Cheap Baby Shakespeare (DVD) Price

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Customer Reviews of Baby Shakespeare

1. The children singing the ABC song (twice)
2. The format for teaching 12 words: train, flower, apple, cat, grass, frog, leaf, snow, tree, cow, butterfly, moon. They say the word, then show the word on screen, then say it again, then show a picture of it. The way they start with a rough sketch and morph into the real thing is also quite interesting.
3. Music by Beethoven
4. The poems have something to do with the words being taught.
5. Lots of cool and colorful toys - the Baby Einstein series really loves toys with figures that climb stairs.
6. Each segment starts with the click of a camera, so you know you're moving on to the next word.

What's not so great about Baby Shakespeare?

1. The actual theatre piece is only 28 minutes long. The 101 minutes on the jacket includes a concert and poetry recital. (This is video folks, not an audio cd)
2. Some of the toys are in the wrong places. The "cat" segment has footage of a worm in an apple, the "cow" segment has a train.
3. The poems are way above the level of the intended audience. Couldn't they have found children's poems?

I rated this 4 stars because my son loves it, especially the ABC song segments. I have to wonder though, how poems by Nash, Kinnell, Yeats, Frost and Wordsworth, among others, relate to a monkey with cymbals, and a flatulence joke among cows.

Kids from 1 year old will love the kidstuff, older folk will appreciate the poems, and try to remember the rest of the familiar ones.

The best video in the series
We own several of the Baby Einstein videos (Mozart, Bach, Van Gogh and the 2 Dolittles). In my opinion this one is the best of the lot. Everyone knows the formula, live action, puppets, toys, children, all against the background of classical music, in this case, Beethoven. The poetry is lovely (even if there is only one Shakespeare item), the images beautiful and the use of children minimal but effective. The puppetry is especially witty. For those reviewers put off by the slightly naughty Bard puppet and the flatulent cows--it is precisely this anarchic humor that delights my daughter. Do I worry about her developing bad manners from this? No, not at all. I enjoy watching this tape along with my 14 month old, pointing and naming the items, reciting the poetry, and laughing with her. There are some reviewers who are critical of the lack of boys in this video. There are only 3 live action segments. The video opens with toddlers (all girls) singing the "ABC" song, about half way through (after the "Frog" segment) the same group, although in slightly different combinations, re-appears singing the "ABC" song. A small segment occurs during the segment on "Grass" which shows a toddler running barefoot. It is difficult to tell what gender this child is. There are fewer live action children in this video than in subsequent videos in this series. All in all, I recommend this video. As always, I can't vouch for the educational value of this tape, but it certainly entertains.

(Mostly) Guilt-free Pleasure
To cut to the chase: This video entertains my 16-month-old son without fail, and has for the six months we've owned it. He's seen Baby Van Gogh, Baby Galileo, and Baby Neptune; this one remains his favorite. The gentle, quiet images and music--the other videos mentioned are all busier--seem to connect best with him in his generally calm household (and with his verbal parents). I recommend it with only a couple reservations, and they're contextual.

First, one can argue that the very young shouldn't get a lot of TV exposure, and I won't argue against that. Secondly, I can't tell that Alex is taking away a lot from this, only that he finds it more engaging than any other TV/video he sees, and we believe its content is wholesome and harmless... and that's what we ask of it.

Other Baby Einstein reviewers have ranted that the videos are "baby crack": mesmerizing, risking the creation of ADHD-speed attention spans, and indoctrinating about toy products. I think that's catastrophizing. My son watches this easily because it's colorful, simple, and has toys and kids in it--the things that interest him--without a lot of frenzy; he gets bored with cartoons or Sesame Street, but not this.

As other reviewers say: Maybe its greatest value is in holding little attentions for a half hour without damaging them, so bathroom or household tasks can be knocked out without howls and pleas for attention. I think it accomplishes this without turning Alex into a zombie, and he's always impressed that I know the ABC song or Julie's opening poem about the main character. Don't ask it to educate your child or babysit beyond one-showing's length, and I think you'll be happy (and mostly guilt-free) that it's in your house.