The Playground in Bloomington, MN

On his first children's album,
Tony Bennett
presses into service some familiar titles from The Great American Songbook, such as
Harold Arlen
and
Johnny Mercer
's
"Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive,"
Jimmy Van Heusen
Johnny Burke
"Swinging on a Star,"
Arlen
,
Billy Rose
E.Y. Harburg
"(It's Only) a Paper Moon."
He also dips into his own repertoire for
"Firefly,"
his 1958 hit. And he calls upon such partners as
the Muppets
'
Elmo
(
"Little Things"
) and
Kermit the Frog
"Bein' Green"
"Firefly"
), and
Rosie O'Donnell
"Put on a Happy Face"
). All of that is very good, but the best parts of the collection are unexpected discoveries and commissions, such as
Alan
Marilyn Bergman
's newly written lyric for the
Bill Evans
-composed title song,
Bobby Timmons
Oscar Brown, Jr.
"Dat Dere"
Dr. Seuss
' assertive declaration
"Because We're Kids,"
with music by
Frederick Hollander
.
The Ralph Sharon Quartet
provides typically sympathetic accompaniment and a child's chorus jumps in here and there, while
Bennett
exudes his usual warmth, which is perfect for the mood of the album. ~ William Ruhlmann