Schoolhouse Rock: Multiplication Rock

Mathematics is a particularly sensitive educational area in the United States (and, for that matter, the world in the digital age). This set is tremendously simplistic but appropriately so, rooting through numerical issues but also introducing the gist of so many "story problems" that kids have encountered since at least the 1970s. The music has a distinctly '70s feel, sounding a touch like Paul Simon backed by some more-staid offshoot of the Staple Singers. "Ready or Not, Here I Come" is a rambling blast, shuffling quickly and soulfully and showing the depth of jazz vocal veteran Bob Dorough's command of language and rhythm. Things are spry--maybe a bit too much--but single-digit kids (mostly the 4-and-over range) will catch the snappy groove easily and ask for more. --Andrew Bartlett