Inventors Series Helps Make Galileo Come Alive

Video

Galileo: On the Shoulders of Giants. Family Entertainment. 60 minutes. $20. (DVD, $25). Store of Knowledge, Borders Books and other retailers. https://www.amazon.com and other e-tailers. Ages 7 to 12.

It’s the dawn of the 17th century and Galileo is about to disprove one of Aristotle’s theories for the benefit of his skeptical new pupil, young Prince Cosimo Medici. “Whatever,” Cosimo says, in decidedly present-day adolescent dismissal.

As you may surmise, strict historical accuracy isn’t the prime concern in this very watchable, sumptuously produced edutainment from Devine Productions Ltd. The aim is to make history come alive for young viewers, and to that end the company specializes in absorbing dramatizations about famous artists and inventors, in which a young boy or girl supports/defends/inspires/helps in the creation of an important work or discovery.

Here, Michael Moriarty plays the maverick visionary Galileo, who, in the shadow of the Inquisition, propels science forward and makes a thinker out of his young Medici patron. The DVD version’s extras include an interview with Moriarty.

Other quality productions in the inventors series include “Newton: A Tale of Two Isaacs” (Sir Isaac’s young assistant struggles with career and personal life); “Edison: The Wizard of Light” (the inventor makes an apprentice out of an orphan); “Einstein: Light to the Power of 2” (Einstein’s overcoming of hardships and challenges help a young girl realize her own potential); and “Marie Curie: More Than Meets the Eye” (two sisters think the Nobel Prize-winning scientist is a spy during World War I, then see her X-ray machine save their father’s life).

Fuzz Buzz, Cats and Dogs as Friends. Furry Films Inc. 26 minutes. $19. All ages. (866) 443-8779; https://www.furryfilms.com/.

“Fighting like cats and dogs” takes on a different meaning in this amiable, low-budget video of cats and dogs who wrestle in play. No big production values, just home video clips a la “Planet’s Funniest Animals,” wrapped up with humorous introductory segments featuring “talking” goats, llamas, parrots, sheep, etc.

The packaging’s claim that “there’s a message of tolerance” and “a lesson for all of us” in the play-fighting stretches it a bit, but animal lovers, especially those who have watched their own canine and feline companions play tag and grab each other in pseudo-lethal clinches, pounce and tumble and keep coming back for more will enjoy the romp.

Go! Exercise with the Teletubbies. PBS Kids Home Video. $13.

The roly-poly Teletubbies, stars of public TV’s preschool hit, have been criticized for their couch-potato physiques, but here the pudgy, incessantly giggly, baby-talking foursome bounce around with Richard Simmons-like zeal, playing “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,” doing side bends, marching, crawling, jumping, hopping and follow-the-leader exercises. Eerie-looking microphones slide up out of the ground to broadcast instructions for each activity; the TV screens in the Teletubbies’ stomachs periodically show film segments of real kids (and adults) exercising, too. Fans--and they are legion--will undoubtedly find it all quite charming, while nonfans--and there are quite a few of those, too--will lean toward rather different descriptive terms.

Audio

The Fledgling. Listening Library/Random House Audio. 4 hours, 30 minutes. Cassette (3): $22. CD: $33. Ages 8 and up. https://www.randomhouse.com/.

Mary Beth Hurt’s performance is as remarkable as this coming-of-age, Newberry Honor book by Jane Langton, which is infused with the spirit of Henry Thoreau’s Walden Pond. It’s about Georgie, a fragile little girl so scantily tethered to the Earth that one night she takes to the sky with her soulful companion, a Canadian goose.

In both narrative and dialogue, Hurt re-creates each vivid character: Georgie; her eccentric, academic family; the officious, small-minded Ralph Preek, obsessed with killing the great goose, and the strangely pathetic, child-despising neighbor, Miss Prawn, who is convinced that Georgie is either a saint or a fairy “moon child” who must be grounded for her own good.

Hurt finds all the subtle layers in Langton’s sensitive story that gives a child’s innocence wings: a sense of impending tragedy and lump-in-the-throat sadness, as well as humor, wonder, wicked satire and, ultimately, a celebration of life and its endless possibilities.

Time to Sing. Michael Moriez. Center for Creative Play. CD: $16.99. Ages 2 to 6. (800) 262-8052; https://www.center4creativeplay.org/sing.

“B-I-N-G-O,” “The wheels on the bus go round and round,” “Twinkle, twinkle, little star”; “Jack and Jill went up the Hill”--it’s a rite of childhood: children sing and play along with such childhood standards at home, in preschool and kindergarten. It’s not just fun, it’s educational, bonding and confidence-building, too. But for some children the experience has the opposite affect. Speech disorders, hearing impairments and other disabilities affecting comprehension can make sing-alongs difficult to follow and leave children feeling frustrated and left out.

This beautifully produced, 73-minute release, from the nonprofit Center for Creative Play in Pittsburgh, reaches out to those children. It’s just as accessible to children without extra challenges, too. Slowing the tempo without losing a bit of bounce and fun, Michael Moriez, music director for “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” has written jaunty new arrangements for 25 new and old favorites, from nursery rhymes to Raffi’s “Shake Your Sillies Out” and Barney’s “I Love You” theme song. Musicians include members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. The lyrics, with a bit of editing by speech-language pathologist David Hammer--who worked with Moriez on the songs’ pacing to aid understanding--are carefully enunciated by a host of pleasing adult and youth singers.