Polynesian fairy tale

The Legend of Johnny Lingo

MGM Home Entertainment

DVD: $26.98; VHS: $22.98

For the family

www.mgmhomevideo.com

The breezy cover art doesn’t do justice to the substance or the very real heart in this rags-to-riches period tale about an orphan boy in the South Pacific who realizes his destiny after he is taken under the wing of a wealthy trader. In this feature-length adventure by Polynesian screenwriter Riwia Brown, based on a short story by Patricia McGerr, the islanders who adopt the orphaned Tama as a baby soon regard him as bad luck.

When he’s old enough, he leaves the island, promising his childhood sweetheart, another outcast, that he’ll be back for her. Washing up on trader Johnny Lingo’s island, he finds acceptance as well as lessons in friendship, honor and responsibility; eight years later, in a comical and sweet Cinderella ending, Tama learns the secret of his own heritage and returns to his true love.

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Sharon, Lois & Bram’s ABCs

Casablanca Kids Inc.

DVD: $14.98

Ages 3 to 7

www.casablancakids.com.

Before the big increase in kids’ media, Canadian artists led the way in popular children’s music; among them, Raffi, Fred Penner and three folksy singers named Sharon, Lois and Bram. With their mascot, Elephant, and their trademark tune, “Skinnamarink” -- and millions of albums -- the trio has introduced a wealth of children’s songs to preschoolers and parents for 25 years. This first DVD release is a happy, colorful, cozy singalong concert special featuring songs for each letter of the alphabet and animated shorts. Extras include an extensive photo gallery and Internet-accessed coloring sheets, craft ideas, recipes and lyric pages.

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Hamilton Mattress

MGM Home Entertainment

DVD: $14.95; VHS: $9.94

For the family

www.mgmhomevideo.com

A treat from the producer of “Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers,” though not quite as wacky and wonderful as that Oscar-winning feature, this offbeat 3-D clay-animated tale is about Sludger, a downtrodden aardvark whose timid dreams of fame take him, his remarkable sense of rhythm and his caterpillar talent agent to the seamy side of Beak City, a glamorous bird metropolis. Billing himself as “Hamilton Mattress, Drummer Extraordinaire,” Sludger finds that his homely face makes him a tough sell. After darkly comic travails, including a close shave with an extreme makeover, his talent wins the day.

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Nursery Songs and Stories

Gene Kelly

DRG Records Inc.

CD: $8.98

Ages 3 to 7

www.drgrecords.com

Gene Kelly’s recordings of children’s songs and stories are as charming today as they were when the MGM star made them in the 1940s. Complemented by sleek and playful orchestrations, Kelly performs familiar nursery rhymes, A.A. Milne poems,

Robert Browning’s verse

version of “The Pied Piper of Hamelin,” “The Shoemaker and the Elves,” “Peter Rabbit” and, from the MGM film “Anchors Aweigh,” “The King Who Couldn’t Dance (The Worry Song).”

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Trees of Life

Night Heron Music

CD: $15

Ages 5 to 10

(800) 785-9678

www.nightheron.com

With warmth and storytelling magic, folksinger and multi-instrumentalist Steve Schuch -- a former Audubon naturalist -- draws listeners into wordplay, puns and soulful and humorous songs about animals, plants, life cycles and the interconnectedness of humans with all living things. Joined by other sterling musicians, Schuch spins musical tales about forest bounty, migrating songbirds, a whale rescue, Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s “The Little Prince” and Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree.”

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Daddy-O

Banana Productions

CD: $12.99

(866) 947-6035

www.cdbaby.com or www.amazon.com

Not to be confused with the treasurable Rounder release “Daddy-O Daddy! (Rare Family Songs of Woody Guthrie),” but highly entertaining in its own right, this new pop-style CD

features bright tunes and comic, clever lyrics from a playful dad’s point of view, courtesy of

songwriter-guitarist Danna

Banana (Dan Cohen). It’s

subtitled “music for kids that parents can stand,” and that’s generally true, although adults may find that some of the more cheerfully frenetic, kid-tickling tracks, such as “The Owie Song,” can pall with repetition.