As opposed to buying Scholastic’s single DVD releases which feature anywhere between four to six stories, the option exists to go for one of the bundle packs, which is essentially three of the individual discs tossed into one boxed set. The latest two such sets are My First Collection Vol. 2 featuring Spoon and Chrysanthemum…and More Whimsical Stories, featuring classic folk songs and stories by beloved children’s book authors including Kevin Henkes, Jack Kent, Mercer Mayer, Rosemary Wells and Bob Barner brought to life by the voices of popular actors and musicians like Chrystal Taliafero, Raul Malo, Mia Farrow, Meryl Streep, Sarah Jessica Parker, Danny Glover, and Patrick Stewart. Come on, if you can have Patrick Stewart read your children a bedtime story – wouldn’t you?
The stories including on each set are as follows:
My First Collection Vol 2. Featuring Spoon has: Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal; A Boy, A Dog and A Frog by Mercer Mayer; Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! by Bob Barner; Otto Runs for President by Rosemary Wells; That New Animal by Emily Jenkins; I Love You Like Crazy Cakes by Rose Lewis; Smile for Auntie by Diane Paterson; Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey; and the songs “Dem Bones”, “Hush Little Baby”, “The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night”, “The Erie Canal”, and “Dinosaur Bones”
Chrysanthemum…and More Whimsical Stories has: Chrysanthemum, A Weekend with Wendell, and Owen by Kevin Henkes; The Caterpillar and the Polliwog by Jack Kent; Rapunzel; The Elves and the Shoemaker; The Talking Eggs; The Three Billy Goats Gruff; Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino; Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg; Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells; The Little Red Hen by Roberta Maxwell; and the “bonus stories” of Reading to Your Bunny by Rosemary Wells, Hondo and Fabian by Peter McCarty, Mouse Around by Pat Schories, Princess Furball, and Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young.
The first set purports to teach children lessons on the values of cooperation, friendship, problem solving, music appreciation, rhyming, and anatomy whereas the second set teaches self-esteem, reading skills, and growth and change.
DVD Bonus Features
The Spoon set offers a documentary on the creation of the music for the titular book and an interview with Bob Barner. The Chrysanthemum set has Spanish language versions of four of its stories along with an interview with Rosemary Wells. Both sets sport the “Read-Along” feature (subtitles, but for education).
"Scholastic Storybook Treasures: The 'Spoon' & 'Chrysanthemum' Collections" is on sale September 20, 2011 and is not rated. Children & Family. Written by Henkes, Jack Kent, Mercer Mayer, Rosemary Wells and Bob Barner. Starring Danny Glover, Meryl Streep, Mia Farrow, Patrick Stewart, Sarah Jessica Parker.
