The stars come out for family entertainment

Mary Had a Little Amp

Epic Records

CD: $18.98

www.epicrecords.com/maryhadalittleamp

Madonna (“Little Star”), the Dixie Chicks (“Rainbow Connection”), R.E.M. (“We Walk”), Bonnie Raitt (“Baby Mine”), Ann and Nancy Wilson with Brian Wilson’s Band (“Lifeline”), Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson (“Gentle Breeze”) -- will preschoolers care that these and other celebrity artists have lent their talents to this nicely chosen collection of family songs? Probably not. It’s more likely that what they’ll enjoy most is that their parents will want to listen in on these old and new, sweet and soulful songs with a rock-pop beat.

(Proceeds benefit preschool education programs: People for the American Way’s Project Kid Smart and People for the American Way Foundation’s Start Smart America.)

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Milkshake: Bottle of Sunshine

Milkshake Music

CD: $14.99

Ages 3 to 7

www.milkshakemusic.com

A smiling hug of an album, with a cool pop-rock beat and dance-along bounce (and a strong B-52’s flavor), from rock duo Lisa Mathews and Mikel Gehl of the Baltimore-based alt-band Love Riot.

The wake-up title track is sweet and jaunty; the final track, “Sleepytown,” offers a beautiful lullaby hush.

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The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book Two: The Golem’s Eye

Jonathan Stroud

Random House/Listening Library

10 audiocassettes, 16 hours, 33 minutes, $39.95; ages 10 and up

www.listeninglibrary.com

British stage and film veteran Simon Jones returns with another indelible performance in the second book of Jonathan Stroud’s darkly funny, spellbinding saga, set in an alternative London where wizards are the ruling class. In the first book, apprentice wizard Nathaniel and deliciously cynical, 5,000-year-old demon jinni Bartimaeus foiled a coup against the prime minister. Now apprentice Nathaniel pursues his climb to the government’s inner circle, and he and Bartimaeus end up in the thick of a brutal battle involving werewolf “night police,” a death-dealing golem and the Resistance, commoners intent on the wizards’ overthrow.

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Dragon Rider

Cornelia Funke

Random House/Listening Library

7 audiocassettes, 11 hours, 35 minutes, $33; ages 8 and up

www.listeninglibrary.com

From the author of children’s bestsellers “Inkheart” and “The Thief Lord,” this action-packed fantasy adventure is about a boy, a dragon and a grumpy but loyal girl who seek the mythical Rim of Heaven as a haven for the silver dragons, whose survival is threatened by the encroachment of humans and by a malevolent dragon hunter. Brendan Fraser tends to overlook the commas in the text but does an otherwise enjoyable job of tale spinning.

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The Wheels on the Bus Video: Mango & Papaya’s Animal Adventure

Armstrong Moving Pictures

VHS: $9.99. DVD: $14.99

Ages 1 to 6

www.thewheelsonthebusvideo.com

In this entertaining combination of live action, puppetry and computer animation, a pair of puppets try to find their way home, and the familiar preschool song comes to life in a jolly bus ride adventure, making stops at real-world locales -- a farm, the Los Angeles Zoo and the Aquarium of the Pacific. The Who’s Roger Daltrey is the agreeable voice of bus driver Aragon, a green dragon. The star is an adorable find: 9-year-old Janie Laurel Escalle, a perky moppet with a sweet singing voice and oodles of personality. And the “making of” DVD extra, showing the behind-the-scenes stuff, is nearly as good as the main attraction.

And don’t miss a different but equally enjoyable British take on the preschool favorite: the “Wheels on the Bus” musical series, narrated by “Malcolm in the Middle’s” Jane Kaczmarek. With charming CGI animation and quirky characters, Beep the Bus and pals make stops throughout Sing Song City for imaginative new twists on nursery rhymes. DVD: $14.99. www.venturadistribution.com