FAMILY : Epstein’s ‘Globalullabies’: A Rich Set of Musical Poetry

Lullaby collectors, insomniacs, babies, parents and folk music enthusiasts have a treasure trove of bedtime recordings to choose from on CD and audiocassette. Here’s another to add to the list:

“Globalullabies,” with folk singer Freyda Epstein, is musical poetry from Nigeria, the Isle of Man, Japan, Western and Eastern Europe, Mexico and the United States that finds a perfect match in the unusual purity of Epstein’s voice, with its bell-like high notes and velvety depths.

A few of the beautiful selections to be found here are the Japanese “Sakura/Owayare”; Epstein’s own first composition, “Lyu Lye Lyu Lye,” and “A La Puerta Del Cielo”: “At the Gate of Heaven/little shoes they are selling/for the little bare-footed angels there dwelling.”

Among the accomplished musicians accompanying Epstein is noted folk singer/musician John McCutcheon, on hammered dulcimer and harmony vocals.

* “Globalullabies,” Music for Little People/Warner Bros. Records, CD: $15.98; audiocassette, $9 . 98; (800) 727- 2 233.

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Help for New Baby Blues: You bring the new baby home and everyone’s delighted, everyone except big brother or sister, that is. No child is immune to the new baby blues, but help is available from “Oh, Baby! A Guide for Big Brothers and Big Sisters,” an entertaining and informative two-video set created with child and parenting experts.

In the first well-produced video, meant for kids to watch with parents, an older sibling’s concerns are cleverly given voice by a gruff English bulldog named Gus. Gus and his pals--real canines and a cat who “talk” thanks to voice-over artists--share concerns about drooling, messy, smelly new babies getting all the attention and disrupting their lives.

In the end, of course, Gus and friends discover that babies aren’t so bad after all.

The companion video, “Those Baby Blues,” is an accessible guide for parents from parenting and child experts who identify various problems children have with a new arrival and suggest caring, positive ways to cope. The video ends with a list of resources for further help.

* “Oh, Baby!,” Skydance Productions, $24.95; (800) 383-8811.