TURN-ONS AND TURN-OFFS IN CURRENT HOME ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES : Excellent Good Fair Poor : VIDEOCASSETTES

“Tell Me a Story.” Kartes. $14.95 each. Before there were movies and TV, before there were books, there was story telling , as in oral recital. Kartes has made an interesting attempt to capture this ancient art in a series of half-hour cassettes for children, each featuring a different storyteller. But the performances are still being delivered on the tube, so one of the art form’s key ingredients--the speaker’s physical presence in the room--is lost. Nor does the uneven dramatic quality of the stories themselves help matters. Lively but not alive: You’ll do better to tell the kids a story yourself. Information: (800) 582-2000. 1/2