Great Music for Young Ears : A children’s group packages classic composers into a two-volume set of vivid, youth-oriented tales.

Audio

Classical Kids Music Box: Volumes 1 and 2. The Children’s Group. 50 minutes each. Three CD boxed set: $49.98; three cassette boxed set: $27.98. Individual CDs: $18.98; cassettes: $10.98. Ages 6 to 12. (800) 668-0242. These enthralling, multiple award-winning recordings weave the works and lives of great composers into vivid, youth-oriented tales in historic settings.

Volume I includes the series’ all-time best: “Beethoven Lives Upstairs,” “Vivaldi’s Ring of Mystery” and “Hallelujah Handel!” The excellent selections in Volume 2 are “Mozart’s Magic Fantasy,” “Tchaikovsky Discovers America” and “Mr. Bach Comes to Call.”

Come Ride Along With Me. James Coffey. Blue Vision Music. 38 minutes. CD: $12.95. Ages 4-12. Cassette: $8.95. (800) 892-2822. If you’ve ever seen any of the delightful “I Love Toy Trains” videos, you’ve heard the witty, upbeat train songs by Indiana performer/music educator James Coffey. This compilation proves the songs’ stand-alone appeal as Coffey, doing both vocals and instrumentals, mixes his clever lyrics with smooth pop, folk and jazz rhythms. Highlights: “Dinosaur’s Revenge”--T-Rex and pals munch a railway station, but they really just want a ride; a danceable “Signal Lights,” the dreamy “Come Ride Along With Me”’; the Woody Guthrie simplicity of “Early in the Morning” and the “I Love Toy Trains” theme: “It’s a wonderful kind of feeling.”

Video

Big Bag: Explore With Us, Imagine With Us, Share With Us. Warner Home Video. 60 minutes each. Ages 3-6. $12.95 each. The imaginative, educational Children’s Television Workshop series makes its home video debut with three releases. Set in a country store owned by human pal Molly, the shows for preschoolers spark creativity and explore such kid concerns as sharing, apologizing and friendship through the adventures of a little patchwork Muppet named Chelli and her best friend Bag, a sweet, helpful canvas sack. Also on hand are comical Muppet sock puppets Lyle and Argyle and charming animated short films.