Mijn Dulfje (Where is My Baby Bird)" and the Hebrew "Hiney Rakavet," there are some stabs at toddler world music. Where most CDs that string together snatches of this and that collapse into catchalls--nothing special--Toddlerstands steady on its feet, buoyed by Hickman's wit, spunk, and way with a song. Her's is a voice as warm and inviting as a best-loved blanket, calling to mindKaren Carpenterin calmer moments, and what she chooses to wrap it around will leave moms, dads, and tots hoping she takes this boringly titled series, which started withNewborn, all the way pastTweenandCollege KidtoOld Geezer.--Tammy La Gorce