"With traditional and contemporary instruments and evocative sound effects, Brazilian singer-songwriter-music educator Sulinha and musicians Eduardo Mercuri and Julio Santos transform staples of children's music through remarkably sophisticated and mellow jazz arrangements of simple original songs—about pedestrian safety (a percussive "Cross the Street"), dental care ("I Brush My Teeth," sung in English and Portuguese on separate tracks), phonetics, vowels, and more-shaped around a memorable rhythmic sway. More highlights: "A Day on the Farm," irresistibly delivered Bossa Nova-style; the sweetly meditative "Rain Rain Rain," and a non-rhyming, factual but exotic evocation of elephants and their characteristics ("Elephants in the Jungle")."

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Lynne Heffley   ©2018 Parents' Choice

A freelance writer and editor for the arts and non-profit organizations, Lynne is a former staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, where she established the paper's first weekly children's arts and entertainment beat.