Audio ‘Tales,’ ‘Prince’ Enchanting Treasures

Story-lovers young and old will find rare treasure in two exceptional audio recordings. The first, “Audrey Hepburn’s Enchanted Tales” from Dove Audio, was one of Hepburn’s last projects, a collection of exquisitely told fairy tales, familiar and unfamiliar, inspired and accompanied by Ravel’s “Mother Goose Suite.”

The second is Music for Little People’s re-release of the 1974 Grammy-winning recording of “The Little Prince,” Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s poignant novel, with Richard Burton heading a superb cast.

“Once upon a time, a magic time, in a fair, far green country. . . .”: “Audrey Hepburn’s Enchanted Tales” features Mary Sheldon’s fresh adaptations of “Sleeping Beauty,” “Tom Thumb,” “Beauty & the Beast” and “Laidronette, Empress of the Pagodes.” The selections are woven together by fictional interludes with an elderly Frenchwoman who reminisces about her childhood when “small, dark and elegant” Maurice Ravel would spin stories while visiting her family home in Paris.

While Ravel’s evocative orchestral suite paints musical pictures of birds and forests, fairies, princesses and ogres, Hepburn shapes the rich language with delicate clarity and her unique, captivating charm. The result is pure magic.

Dove Audio. Ages 5 and up. 1 hour. Cassette with posters to color: $9.95; CD: $12.98. (800) 328-DOVE; (310) 273-7722. A percentage of the album’s proceeds will benefit the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Spinning its own kind of enchantment is De Saint-Exupery’s wise fantasy “The Little Prince,” about a pilot stranded in the desert and the mysterious little boy who teaches him that what’s important “can only be seen with the heart.”

As the pilot, Burton realizes all the whimsy and bittersweet nuances in a life-and-death odyssey through the universe, and Billy Simpson (then 8 years old), gives a remarkably mature reading of the title role, seamlessly conveying the grace and innocence that De Saint-Exupery intended. The rest of the top-flight actors--Jonathan Winters, Jim Backus, John Carradine and Mark Conrad--add humor and spice.

Music for Little People. Ages 6 and up. 1 hour. Cassette: $8.98. CD: $12.98 (800) 727-2233.

Parachute Express, the effervescent Disney recording trio, will kick off the Museum of Flying’s Kid’s Club performance series with a concert on April 24 at 11 a.m.

The family concert, hosted by children’s radio station AM 830 Radio AAHS, is part of a new entertainment series designed to complement interactive aviation displays and demonstrations at the Santa Monica museum.

“We’re looking forward to using first-class professional musical entertainment to send kids’ imaginations soaring and create a stimulating, hands-on environment for children and their families,” said Kid’s Club co-producer Brad Nye.

The next performance in the series, featuring A&M; Records’ artist Tim Noah (“Supertunes!”), will be held on May 15. Tickets are $12.

Information: (310) 392-8822, (213) 480-3232.