Dragon Tales  (Audio CD) 
by Brian Garland

Dragon Tunes, the record, aims to fire up 2- to 6-year-old fans of the fantasy-fueled PBS show with a herd of uptempo original tunes, and it largely succeeds. Culled on the 20-track collection are good-timey, get-you-moving numbers such as "Wiggle Song," which invites movement and active listening through its directive to "Wiggle your fingers / Wiggle your toes / Wiggle your hands and / Wiggle your nose." Then there's "Touch," which has the keep-up-if-you-can lyric, "Touch your elbows / Touch your bum-bum / Touch your kneecaps / Try to keep in touch," as well as confidence-builders such as "Betcha Can" and "Try" ("And though you may be small / Each day you're growing up / And you'll be big and tall / 'Till then just strut your stuff"). Kids who carry a dragon torch for certain characters won't waste time fast-forwarding to "The Ord Shuffle," "Cassie," or the Zak-and-Wheezie-celebrating "Be a Dragon." Others will want to wag their dragon tails track by track, starting with the familiar-to-all opener "Dragon Tales Theme." Because the series devotes a segment of every half-hour show to singing and dancing, more than just the theme song will be familiar, though--something that serves to further the record's appeal. Another appeal-enhancing feature is the persistent presence of former Ohio Express singer Joey Levine as the songwriter. Parents who can recall such bubblegum hits as the Express's "Chewy Chewy" will likely chime in on Levine's cheery vibe. Like most kid-show soundtracks, this album is low on art, high on spunk, but given the instant grins it'll register, loving parents can't be helped from wondering, so what? --Tammy La Gorce