Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Best of its Class in infant stimulation - not just for vocab
This video is simply fabulous - but inappropriately marketed. This is a first class infant stimulation video in the same class as the best of the Baby Einstein Companies products. My toddler- now 1 year old LOVES this video. The main value is not vocabulary - I would think that most toddlers would learn all the words presented between 18 mos. and 2 years old, anyway. By watching this video, infants & toddlers learn to associate the 'real thing' with other representations of the object (like kids playing with or using the object, and toy-versions of the object). There is a language skills benefit that the infant / toddler learns to associate the word spelled out on the screen with various representations of the object with the spoken word. Besides all of this, it is highly engaging for a number of reasons. Like many similar (infant stimulation / development) products, the sound track is classical music, mostly Mozart. The voice on the tape is a woman's, and she says a word (like train, teddy bear, ball, dog, nose, etc.) in a non-monotonous way (this is a big problem with other videos of this type). Then we see a series of shots of kids of all ages using or interacting with the object, a live-action video shot of the object, a still-shot of the object, and a toy-versions of the object. Some of the greatest features of this video are that it includes animals like dogs & cows that my daughter - like most toddlers - loves to watch. Also, it is well known that infants / toddlers like to see faces, especially other babies. There are numerous shots of kids of all ethnic backgrounds and ages - shot in very engaging ways including close-ups, and doing things (like bouncing a ball - for "ball," or eating with a spoon - for "spoon"). The production quality of this video is superb, and you don't get the sense that the producers cut corners by inserting cheap computer-generated animation (which I have found are not good at keeping babies' attention). We have a rather complete library of infant stimulation / development videos, including all of the 'So Smart' Series, Baby Einstein Company's videos, the BabyScape videos, and a Baby Genius' video - all of which I have reviewed on this site. I consider this video, "Bee Smart Baby," and Baby Einstein Company's "Baby Van Gogh" - the 'best of its class.'
Rating: - Develops Expressive Language and More
I have an autistic son who...did not talk a lot. We were growing tired of the same Teletubbies video he watched over and over and tried the first in this series. He was captivated. I can guarantee you that this amazing, wonderful series of videos is responsible for helping my son to learn several words. It has been 9 months since we first discovered the Bee Smart Baby series and my 2 year old can name each and every object featured on all 5 videos. I cannot recommend these videos highly enough, especially for children with communication differences.
Rating: - well done
I was becoming exasperated with the short attention span of my very active 20-month-old and his apparent disinterest in learning words that babies his age had mastered long ago. I was amazed at the response that this video drew from him. After four days with it 1 to 2 times each day, he is already saying words and remains completely engrossed in the tape, sitting still for almost the entire program. He now looks at words everywhere with interest, sits still long enough to have a book read to him and babbles intelligible words all day, associating them with the object.It is a simple format that is easy for babies to watch, especially ones of high energy (which I'm sure covers most toddlers). The speech is clear and the pictures slow enough to comprehend, fast enough to be interesting. The colored text and music in the background are indispensible components. I am very pleased with this purchase and plan on implementing the other videos in the series.
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