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Hi, Ho, It’s the Best of Kermit

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

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The Best of Kermit on Sesame Street. Sony Wonder. 30 minutes. $12.98. He’s “a singer, songwriter, reporter, alphabet-sayer and elbow-lover,” according to furry blue monster Grover, presenting his pal Kermit with the “American Frog Institute’s Frog of the Year Award” at the “Lincoln Center of the Performing Larks.”

Despite heckling from a trio of piglets, the event includes classic Kermit moments from “Sesame Street’s” past 30 years, including several “Hi, Ho, Kermit the Frog here” spots from his news reporter days and stellar musical moments: “Bein’ Green,” “This Frog,” “African Alphabet”--sung with Ladysmith Black Mombaza--”I Love My Elbows” and more.

Any tribute to Kermit, of course, is a tribute to the beloved amphibian’s late, great creator and alter ego, Jim Henson, who is very much alive in this too-short collection of Muppet magic.

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Tales of Wonder. Circle of Life Series. Rich-Heape Films. 60 minutes. $24.95. (214) 696-6919. Nothing fancy here, just storyteller Gregg Howard (of Cherokee/Powhatan descent), spinning traditional Cherokee and Choctaw tales, in this second “Circle of Life” title from Dallas-based, Native American-owned Rich-Heape Films. Howard performs in front of a fire for a small family group, accompanied by Nash Hernandez on flute and drum, with sketch artist Kathleen Raymond Roan illustrating the stories as they are told.

“This is what my grandfather told me,” Howard begins, as he tells of “Rabbit and the Bear,” “Why Rabbit Has a Short Tail,” “Little Turtle” and six other pleasant tales with messages about working together, honesty and being yourself.

The Just So Stories, Parts 1-3. Interama Inc. 30 minutes. $14.95 each; $39, set of three. (212) 977-4830. This collection of 16-year-old, well-told, quaintly low-tech renditions of Rudyard Kipling’s “Just So Stories” features simply animated, simple watercolor illustrations and a deft narrator (uncredited). Part 1 in the three-video series includes “How the Elephant Got His Trunk,” “How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin” and “The Beginning of Armadillos.” Part 2 includes “How the Whale Got His Throat,” “How the Leopard Got His Spots” and “How the Camel Got His Hump.” And Part 3 tells “Why the Cat Is Walking by Himself” and “How the Crab Played With the Sea.”

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