KIDS/SNEAK PEEK: KIDS LIKE THE THINGS THEY SEE IN ANIMALS.

Do we even need to say it? Kids love animals.

They can't watch enough lions chasing zebras, hippos sinking into mud and vultures picking apart an antelope. They can't stop flipping through books about insects. They all want a dog.

But, we have to ask, why?

``I think that kids can identify with animals,'' says Cynthia Van Cleef, director of children's programming for National Geographic Television. ``They see animals going on adventures and struggles in the world. Kids see themselves in these animals' lives.''

But, of course, nature shows aren't about tigers with messy rooms or hyenas doing homework. When watching shows such as ``National Geographic's Really Wild Animals,'' which airs at 3 p.m. Sundays on the Disney Channel, kids look for things that are familiar, weird or just plain funny.

They watch lion cubs go from playing with their brothers and sisters to hunting on their own. They see a wildebeest sludge through the savanna and a river full of hungry crocodiles. And they know it's real, says Van Cleef, who produces ``Really Wild Animals.'' It happens every day.

``Nature has got adventure, danger and humor,'' she says. ``A wildebeest is a funny-looking animal.''

And from her research, Van Cleef has found that kids very clearly have favorite animals, funny-looking and not: lions, tigers, manatees, the great apes, koalas ... ``and bugs!'' she says. ``It's easier for them to relate to mammals, but insects are just so weird.''

But a scan through the cable channels can often look like an electronic safari. A show like hers needs another catch, another set of teeth to grab young eyes. Enter your host, Spin, an animated, wise-cracking globe with the voice of Dudley Moore (literally) and the knowledge of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (figuratively).

``He knows all about the Earth because, of course, he is it,'' Van Cleef says. ``But he's as excited about the world as kids are.''

In this week's episode, for example, Spin describes the complex migrations of animals, the thousands of miles they will travel with no maps or compasses. Salmon follow the smell of their birthplace for miles upstream, sharks tap into the Earth's magnetic forces to find their way, and swans use the stars to navigate across continents.

``We liken migration to a giant road trip,'' Van Cleef says. ``And we intercut with the kids going, `Are we there yet?' ''

Catch up on comics

Ever get confused reading a comic book? Ever stop reading one for a few months, only to return to an inked universe peopled with complete strangers? In order to quell the confusion of comic books, of following dozens of superheroes and bad guys on different planets and different times, Marvel this month introduces something called a ``gatefold.'' The two pages fold out from the covers of all of their books and offer character bios and a synopsis of what has already happened in the story line. It's a major redesign of the traditionally simple format - and perfect for beginners or light readers.

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Photo: Children love animal documentaries because they can identify with their subjects' adventures and struggles in the world.