With Playhouse Disney's Book of Pooh series, Winnie the Pooh, his friends, and the Hundred Acre Wood sport a new look, but their charm remains intact. Fun With Words is a video collection of four stories from the Book of Pooh, designed to introduce young children to preliteracy concepts.
This 46-minute video features stories that are laced with humor, sure to elicit smiles and laughs from both children and parents on different levels. After each set of two related stories, a thoughtful--and educational--recap runs, helping to reinforce the lessons learned.
In the first episode, Piglet has a case of laryngitis, which gives rise to some distinctively Pooh-style musings, such as "Where do words go?". Piglet's friends in the Hundred Acre Wood are bent on finding his words. Along the way, they try to figure out what Piglet is attempting to say--Pooh thinks he might want honey, of course, and the more scholarly Owl looks up "communication" in his books. The story ends with Piglet reclaiming his powers of speech, and the realization that Piglet didn't actually lose his words, he lost his voice. In the meantime, kids explore the concept of wordless communication (including the use of signs as a form of expression).
In the second story, Eeyore suffers a simple memory loss, which is blown out of proportion by all of his friends. As Tigger says, "he can't even remember whether he forgot to remember". Soon, everyone thinks they are suffering from "brain drain", and they all end up wearing name tags. In the third episode, after Kessie the bird points out that Tigger's laugh goes "hoo" instead of "ha", Tigger "loses" his laugh altogether. The characters' humorous attempts to "wake up" his laugh with an alarm clock, a tickle, and even a comedy skit, fail. It isn't until the stage falls apart that Tigger gets his laugh (and his bounce) back. Finally, Pooh and friends go on a treasure hunt in "X Spots the Mark", and kids learn about maps and the letter X. The video closes with a recap and a fun song.
The stories are sweet and understated so that kids never lose a sense of fun as they learn. Given the video's title, we did expect more explicit language arts instruction than what was delivered, but the messages of the stories are educational in their own way. The "lessons", though subtle, come across loud and clear--words are fun, and communication styles are unique, varied, and special.
Those accustomed to previous incarnations of Pooh and friends may take some time to adjust to the new puppet characters set against computer-generated backgrounds, but for many, this new look will appeal. The songs are fresh and new, and simply delightful. Though fans of Kanga and Roo will notice their absence in the video, and the new character Kessie the bird seems a little out of place, there is no denying the warmth and humor in the series. Additionally, the storytelling is fantastic, doing the "silly old bear" justice, and then some. We found the story lines and dialogue even more charming and humorous than those of the cartoon.
