Songs for Littlest Listeners

Cooing, babbling babies, nature sounds and even rattles and squeak toys—but no true lyrics—enhance the soft, melodic tunes on Dutch composer Raimond Lap's Lovely Baby collection of CDs. Designed to entertain infants and stimulate their brain activity, these rhythmic tracks feature instrumentation ranging from piano to something that sounds like a synthesized xylophone. The CDs have been top sellers in more than 30 countries around the world and are now available in the U.S. (Dist. by Lovely Baby Music [516-409-5433], four CDs, $14.98 each, ages 3 mos.-2 yrs. Nov. 2002).

A Classic Returns

William Golding's Lord of the Flies is now available in a newly remastered, re-released audiobook edition from Listening Library, performed by the author. This audio update of the classic YA novel about the struggles of a group of British schoolboys stranded on a desert island comes 48 years after the print version first appeared in 1954 and 26 years after Golding was first recorded reading the book. (Listening Library, unabridged, four cassettes, 6.5 hours, $26 ISBN 0-8072-0954-6, ages 12-up, Dec. 2002).