IN SHORT

BOOKS FARMER DUCK Martin Waddell, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury (1991, Candlewick Press, $15.95, ages 3 and up) ''There once was a duck who had the bad luck to live with a lazy old farmer.'' So begins this witty and deeply satisfying picture book for every child who has ever wailed, ''It isn't fair!'' While the slothful bully of a farmer lolls in bed eating chocolates, the good-hearted duck wearily cooks, cleans, tends the livestock, and hoes the garden. Finally, out of empathy for their duck friend's plight, the cows, the sheep, and the hens rebel, taking over ''their'' farm. Justice triumphs (in real life, too: Farmer Duck has won two of Britain's top literary prizes for children's books). The subtly poetic narrative is ideal for reading to toddlers, and the watercolor pictures by Oxenbury are delectable; not since Beatrix Potter has an illustrator conveyed such humorous, tender expressiveness in animals. A+ -Michelle Landsberg

MUSIC DADDYSONGS Kevin Roth (1992, Sony Kids Music, ages 3 to 10, $8.98 cassette, $13.98 CD) The 12 songs about ''fathering'' in this new collection by singer- songwriter Roth are so steeped in nuclear-family values that you can almost picture Dan Quayle humming along. In a typical tune, ''The Cabin,'' Roth sings of childhood fishing trips with his father, trips he now takes with his own kids. Roth's gushy romanticization of family life peaks in his rewrite of ''This Old Man,'' whom he turns into a loving father figure (''This old man/ When we reached six/All my broken toys and dreams he'd fix''). Such sweet sentiments need a slow tempo, and Roth obliges, to Daddysongs' detriment. The pace does work in ''Rainbows,'' set to Beethoven's ''Ode to Joy,'' though it kills a cover version of the Temptations' joyous ''My Girl,'' where ''the month of M-a-a-a-y'' seems to last all year. B- -Susan Stewart

VIDEO BEETHOVEN LIVES UPSTAIRS (1992, The Children's Group, $21.98, ages 5 and up) This live-action period piece about a little boy (Illya Woloshyn) who befriends Beethoven (Neil Munro) seems intended to turn children on to the great 19th century German composer's work. More likely, it will turn them off to classical music altogether. Young children will be frightened by this manic music man: Beethoven is shown as a lunatic neighbor who plays music all the time, screaming and throwing things at anyone who dares to interrupt him. Older children will be bored by the slow-moving storyline, which involves only Beethoven and the boy learning to get along. % To make matters worse, the performances are stilted, most of Beethoven's exquisite music is used as mere background, and too much time is wasted on strained commentary about the musical life (''Composers are made of fire''). It's all enough to make Beethoven roll over, again. D -Jill Rachlin