That Baby DVD

Parent Bloggers recently sent me the That Baby DVD to review.  The DVD is a collection of soft rock songs with calming, slow-moving video overlays.   Segments slowly fade into each other, avoiding jarring transitions.  The DVD also uses a nice technique, presenting a gallery of photos that one by one come to life, giving young children a chance to process the change.  This is a nice alternative to the faster-paced videos and TV shows being produced for little ones.

To see what I mean, just click here for their video. 

Widget and I enjoyed watching this together.  It was indeed calming and provided a nice break in the day.  We will definitely watch it again, and I’ll show it to Little Bear when he’s two too.  I’m generally not a fan of TV and DVDs for babies and kids under 2 (and the AAP isn’t either), but, for kids who are exposed to media, this is a nice alternative to what’s out there.

That Baby DVD is produced by parents, which explains their no-questions-asked DVD and CD lifetime replacement policy, guarantee, and easy ordering setup.  There’s even a 20% off coupon for readers of these Parent Bloggers Network reviews — just use the code “PBN” when you order from the company.  

Books are MOOOvelous!

“Read a book.  ‘Cause books are mooooovelous.  Read a book.  Cause books are adventurous.  Read a book. It’s time to read with Wilbur.”

The characters are cute little farm animals.  The theme song is stuck in my head.  There’s even a little learning that goes on during the new Discovery kids TV show and DVD, Wilbur. 

It’s a cute show.  Widget, my three-year-old, has asked to watch it (as his only TV choice) every day this week.  In addition to pushing reading, the themes are educational (our DVD had episodes on shapes and the story of Wilbur and Orville Wright), so I’m pretty pleased with it.  It’s cute and repetitive, as is helpful for this age, without being mind-numbing for grown-ups. 

In each show, the characters encounter a problem, decide to read a book to discover the solution, think about it, read the book again, and solve the problem.  It’s a great set up, and the little books that they read are good too.  I like it.

It’s not my favorite TV show of the new season, though.  That honor (and the place of honor next to our DVD player) has to go to Word World.

This review was done in conjunction with Parent Bloggers Network.

Word World

“It’s time to build a word… let’s build it … let’s build it now!” With this catchy phrase and a groovy beat, the characters and action of World World are coming to PBS this Fall.

Word World is a bright and happy haven for characters like Duck, Dog, Sheep, Bear, Frog, and Cat, who play and have adventures that will capture your child’s imagination from the very first segment.

The characters are a delight, and the concept is fresh and innovative.

Every character, every structure, and many supporting objects are made out of … words. In the two 11-minute episodes that I reviewed, favorites like House, Train, Barn, Bridge, and Cave were drawn into the scenery as words shaped into perfectly recognizable objects and places. The characters are also words, with Bear being appropriately taller than Dog, for instance. Letters abound as background as well, where appropriate, such as when they’re being delivered by train or waiting to be used in Cat’s junkyard.

But the magic happens when the friends need to build a word. During the first quest, Runaway O’s, Kangaroo delivers a box of O’s to Cat’s junkyard. But before she gets to open the B-O-X, Sheep and Dog bump into it and the O goes rolling away! The O has many rolling adventures and we meet the other main characters as we see all the ways that the O could slip away without us noticing. For instance, an O looks a lot like a doughnut in Pig’s Bakery, and a floating ring in Duck’s pond. But this O can’t hide for long, and the friends herd it back to the yard just in time for Cat to wake up from her catnap. They reassemble the box by putting the letters in order while singing the bright ditty above, and a little animation magic helps it springs into shape, ready to be opened.

The second episode I reviewed, The Birds, is even cuter, but I think I’ll just recommend that you watch this one yourself. The colors are bright, the dialogue is happy, and the stories are captivating enough for a mom to enjoy as well. In short? While I’m no fan of too much TV, I’m definitely a fan of Word World for little ones big enough to recognize letters and prepare for the magic of reading.

This review was done in concert with the fine moms and dads at Parent Bloggers. The show debuts on PBS September 3 and Target will be rolling out DVDs any day now.

The bear and the monkey

Dear Curious George and Bear in the Big Blue House,

I’m sorry.  I was wrong.  You guys can come over to our house anytime.

Especially when both boys are sick, whiny, and don’t know what to do with themselves.  When the baby has been nursing for over two hours and the toddler won’t nap.  When I think I’ll spontaneously combust if I hear, “Yeeeeeeeeeeees. No.  Yeeeeeeeeeees. No.” to every inquiry.  When it’s all I can do to change the revolving door (revolting doo?) of poopy diapers and daub at the fluids emanating from the little noses and mouths surrounding me.  When even the dog is lethargic.  (Wait — the dog is always lethargic!)

Thank you, PBS.  I needed just a little extra help today.

WhyMommy

P.S.  We totally love the Curious George games too!  Widget can do “Counting Chickens” and the matching game already.