A Child’s Wonderful World as Seen by Ezra Jack Keats

Children’s book author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats put his own childhood into his work--loneliness, the pangs of growing up, his early love of color. His varied paint and collage illustrations for such classics as “The Snowy Day,” a Caldecott Medal winner, are crisply lined, washed with light and bright with bold chunks of color, or shadowed, soft and melancholy.

Now, “The Ezra Jack Keats Library,” a new quality video from Children’s Circle, offers viewers animated and iconographic adaptations of six of Keats’ beautifully illustrated stories: “The Snowy Day,” “Whistle for Willie,” “Peter’s Chair,” “A Letter to Amy,” “Pet Show” and “The Trip.”

Simply told, punctuated with evocative musical riffs, the stories portray a child’s pleasures and fears with a wistful resonance for less complicated times. The themes are contemporary--adjusting to the arrival of a baby sister, moving to a new town, learning new skills and shyly discovering the opposite sex. Caring parents are a given and children come in all skin tones, affectionately drawn against abstract backgrounds.

“The Snowy Day,” about a little boy’s joyous appreciation of snow in the city, and “Whistle for Willie,” about the same little boy’s determined effort to learn to whistle so that he can call his dog, are the standouts; all the stories are top-notch.

The video ends with a brief film of the late artist showing some of his early works and favorite collage designs, telling of finding his inspiration in New York’s city streets and remembering how, when he was small, his understanding mother would wake him to watch dawn streak the sky. This is one to treasure.

“The Ezra Jack Keats Library,” Children’s Circle Home Video, $14.95; (800) KIDS-VID.

Nursery Rhymes With a Pop Beat

Mary and her faithful lamb go dancing in Paris and sailing in the South Seas, Little Miss Muffet’s spider just drops in to borrow some sugar for his homemade berry pies, and where all the King’s horses and all the King’s men failed, Mom succeeds: a loving word and Humpty Dumpty puts his sunny side up and scrambles to his feet.

It’s Mother Goose with heart: “The Wooleycat’s Favorite Nursery Rhymes,” a cheerful new album from singer-songwriter David Hysom, puts a positive spin on those familiar ditties with humor, warmth and a bouncy beat.

Hysom’s youthful pop vocals complement his strength as a storyteller. His songs offer ear-catching detail to draw the listener in, whether he’s singing about a firefighting ladybug, a hang-gliding mouse (the one that ran up the clock) or Lizzie, the moon-jumping cow-turned-astronaut.

“The Wooleycat’s Favorite Nursery Rhymes,” Discovery Music, $9.95; (800) 451-5175.