Review: Wee Bee Tunes Travel Adventures: The Journey Continues!
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this program has catchy music and
bouncy animation, but delivers watered-down glimpses into
different cultures. You may need to talk to your kids about the
depiction of partying in Munich, Germany and New Orleans, as
well as the focus on diamond mining in South Africa and some
religious aspects.
Families can talk about the different places they learned about
in this program, and use the discussion as a jumping board for
further research. What struck you as most different in these
places, compared to where you live?
THE JOURNEY CONTINUES is the second title in the Wee Bee Tunes Travel Adventure series. It's accompanied by a CD that contains all of the music without the video. This time, the Wee Bees invite kids on a whirlwind trip in which they explore the culture and history of various locales, including Germany, New Orleans, South Africa, Russia, India, and Jerusalem.
The music is catchy and well produced, and the video animation is colorful. Overall, an engaging idea is explored and it's nicely packaged. That said, the choices of topics for cultural exploration in this kids' program are iffy. To focus on "partying" in Munich for Oktoberfest and New Orleans (apparently all the time) seems odd for the target age group. Also disturbing is the focus on mining gold and diamonds in South Africa, glorifying how the economy grew as a result. No Africans are shown in the mines; rather, the gold comes bopping down a track in mine carts.
Efforts are made to bring cultures together in the section on Jerusalem, "One City Built on Faith," though the religious history is told as truth, not based on myth. Lots of religious themes are discussed between this section and "The Many Faces of India." The trip through Russia on the Trans-Siberian Express is riddled with perplexing facts and a scary house arrest faced by the Romonov family. It's as though the Wee Bee Tunes gang bites off more than it can chew, but tries to play off history any way it can, regardless of whether its audience will be able to sift through what is significant and what is trite. This DVD is best watched with an adult who can pause it in order to explain confusing particulars.
Wee Bee Tunes Travel Adventures: Get Your Passport.Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
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