Customer Reviews

Baby Shakespeare

5 star:		(80)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Our 14 month old adores Baby Einstein and Baby Mozart. Baby Shakespeare now ranks as her favorite video to watch. She giggles so much while watching the "star" puppet, Bard. It's nice to see that the creators put a variety of girls in the video rather than just their own children this time. However, there are only girls - no boys. If you were disappointed in Baby Bach, don't let that discourage you from buying this video. It is back to the quality of the first two. And this video is helpful for teaching your little one new words. My husband and I both think this is the best video of the whole series. Enjoy!

Hands down, this is not only the best of the Baby Einstein series but it is also one of the best children's videos ever created. Our nine-month old daughter laughs at the silly puppet shows, listens intently to the music and poetry, and watches raptly as the brilliant graphics and toys dance on-screen. Nearly everything in this video is also entertaining for the adults; my wife and I will be watching this one with our baby for years to come. It is rare to see a children's video that is made with such love and attention to entertaining and educating children, and that is not made with the sole intent of making a fast buck off our child. We can't wait for Baby Van Gogh!

As one who strongly supports reading to children, I was a "little" anti-TV for my youngster, until watching "Baby Van Gogh," which is another video produced by the same company. Julie Aigner-Clark is a genius! Her innovative products, exceptionally creative, are designed to entertain children while they learn. "Baby Shakespeare," is no exception. With an imaginative approach, this instantly engaging video teaches language (12 words) through cleverly written text, and real world objects, while stimulating auditory senses with classically arranged musical pieces. My son was immediately mesmerized from the first viewing, two-months old, and remains fascinated to this day, now fourteen months old.

I heard about Baby Einstein products from friends, but did not become interested until I learned of the company's dedication to providing financial support to MANY children's charities such as the Autism Society of America, Ronald McDonald House, The Eden Institute, a leading school for educating autistic children, and a host of other organizations committed to children with special needs. I now own several Baby Einstein videos and most of the companion books - they are excellent educational tools.

Additional recommendations - "Baby Mozart," "Baby Van Gogh," "Baby Dolittle Neighborhood Animals," also, Richard Scarry's "BEST" videos are excellent for children 1 year and up.

I was informed about Baby Einstein's products when my son was 3 months old. So the first video I tried was the Baby Mozart. When my husband and I first looked at it, it looked silly but my son absolutely loved it. The video somehow manages to capture baby's attention. So we bought Baby Einstein next. My baby just laughed at all the little silly things they do on the video. Baby Shakespeare, in my opinion, is a video you buy if you already have the other videos since kids will remember the puppets and the setup and they like the familiarity. I rotate the 3 videos for my son and he absolutely loves them all.

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, as well as cartoons and other child-directed video; this remains his favorite.

In brief, it consists mostly of vignettes featuring child-friendly themes such as trains and butterflies, with pictures and poems about each subject drawn from Shakespeare, Ogden Nash, William Wordsworth, W.B. Yeats, and others; these are interspersed with footage of mobile toys with Beethoven's music played behind (performed by a small ensemble featuring piano, guitar, drums, vibes, etc.) and quick shots of kids doing things like singing the ABC song. The gentle, quiet images and music--the other videos mentioned above are 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 swear 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. 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.

While my husband and I are a little apprehensive about exposing our 11-month-old to too much TV, we are realists and understand that some TV and video-watching can be fun (and necessary if we really want to accomplish anything around the house!) We have several of the Baby Einstein DVDs and enjoy most of them, but this one is far and away our son's favorite. He adores "Bard" the dragon and giggles whenever he is onscreen. He also really enjoys the young children singing the "Alphabet Song" and bounces and "dances" with the music. We love the selection of poetry and its use in introducing little ones to basic language. While no two children will glean the same information from any toy, book or video, this video is lots of fun and presents learning in such a way that toddlers will love it (it's fun for grown-ups, too!)

As with all the movies in the 'Baby Einstein' library, this one is excellent. I have been very happy with every single movie. My 8 month old daughter has enjoyed them for a while now and this one is her favorite. She even smiles and laughs and this one. She especially likes to see the children in the movie. A must have!

This is our son's (13 months old) favorite video, and it's yet another "perfect 10" in the Baby Einstein Company's impressive series of videos! I hold a Master's degree in the field of infant speech-language and communicative development, and I would definitely recommend this particular video for your own baby's speech-language and cognitive facilitation and development. This visually and auditorally creative and stimulating video also provides an excellent opportunity for parental interaction and facilitation which will enhance your baby's (and toddler's) overall cognitive-communicative skills and development to a greater degree than other infant videos which typically require little or no active participation from or interaction between the child and his/her parents. (Tip: fast forward to the end of the video credits for some simple yet highly effective communication-enhancing ideas and strategies to utilize while watching the video with your child.). This video (and accompanying book of poetry) scores a perfect "10" on all accounts!

We own all four of the tapes in the Baby Einstein series and all are terrific, but Baby Shakespeare is the best of all. It is for a little older child, but it has poetry, more interesting toys to watch, drawings that turn into real objects (like a train, a cow, a flower, etc) and children singing their ABC's. It also uses more hand puppets and has little funny skits that are adorable.

My two year old son loves all of the Baby Einstein videos, but he asks for this one by name. My only criticism is that all the children in the video are girls. A small flaw in an otherwise splendid presentation.

What's great about 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.