What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that these stories vary in quality, and
that one of the "Snow Cat," is rather spooky and might frighten
some kids.
Families can talk about the way the seasons affect people's
lives at different times and in different places.
SCHOLASTIC VIDEO COLLECTION: BEAR SNORES ON features five stories that cover the gamut of summer to winter, animal to human, city to country. "Bear Snores On" is a sweet and funny story about animals making the best of a bad storm in a sleepy bear's cave. "Waiting for Wings" is a song about the wondrous life cycle of the butterfly. In "Come On, Rain!" a young city girl on a hot, hot day waits for a refreshing rainstorm. There's a lovely sequence in which the girl and her friends dance with their mothers in the rain. "Snow Cat" is strange tale of a young woman who lives in absolute isolation in the far north and the cat made of snow who briefly becomes her companion. "Time of Wonder" is classic Robert McCloskey -- summer in Maine, with lobster pots, porpoises, a hurricane, and the wonderful sense of being a child in the country in the summer with nothing to do but explore.
This is a fine collection, with a great variety of styles of storytelling and animation, making it interesting for kids and their parents as well. The "Waiting for Wings" song isn't exceptional, and many parents will wonder why the dancers in "Come On, Rain!" don't have shoes on -- after all, it takes place in the city. "Snow Cat" begins and ends with a cheery grandmother and granddaughter, but the story in between is somewhat spooky and very dark (the animation is colored lines on a black background), and some kids might get upset when the cat melts.
Scholastic Video Collection: Bark, GeorgeScholastic Video Collection: The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.

