Search - Various Artists :: A World of Happiness

Once a year (twice if we're lucky) a kids' record that merits grown-up buzz reaches the bins--in 2004 it comes early. A World of Happiness is star-studded (Deborah Harry, Isaac Hayes, Samuel L. Jackson), loaded with wisdom, and follows a can't-miss formula established by its legendary 1970s forebear Free to Be You and Me. Simply put, there is much here to love: Lou Rawls' dreamy, soul-drenched title track, Illeana Douglas and Gary Oldman's cut-up "Just Ask," and Magic Johnson's ironic, perfectly paced tale of trumping the odds in "Little Me." These lessons land softly on growing ears--5- to 10-year-olds are the perfect targets, but older and younger kids will latch onto certain tracks too--and, like the 70s set it was modeled after, the CD leaves listeners in a place that feels safe and lit by inspiration. Count on it sounding right to more than a single generation, and to be among the few in your collection you try to protect when an over-eager handler has just put down her peanut-butter sandwich. --Tammy La Gorce