The Sound of Music, From Around the World

CD-ROM

Children’s Songbook: Songs From Around the World. Learn Technologies Interactive/Voyager. Macintosh and Windows 3.1 or Windows 95; DOS 5.0 or later. Ages 3 and up. $19.95. (888) 292-5584. A top-quality charmer, with colorful, beautifully rendered dimensional graphics and a global tour of 15 simple children’s and folk songs. The selections vary from “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” with origins in the United Kingdom, to “Frere Jacques” and “She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain.” Children can choose from an easy-to-use menu to hear the music and watch the song’s story through animated action, follow along with the lyrics--including English translations if necessary--play musical puzzles or read short info-graphs about related subjects. Unexpected treats await, including the droll ending of “Estando el Senor Don Gato,” a feline saga from Spain; and the animated surprises in the closing.

Audio

The Great Dinosaur Mystery, A Musical Fossil Fantasy From DinoRock. Rounder Records. CD: $15; cassette: $9.50. (800) 443-4727. Detective Joe Kafootsie, who works the “strange phenomena detail,” along with singing paleontologist Dr. Vander PlasterCaster and a gaggle of kids, solves the mystery of museum dinosaurs that come to life and then mysteriously disappear. An enjoyable blend of education and entertainment for junior dino fans with such informative and fun songs as “Mama Maiasaura (Good Mother Lizard),” “Baby Protoceratops” “Boris Ankylosaurus” and “The Ptompson Pterodactyls.” Also available: DinoRock’s award-winning, newly remastered “Dinosaur Rock,” the creative romp about kids whose summer vacation turns into a magical dinosaur adventure.

How I Learned to Love Liver and Other Tales Too Tall to Tell. Joel Ben Izzy. Old City Press. CD: $15; cassette: $10. www.storypage.com (510) 883-0883. A kid’s triumph over his I-hate-liver blues has unexpected consequences; why you should never, ever put watermelon seeds up your nose; a reluctant cook’s revenge; and the legendary Paul Bunyan--did you know her real name was Paula? As always, award-winning storyteller Ben Izzy seamlessly weaves his own experiences as a child, a parent, a world traveler and collector of tales into his comfortable, conversational style of leg-pulling.