New videos/DVDs

Warm weather days mark the perfect season for retailers to carry Kipper: Water Play. HIT Entertainment of Dallas' latest 50-minute title in the preschool video series features five short vignettes just right for those limited attention spans that aim to encourage the importance of cooperation and kindness to others. Whether Kipper is fishing with his friends, building sandcastles at the beach or cooling off in a backyard pool, the theme is water, water everywhere! Stores putting together displays of pails, shovels and other outdoor playthings might wish to make room for this video a good suggestion for those rainy summer days when it's not possible to be at the beach, lake or pool.

Bringing a storybook to life is no easy feat; preserving the writer's original character and plot lines, while offering a little something extra, is the key and something that the DVD version of Stellaluna masters without question. Santa Monica, Calif.-based MGM Kids maintains the story of a young fruit bat raised by a family of birds with strict attention to detail in the animation of Stellaluna's colorful surroundings. Special features, like a segment on how to draw a bat and one on a Stellaluna-related craft, further enhance the imaginative storyline. While these extras are wonderful at-home suggestions once the DVD has ended, they also serve as ideas for related activities and events at retail.

Also seeking to get little ones up on their feet is A.L.L. For Kids, Inc.'s Get Active with Stinky Shoe & Coach LaRoo. Targeting preschoolers and kids up to age 8, this title is set at Camp Imagination, a fictitious place where counselors and campers run, jump and get energized as they play. Viewers are encouraged to join in on the fun and set their own goals, thereby exercising their minds and bodies. When rain and other inclement weather forces kids to remain indoors for an extended period, this video enables them to get their daily dose of exercise-something of note retailers might mention to parents.