Search - The Snowy Day & More Ezra Jack Keats Stories (Scholastic Video Collection) on DVD

This has been in the DVD player for months.

pops | midwestern United States | 01/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I was a child, I loved "Snowy Day," the picture book about Peter, who brings a snowball inside in his coat pocket, and every other Ezra Jack Keats book my parents read to me. Other than "Pet Show" (1992), these were all produced soon after each book was written (1960's -- early '70's) and, I feel, were done very faithfully.
These pieces represent an era when producers didn't have a lot of effects to work with -- just the picture in the book, a narrator (and these narrators are all great), and music -- and couldn't count on licensed character synergies to carry a child's interest. My first video editing assignment ever was to shoot, cut, record, select music for, and edit a children's book. It's not as simple as it might seem. (I set "Where the Wild Things Are" to REM's "Perfect Circle" for the quiet bits of sailing over the sea and such, and something from Hüsker Dü's "Land Speed Record" for the wild rumpus.)
The overall mood of these pieces is very quiet, gentle, thoughtful. "Peter's Chair" would be good for discussing any new siblings that might be arriving in your house.
I believe Loretta Long, the narrator whose voice sparkles in several of these short films, went on to become Susan on Sesame Street.
I am consistently turned off by almost all children's programming. Buy this DVD."

Very Good

03/18/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Some of the reviews have comments about the animation of this DVD. Keep in mind that these stories were books first (with very good illustrations). Children who have grown up with video games may not have the attention span to enjoy these stories.I especially enjoyed the interview with the author that is included as a bonus."

Just Okay.

pops | 01/08/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The official write-up of this DVD states that it is a moving storybook. I didn't understand that this means that it is not animation (very few characters actually move) - it is more like looking at pages of a book. Although my 3 1/2 year old twin boys enjoy Keats' stories very much, they had a very hard time paying attention to this DVD."

Very good resource

pops | 02/02/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have used this video/dvd for my first grade classes in the school library after reading the stories to the students first. When presenting the video/dvd stories, I use the captioning option so the students can read along with the stories being presented. I have found that the classes are riveted to the stories, even though they have heard them from the librarian. To children raised in the audio/visual age, these videos/dvds work well. Could they be better and have better animation? Yes, but they are an excellent available resource."