‘Rabbit’s’ Big Names No Fairy Tale : Cher, Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep are just a few of the actors who have read for Rabbit Ears, whose children’s recordings are now on radio.

Mark Sottnick recalls hearing his mother read fairy tales, often complete with her own musical accompaniment, and it stuck with him all these years.

Another early memory taught him to savor the cadence of new words.

“I remember when I was kid, about 3 or 4, asking the mailman if he had delivered a letter to me,” said Sottnick, who is now 50. “And he said, ‘Indubitably.’ I felt like I had been given a key to the universe.”

Propelled by a lifelong fascination with the magical qualities of language, Sottnick developed a public radio series intended to inspire a similar feeling in those who tune in. “Rabbit Ears Radio”--Sottnick’s baby--is a weekly nationally syndicated radio show that features well-known actors doing dramatic readings of classic folk and fairy tales.

The series--which is heard on 255 stations around the country-- has featured such Hollywood luminaries as Denzel Washington reading “John Henry,” Jack Nicholson narrating “The Elephant’s Child,” Cher retelling “The Ugly Duckling” and Danny Glover reading “Br’er Rabbit and Boss Lion.”

Critically acclaimed artists spanning several musical genres also provide accompaniment to the series, including Herbie Hancock (who performed the music for “Koi and the Kola Nuts,” told by Whoopi Goldberg), Elvis Costello (“Tom Thumb,” told by John Cleese) and Ellis Marsalis and Yo-Yo Ma (“King Midas and the Golden Touch,” narrated by Michael Caine).

The goal is to draw children into the “delicious use of language,” Sottnick said.

“Our philosophy is that children are very, very smart and they like to reach,” he said. “A child can hear ‘Peter Rabbit’ and hear this great adventure story. . . . They’re not being talked down to. They’re being asked to use their imaginations.”

The series--heard locally on KUSC-FM (91.5)--premiered in June, 1994, with Mel Gibson as host. Last week Meg Ryan signed on as co-host with Gibson.

The program consists, for the most part, of folk and fairy tales, with occasional Bible stories and yarns centered on American heroes and legends thrown in for good measure.

“One week we could have a story from Japan, the next week an American story, so it’s all over the place in terms of sensibilities,” Sottnick said.

Gibson or Ryan introduce each show, providing background information about the storyteller, the musician and the tale itself. But with their busy film schedules, neither is sitting in a studio on a weekly basis. Instead, they tape all their material in one fell swoop.

“We would love people to think they are doing the show weekly from a studio,” Sottnick said. “But it has the sense that they’re right there.”

New host Ryan recently taped her series of introductions for the series in Los Angeles, even though the “Rabbit Ears Radio” offices are in Rowayton, Conn. The actress signed on, she said, because she believes the series is “classy programming.”

“It’s not condescending to kids, and in its own sweet way it preserves the art of storytelling,” said Ryan, the mother of a young son. Co-host Gibson has six children.

The idea for a public radio series began after Sottnick, a former junior high school teacher, had developed a name for himself doing video and audio versions of children’s stories.

Celebrities have been easy to draw ever since he managed to interest Meryl Streep in doing a version of “The Velveteen Rabbit” nearly a decade ago that was released on Windham Hill Records.

“Meryl told Jack Nicholson, Jack told Cher, and we got these incredible superstars,” Sottnick said. “Once you build a roster that includes those kinds of names, it becomes a lot easier.”

Stories in the series are chosen by Sottnick and a creative team at the Connecticut offices. The famous narrators, as well as the tales themselves, are selected through “educated intuition,” Sottnick said.

“There is just a sense in reading the story what kind of voice we’d like to hear telling these stories--if it would be better told by a man or a woman or an older person,” he said. “Narrowing down those factors, people sit around a table and make suggestions. There’s no exact formula, just strong feelings.”

And the show’s producers will travel wherever they must to capture a celebrity’s performance.

“We went to Vienna to record Tangerine Dream, to India to do Ravi Shankar,” Sottnick said. “We taped Max Von Sydow in Scandinavia, UB40 in Birmingham.”

KUSC General Manager Wallace A. Smith said he jumped at the chance to run the series as a way to draw younger listeners to the station, which primarily airs classical music.

“ ‘Rabbit Ears Radio’ is really an extension of our effort to make KUSC a listening place for younger people,” Smith said. “Radio is a wonderful medium for poetry, theater and literature, as well as music. . . . And this is a really spectacular series featuring the cream of the acting community doing the readings.”

Although the size of its audience is modest--Smith estimates that 10,000 to 12,000 people regularly tune in--”Rabbit Ears Radio” attracts adult listeners as well as children.

“I think children’s stories are appealing to adults, both independent of and also with children,” Smith said. “And radio is a marvelous storytelling medium. Without the visual element, you get the opportunity to really create the whole story and the environment.”

* All the stories on “Rabbit Ears Radio” are available in video and audio versions. Information: (800) 800-EARS.

Now ‘Ear’ This

“Rabbit Ears Radio” airs Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m., with each program repeating on the following Sunday at 7 a.m., on KUSC-FM (91.5). Here are selected listings for upcoming episodes:

WEDNESDAY: “The Talking Eggs.” Told by Sissy Spacek, with music by Michael Doucet and Beausoleil.

JUNE 21: “Koi and the Kola Nuts.” Told by Whoopi Goldberg, with music by Herbie Hancock.

JUNE 28: “Br’er Rabbit and Boss Lion.” Told by Danny Glover, with music by Dr. John.

JULY 5: “The Elephant’s Child.” Told by Jack Nicholson, with music by Bobby McFerrin.

JULY 12: “The Ugly Duckling.” Told by Cher, with music by Patrick Ball.

JULY 19: “Puss in Boots.” Told by Tracey Ullman, with music by Jean-Luc Ponty.

AUG. 9: “The Five Chinese Brothers.” Told by John Lone, with music by Bill Douglass and David Austin.

AUG. 16: “The Fool and the Flying Ship.” Told by Robin Williams, with music by the Klezmer Conservatory Band.

AUG. 23: “Rumpelstiltskin.” Told by Kathleen Turner, with music by Tangerine Dream.