Customer Reviews

Red Riding Hood... And More James Marshall Fairy Tale Favorites (Scholastic Video Collection) [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

James Marshall wrote and illustrated many picture book adaptations of popular fairy tales for children. Scholastic and Weston Woods have converted the picture books into animation shorts that are available on DVD for the first time. This disk includes Marshall's renditions of "Red Riding Hood", "The Three Little Pigs", and "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (a Caldecott Honor Book). Two bonus shorts are included of Stephen Kellogg's "Chicken Little" and Paul Zelinsky's "Rapunzel." James Marshall's adaptations are humorous, colorful, and far from sappy. His unique wit doesn't change the tales too much, but still makes them his own.

The tales are recommended for preschool ages and up, but they are some of my favorite versions as an adult. This DVD is guaranteed to become a favorite in any household. Don't miss Marshall's original picture books either!

This DVD provides an authentic retelling of classic folk tales for young children. One reviewer was amazed to find out that these stories include unpleasantness. Nursery tales like "The Three Little Pigs", "The Three Bears", and "Red Riding Hood" have value for young children, even though things get broken and people get gobbled up! If stories do not have a real problem and a real solution, stories are not authentic or interesting.

I wonder if the reviewer who was shocked to find these elements in a video of fairy tales could possibly have been serious. Maybe, as that reviewer suggested, these are not a good choice for a 2 year old. There's no real reason for babies to watch TV at all; it's a much better idea to read to them. I recommend this DVD for children aged 4 to 8 who have already been read the real stories.

James Marshall has written some hilarious and beautiful books based on fairy tales. This animated version of his Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks and the Three Bears stories is as rich and funny as the books. The video tells the story word for word from the book. Used with the book, the video reinforces basic reading concepts. For children who are all about electronic media, it can spark an interest in the books.

Treat youself and your children to these delightful stories by James Marshall.

Nancy Illing, educator and author of Sparks Ignite Imagination a book about creativity.

My 4 year old daughter just loves this dvd. The animation, artwork, voices, music, etc are very nice. I've noticed my daughter is just full of questions while watching this though (drives me a bit crazy)......why is the wolf so mean, where are Goldilock's muffins for granny, why did she dump the porridge, etc, etc.

The 3 main stories are Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and The Three Little Pigs. The first bonus story is Chicken Little, another favorite of my daughter (the wolf has a great voice). She gets such a kick out of the fact that it's not the sky that falls but the acorn. After watching it again today she was running around saying, "Foxy Loxy is mean and dangerous, if you see him call the police immediately. Ooooooh....scary." Then she laughs....I think it might be a quote from the movie. I did hear the fox call Chicken Little a dimwitted chick....but I thought it was funny. The second bonus story is Rapunzel. The pictures are fairly nice (no animation) and the narrator has a nice voice but the story is a bit long, so it's my daughters least favorite on the dvd (there is a sorceress in this story).

Some of the stories are told just a little different from the usual classic stories that I remember as a kid. As an example, in The Three Little Pigs the first 2 pigs get eaten by the wolf instead of running off to the next pigs house. In the end, the last pig ends up eating the wolf....which in reality means he eats his own brothers too, LOL! But, other then that, the stories all seem to have a happy ending. I think that Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks are good stories to watch with your child and talk about afterwards....stranger danger, obeying parents, not being naughty, etc. I'm glad we bought this to add to our Scholastic Video Collection.

This DVD provides an authentic retelling of classic folk tales for young children. One reviewer was amazed to find out that these stories include unpleasantness. Nursery tales like "The Three Little Pigs", "The Three Bears", and "Red Riding Hood" have value for young children, even though things get broken and people get gobbled up! If stories do not have a real problem and a real solution, stories are not authentic or interesting.

I wonder if the reviewer who was shocked to find these elements in a video of fairy tales could possibly have been serious. Maybe, as that reviewer suggested, these are not a good choice for a 2 year old. There's no real reason for babies to watch TV at all; it's a much better idea to read to them. I recommend this DVD for children aged 4 to 8 who have already been read the real stories.

This is the most beloved collection of animated tales in our household. I have come back to Amazon to buy my second copy because the first one was overhandled by my toddler, who is absolutely enchanted with all the stories; he has even warmed up to the segment with James Marshall, enjoying the active sketching and drawing.

The quality of animation of each story is superb, with spirited narration and music with each - something the adults can appreciate as they are watching it...again. Although the collection is recommended for children 4 years and older, my 2 year old loves these animated stories. His favorites alternate, but he usually wants to view them all atleast once before going back for a second peek at another.

Other popular animated stories in our household include Strega Nona (pasta pot!) and Chrysanthemum (mouse!). I have tried others by Maurice Sendak, William Steig, and even Dr. Seuss, but have not had winning results.

I am a teacher and I use many of the Scholastic Video Collection stories to reinforce stories that we have read in class. The stories by James Marshall are awesome. The story I have a problem with is "Rapunzel." This is not the version I grew up listening to and it's definitely NOT appropriate for the Kindergarten classroom...I am actually SHOCKED that no one has posted on this yet!!! In this version, Rapunzel finds that her dress no longer fits after she is "visited" by the prince. The evil witch soon discovers that Rapunzel is PREGNANT!!! Ummm...that's NOT okay!

I was shocked when I turned on this DVD in for my 19-month-old. Granted, he is 5 months younger than the recommended age. But in Red Riding Hood, the Wolf "gobbles up" Grandma! I stopped this video immediately. Even though Liam couldn't grasp the concept, even I was taken aback at the brutality (yes, brutality, and I'm not a prude) of this story.

In the Three Little Pigs, the Wolf again eats two of the Little Pigs. In fact, when the Pigs are whirling about in the air with their straw or wood houses, the Wolf is waiting on the ground with an open mouth. I don't recall all of this killing and eating in these stories when I was growing up.

In Goldilocks, Goldilocks tips over Big Bear's porridge, breaks Baby Bear's chair, and makes an overall mess of things. We stopped this one, too. I also bought the Llama and Cow DVDs, hopefully those will be better for toddlers.