Adventures of Elmer & Friends: Freedom Rocks

My stomach got a little woozy during the first five minutes of this live action children's musical adventure extravaganza when a big over-stuffed thing had a wide-eyed group of children swarming around him, singing in that terrible ‘don't trust their voices' lip-synch tradition and dancing in that ‘we've almost got rhythm' unison. Ring any purple sirens? Elmer, a joke-telling stuffed tree, and the aforementioned lip-synching rhythmically challenged friends visit a curio shop owned by a nice old man named Chauncey, in Freedom Rocks, where they discover a wooden box filled with Indian artifacts. After some singing and dancing they go to a magic forest and meet an Iroquois woman who teaches the children about the beauty of the earth, the similarities between games in her culture and the games children play in western culture, and offers some lovely songs celebrating the mystery and joy of life. The tape is accompanied by an official "Elmerform" advertising T-shirts and CDs. Ignoring the commercialism, will kids enjoy it? Yes, they will. A strong, optional purchase. Other titles in the series include The Magic Map and Pirate Island. (N. Plympton)