Customer Reviews

Little Bear - Family Tales [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Overall, this is a great video, and we love the Little Bear series. However, you should be aware that there is one story- about the wind howling loudly at night- that can serve to inflate fears toddlers already have. My daughter became very scared of the wind after watching this video (she's 2) and even had trouble falling asleep at night, crying and saying that she is "scared of Mr. Wind." I'm referring to the part in the video where this menacing dark-grey face appears in the sky and blows wind fiercely at Father Bear, threatening to capsize his boat. The Wind is personified here as a frightening character who yells spookily "These are MY seas Father Bear!" Apparently this terrified my daughter. It may not have this effect on all kids, especially if they are a bit older and can distinguish fantasy from reality. But my daughter doesn't understand when I tell her the wind is not really a person with a face- it's just air that blows around. She thinks there is this scary person in the sky that wants to hurt her, ever since watching the video- she even cries when wind blows on her too strongly while she's playing outside. We've really had to work at overcoming this fear. She's an outgoing, brave kid in almost all other ways, but she is very sensitive. Anyway, I just wanted to share this with other parents who think their young ones might react similarly. You know your child best. I wish I had waited until my daughter was a couple years older to show her this particular episode. (It's still a great video)

the original "little bear" stories are marvelous. This video preserves the sense of warmth and love that distinguish the books. This is a family that does things together. The Little Bear character embodies many of the traits of a typical toddler/preschooler. Mama and Papa Bear provide structure for a little bear discovering a wonderful and sometimes complicated world out there.

Unfortunately, the tape is of very poor quality. I exchanged it once, but the new tape is just as bad. Luckily, my daughter doesn't seem to mind. My 3 year old daughter really loves these stories. She can identify with many of the concerns and delights that Little Bear experiences.

I would have to agree that "Little Bear" is one of the best children's shows on television. However, the recording quality of this tape is awful. It was intentionally recorded in EP/SLP mode to save on tape, and is grainy and has poor sound quality. Too bad, I would have spent an extra dollar to have it in SP mode. I would suggest that others write to Paramount, Nelvana or Nickelodeon to complain as I have.

This is the video that got us hooked on the Little Bear series (we don't have cable and so hadn't seen it before). We have quite a number of videos in the series now, and this continues to be one of our favorites. Our 2-year old son loves all of them, and we do too - definitely something we don't mind seeing over and over when our toddler insists we watch with him. The music is lovely and quiet, the stories are well paced, and the love between Little Bear and his parents is a warm undercurrent throughout. Overall, we love how quiet and calm the videos can be, while still being exciting and engaging, and very watchable!

My 21 month old son can't get enough of Little Bear! He actually will sit still for 30 minutes and watch this video! Each vignette depicts much love between Little Bear and his parents and his friends. Nothing scary, no violence, good morals and good stories. A must have for the little ones.

I discovered these wonderful stories when my daughter was born. She is now 18 months old, and eagerly looks forward to watching Little Bear while I am making dinner (it's the only thing that keeps her out from under my feet!).

The stories are endearing, the pacing is slower than most "cartoons", the stories have morals and they encourage children to explore their world while being careful, kind and loving.

I love watching these videos with my daughter, and I have purchased all the books so that when she is learning to read, she can snuggle up with these high quality tales.

I highly recommend these videos to anyone that thinks that "tv cartoons" are too violent and action packed, and want their children to become loving, caring people.

I checked out this tape at the library and after my 23-month-old son viewed it from beginning to end I went out and purchased Summertime Tales, Goodnight Little Bear and Friends. They are equally as good, but Family Tales is the best of them all. My son's great interest was in the different animals, duck, cat, owl, etc., especially since he's learned about most animals and the sounds they make...great reinforcement.

Like the other reviewers, I also love this video (as do my children!). The additional praise I wanted to add is that the music that goes with the stories is really lovely and soothing - a rarity in most of the childrens videos I've seen. It is neither tinny, grating,nor sickeningly sweet.

We have all of the Little Bear tapes in the series. Ourdaughter has some of the phrases memorized! I think they help to teachher good manners and about good friends and family. We talk about the stories after we watch them and what lesson they teach us. As an adult, I have yet to grow tired of them, which is a rare thing to be able say about children's videos.

My daughter is 2 years old and this is the only video we BOTH look forward to watching together. Thank you! It is sweet and sensitive and fun for kids. There is absolutely no violence in this video at all.