Richard Scarry's Best Learning Songs Video Ever! (DVD)

In the fall of 2001, Sony Wonder took this lovely Scarry learning video to the DVD format. This was a wonderful move, and greatly appreciated by parents looking for a fun way to introduce learning basics to their little ones. Somehow, this video has become incredibly pricey and difficult to obtain though, and it seems to me that it past due for a new batch made available to consumers.

Throughout the video, Scarry's delightful characters ...
...understand setting for young viewers. Huck the Cat, Lowly Worm and all of their friends from school put on a show in a backyard for parents and teachers to show how much they have learned, and to express their admiration and gratitude to the various teachers in their lives from parents to actual school teacher, Miss Honey.

A few charming songs, learning basics, and Scarry's endlessly enchanting cast of characters has been known to ... more

In the fall of 2001, Sony Wonder took this lovely Scarry learning video to the DVD format. This was a wonderful move, and greatly appreciated by parents looking for a fun way to introduce learning basics to their little ones. Somehow, this video has become incredibly pricey and difficult to obtain though, and it seems to me that it past due for a new batch made available to consumers.

Throughout the video, Scarry's delightful characters are brought to life in a simple and easy to understand setting for young viewers. Huck the Cat, Lowly Worm and all of their friends from school put on a show in a backyard for parents and teachers to show how much they have learned, and to express their admiration and gratitude to the various teachers in their lives from parents to actual school teacher, Miss Honey.

A few charming songs, learning basics, and Scarry's endlessly enchanting cast of characters has been known to keep children as young as two riveted for the full 30 minutes of run time... over, and over, and over again. In fact the only real drawback to this particular children's video is that parents are in danger of Many repeat viewings!

Letter recognition and the alphabet, numbers and simple addition, opposites, shapes, colors, and basic good manners are all featured in this wonderful video. There are also a few purely fun songs, like "If You're Happy and You Know It", which kids always enjoy, and learning the actions that go with the song engages children in a fun way which makes the concept of learning and school very appealing. The "Best Of" series is by far one of the truly best sets of learning videos I've encountered, much more enjoyable than the "Busy Town" series which was rather bland.

I was honestly amazed at how much information is packed into this particular Scarry video in just 30 minutes. The only thing more gratifying is how incredibly entertaining to youngsters the Best Learning Video ever really is for these viewers. It never feels forced or boring, but makes each lesson fun and engaging for kids. The animation is a bit dated, but it is undeniably Scarry's ever-popular artwork which has delighted children for years.

Definitely meant to appeal to children, around seven years and younger, it isn't a gripping work for adults or older kids at all. It does capture that elusive magic of impressing on children at an early age that learning is fun, and good manners are appreciated by everyone. These are important points which are rapidly disappearing in our consumer-driven conformist society.

We rented this DVD from our local library for our granddaughter when she was not quite three. She is a very active child and I was astonished to find her so quietly attentive throughout the first viewing, and each successive viewing til we returned it to the library. The positive impact it made on her letter recognition, number sequencing, and general manners was dramatically and immediately obvious.

When it came time to return the video, she asked if there were more like it (another first), and I was happy to request all of the Scarry "Best of" videos available through our library. She enjoyed every one just as much as the first, although not all in the series are geared towards learning or as effective in that area as this video. I looked into purchasing this for her as a birthday or Christmas gift and was horribly disappointed.

Not readily available, this can be found as a used DVD from sellers on Amazon.com, the price starts at just under $50! Taking a quick look at Amazon UK, it appears as though it can be purchased as a VHS for a much more reasonable price (between 3 and 7 pounds), or as a region 1 DVD. In either format, there are no frills, no extras, and only the quality of the work to recommend it... which I still do highly recommend. In my opinion, the availability of this wonderful video, especially in the more popular DVD format, is criminal! Something this useful and enjoyable to our fresh young minds in bloom should be readily available to every family at a reasonable cost.
 

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