Stocking stuffers to make holiday breaks more fun

The Santa Claus Brothers

Our Time Family Entertainment

DVD: $14.98; ages 5 and up

www.funfamilystore.com

DVD shelves teem with holiday releases, but this delightful release of TV’s 2001 computer-animated film with a notable voice cast -- Caroline Rhea, Bryan Cranston, Joe Flaherty and more -- deserves special mention for its deft wit and genuine heart. Santa hopes to retire, but sons Mel, Daryl and Roy aren’t cutting it at the North Pole, so the job will go to the brother who can find the true meaning of Christmas ... in Santa Monica. Their comic journey delivers a soulful message even as it slyly skewers showbiz, commercialism and rampant consumerism.

Also worth a look: a lavish new computer-animated family offering called “The Happy Elf,” with Harry Connick Jr.’s narration and music, based on his album “Harry for the Holidays.” Carol Kane, Lewis Black, Mickey Rooney and Rob Paulsen provide voices in this tale about a giddy elf who brings joy to the sad, dark town of Bluesville. Anchor Bay Entertainment. DVD: $19.98. www.thehappyelf.com

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The Wheels on the Bus Video:

Mango Helps the Moon Mouse

Our Happy Child Productions/

Starlight Home Entertainment

DVD: $14.99; ages 1 to 6

www.thewheelsonthebus.com

Second in a series, this smart and bubbly musical adventure, a mix of live action, puppetry and computer animation, is just as charming as the first. Set on a bouncy bus and in various real-life and animated locales (including a mouse-populated moon), it again features sunny-faced child singer Janie Laurel Escalle, plus a host of puppet pals led by monkey Mango. The Who’s Roger Daltrey returns as the voice of kindly bus driver-dragon Aragon; “Saturday Night Live” alum Victoria Jackson engagingly provides the “moon” mouse’s nasal squeak.

A different “Wheels” release worth seeing: Scholastic’s “The Wheels on the Bus ... and More Musical Favorites,” a collection of children’s stories and songs for ages 3 to 9, each beautifully rendered in its own style of animated art, with narration and original music. DVD: $14.95, video: $9.95 www.scholastic.com

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Dog Train

Workman Publishing

Book and CD, $17.95

Ages 4 and up

Artist Sandra Boynton and her collaborator, composer Michael Ford, follow up Boynton’s Grammy-nominated, Broadway-themed children’s book-and-CD, “Philadelphia Chickens,” with a delightfully illustrated collection of whimsical ditties. The musical contributors are as varied as Alison Krauss and Hootie & the Blowfish -- not to mention a pairing of Kate Winslet and “Weird Al” Yankovic. Among the highlights: the off-the-wall “Cow Planet” with Billy J. Kramer, and the wickedly witty “Boring Song” with Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme.

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Little Red Wagon

Upstream Records

CD: $15; ages 4 and up

(888) 253-7225

www.timmyabell.com

With folk-style wit and charm recalling classic Pete Seeger, singer-musician Timmy Abell offers listeners a break from the everyday rush with tender, funny and celebratory songs that resonate no matter what your age. He’s accompanied by terrific musicians playing a variety of evocative instruments, from guitar and hammered dulcimer to concertina, tuba and washboard.

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FUNdamentals of Music

and Movement: Let’s Pretend!

Aya World Productions

CD: $13.50; ages 3 to 6

www.musicandmovement.net

These cheery move-along, imagine-along songs, sung by children and adults, are from an arts enrichment program in Southern California schools, but they stand on their own as entertaining, anti-couch potato inspirations for active play.

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Buck Howdy: Giddyup!

Prairie Dog Entertainment

CD: $14; ages 2 to 8

www.buckhowdy.com

Buck Howdy, authentic cowboy farmer, is back with a snappy sequel to his first campfire cozy album, “Skiddaddle!” Save for the indiscriminate message in “My Favorite Kind of Bugs (Are Dead),” the songs are skillfully chosen with an eye toward kids’ funny bones and down-home, adult nostalgia. Backed by fiddle and banjo, he’s joined by family music stars Laurie Berkner (on “Happy Trails”) and Trout Fishing in America (“S’mores and Giddyup!”)

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-- Lynne Heffley