8. THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE (Public Media Video) When a group of children discover an entrance to another world in the back of a closet, their adventures begin. This glorious live-action video (with occasional animation) does justice to C.S. Lewis' poetic 1950 classic of the same title, the first of seven Lewis legends set in the magic land of Narnia.
9. TUESDAY (Clarion Books) In this Caldecott-winning picture book, David Wiesner creates a fantasy world in which frogs take flight on a Tuesday night, soaring about town on their lily pads. (Among their activities: watching television and dive-bombing a dog.) The humorous illustrations capture the emotions of the awestruck bullfrogs just ribbit right.
10. MISSION TO SAVE EARTH (Turner Home Entertainment) It had to happen: an ecologically correct superhero. Make way for Captain Planet, who teaches kids what's wrong with the earth and the ways they can fix it. This video, based on Captain Planet's syndicated and cable-TV cartoon, makes environmental concern a cool thing.
Honor Roll:
Best Bedtime Reading:
NORTHERN LULLABY A sleep-time story that's anything but a snore, by Nancy White Carlstrom and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon.
Best Sing-Along Albums:
FRED PENNER'S HAPPY FEET Toe tappers from the preschool-set singer.
COUNTRY MUSIC FOR KIDS Emmylou Harris, Mary-Chapin Carpenter, and others croon down-home ditties for the kiddies.
SING! THE SONGS OF JOE RAPOSO Sesame Street hits from Patti LaBelle and pals.
SHARON, LOIS AND BRAM'S GREAT BIG HITS Favorites from the popular trio.
Best Rainy-Day Videos:
HONEY, I BLEW UP THE KID Disney's tall tale is about to hit stores.
THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE Animated Disney adventure featuring the big cheese.
KOI AND KOLA NUTS Whoopi Goldberg narrates this animated folk tale from Rabbit Ears Productions.
Good and Good for Me:
ALPHA BETA CHOWDER Jeanne and William Steig's alphabet storybook with a letter-perfect twist.
FERNGULLY...THE LAST RAINFOREST Video entertainment — and environmental enlightenment.
ROSA PARKS: MY STORY An autobiography for all ages.
