Having little to no recollection of the ages 0 through five, it is difficult for me to compare the new Leapfrog release Let’s Go To School to whatever I might have watched nearly twenty years ago to prepare myself for preschool and kindergarten. Without immediate access to such children, I am also somewhat at a loss for how children will react to it, though I suspect that the target audience of children still learning to read will react rather positively. Once they’re too old for it, however, they will probably turn on it viciously and make fun of whatever perceived flaws they can find in it. Because, you know, they’re so cool.
Leapfrog is a company that markets educational toys for children ages 0 to 18 (for your convenience, the website divides its products by age, with the earliest group being 0-12 months); these range from the very loud and bright (the Counting Maracas were easily my favorite thing that I saw) to the energetically functional (there does seem to be at least an attempt to make algebra fun). The mascots of the company are Tad and Lily, two young frogs who are just now learning the basics of such things as reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic. They are aided in their learning by the magical firefly Edison, the modern day counterpart to Jiminy Cricket.
This particular DVD features Tad and Lily as they prepare for their first day of school. Being little tykes, they’re a little nervous, so Edison the firefly takes them over to school to introduce them to the various subjects that they will be learning. Fortunately for them, pretty much all of the school supplies are animated with eyes, mouths, and voices, and are able to explain themselves to Tad and Lily; these include the books, the globe, and the building blocks, who are all also worried about the first day of school, fearful that the other children might ignore or not understand them. At the end of the day however, through a series of colorful songs, Tad, Lily, and all of the school supplies are able to reconcile their fears, which allows them to get excited about their upcoming school day.
The key thing about animation is that it can do things that regular photography just can’t, and Leapfrog understands just what it is that makes this dynamic so appealing to children. In Tad and Lily’s world, everything moves and talks, kind of like in the Toon Town sequence from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and this, combined with nice colorization and decent (never obnoxious) voice work, manages to keep what is essentially fairly dry material (there is a long scene in which they sound out the entire alphabet) fairly engaging for a child. Beautifully aware that DVDs can be rewound and replayed ad nauseam, the lesson never rests on any one subject for too long, and paces its cheery (if not catchy) songs fairly well throughout. Also, the decision to focus so much on engaging children emotionally (this DVD expends a lot of energy convincing children that school isn’t as scary as they might think that it is) feels like a sound one, because even though I’ve long since forgotten my first day of school, I can imagine it was pretty nerve-wracking.
DVD Bonus Features
The DVD also has an alphabet storybook (for helping in learning recognition and pronunciation of the letters), a sing-along, and trailers for other upcoming children’s DVD’s. All in all, this would be a sound purchase if you have a child that is preparing for a first day of school. Or if, for whatever reason, you don’t know the alphabet but are still managing to read this review. In which case, bravo.
"Leapfrog: Let's Go To School" is on sale August 18, 2009 and is rated NR. Children & Family. Directed by Leapfrog. Starring Dorothy Elias Fahn.
