Rockin' with Roseanne: Calling All Kids!

An ostensibly odd hostess for a children's music title (we are talking about the woman who achieved stardom for being a rude and crude sitcom mom, not to mention her headline-making 1990 national anthem fiasco), Golden Globe-winning comedienne Roseanne Barr isn't afraid to go to foolish lengths—including fake freckles, sucking her thumb, and wearing a full beard—to get children to giggle and sing along to the 12 songs presented here with optional onscreen lyrics. The tunes include “No Monsters Allowed,” the puppet-accompanied “I'm Gonna Tell on You” and “I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart,” and animation-backed “Calling All Kids,” “Peanut Butter and Jelly Fish,” and an ode to apricot trees (which looked like “Popcorn Poppin'” when they flowered in Barr's hometown of Salt Lake City). Featuring musical styles ranging from rock to big band to country, the songs are kinda catchy (with lyrics such as “when I see the tongue depressor, I get depressed”), and the vignettes are imaginative (with giant doughnuts, brightly-colored fuzzy monsters, etc.), although there are no connecting opening or closing segments here. The cover art suggestion to “move over Wiggles!” is a bit on the wishful thinking side, but this is recommended, overall. Aud: K, P. (J. Williams-Wood)