Rocket Baby - Shake, Rattle & Rhyme

As the high-powered tyke on the cover suggests, Rocket Baby: Shake, Rattle & Rhyme features lots of energetic versions of singalong favorites that have been set to different dance rhythms, such as "The Baby Bumble Bee Salsa!" and "It's Raining It's Samba!" (all of the song titles convey their energy with an exclamation point). The collection advertises itself as "songs your kids will love that won't drive you crazy," and indeed, it comes pretty close to delivering on its promise. While the album suffers a little bit from the overly synthetic arrangements and slightly too-sweet vocals that plague many modern children's albums, these minor drawbacks are balanced by the song's infectious rhythms and the creative approach taken to tried-and-true children's songs and nursery rhymes. "Skid-a-Marink-a-Foxtrot!" "John-Jacob-Jingleheimer-Tango!" and "The Rainbow Waltz!" are some of the other highlights of this exuberant children's album, which is perfectly suited to those times when the kids need to blow off some steam by singing, dancing, and jumping around.