KIDS / SNEAK PEEK : `GEORGE' REVIVAL NOT CURIOUS AT ALL.

If you were a monkey and your name was George, you'd be curious about what was going on with your life. You'd walk into stores these days and see your image everywhere: on refrigerator magnets, on calendars, on T-shirts and big, fuzzy backpacks. Where there are no Dalmatians, you'd see Curious George.

The big question in your little monkey mind would be: ``There haven't been any new Curious George stories in 30 years, so why am I all the rage?''

Ever since the 1941 publication of H.A. Rey's ``Curious George,'' the tale of a monkey who journeys to America and gets in all kinds of trouble, the monkey's image has become synonymous with classic kid lit, right up there with the Grinch and the Wild Things and Winnie-the-Pooh.

But recent months have brought the insatiable simian and his partner (the tall man in the big yellow hat) out of hiding and into stores. A compilation book and CD-ROM appeared last year. But does that explain why hipster boutiques on Melrose Avenue boast apparel based on a book containing short sentences and no big words? And why adults as well as kids are excited to see their curious friend?

``The demand is just so overwhelming,'' says Rebecca Gutierrez, who works in Video a la Carte, a groovy kind-of Melrose Avenue movie store rife with pop-culture kitsch. ``The little jack-in-the-box thing is pretty hot. And the rubber stamps. A lot of adults are buying them, too, remembering him from when they were growing up.''

Habla kidspeak?: Parlez-vous youngster? A new series of books and tapes from Berlitz does. As a way to introduce young children (ages 9 and up) to the basics of a foreign language, an illustrated story called ``The Missing Cat'' offers easy lessons in cross-cultural linguistics. Five versions of the storybook are available: one each for English-speaking kids wanting to learn Spanish, French, German and Italianand one to help Spanish-speaking kids with English.

See the forest for the toys: When you can't see them, noisy toys start to make sense. So do squishy ones, and those with big knobs with no apparent purpose. When buying toys for blind or near-blind children, the importance of squawking and talking, of textures and hand-held puzzles become clear. A slim booklet called ``Guide to Toys for Children Who are Blind or Visually Impaired,'' prepared by the Toy Manufacturers of America and the American Foundation for the Blind, offers suggestions for toys that stimulate the ears and fingers. It highlights things called Giggle Balls and K'NEX, malleable construction materials like Toobers&Zots and Legos, among others. The guide also explains how to choose other toys for kids with little or no eyesight. Call [phone] for a copy.

?13- Glenn Gaslin