Crew Review: Lots and Lots of Penguins
Supergirl has an obsession with penguins. She has toy stuffed penguins. She has a penguin game. She even has a set of singing penguins. When we go to the zoo the first exhibit she wants to visit is the, you guessed it, penguin exhibit. I should have taken a video of her reaction to receiving the Lots and Lots of Playful Penguins and Their Toe-Tappin’ Feet 2 DVD set from Marshall Publishing & Promotions. This 2 DVD set also includes a bonus video ,“Party Like a Penguin,” on a separate DVD.
The first DVD, Lots and Lots of Playful Penguins and Their Toe-Tappin’ Feet, is 75 minutes long. The main video is roughly 42 minutes long containing ‘penguin videos” which are songs set to penguin footage, interspersed with narrated sequences giving penguin facts. The animated penguin, Pj Penguin introduces different segments and his cousin Artie teaches viewers facts such as there are 17 different kinds of penguins and all penguins live in the southern hemisphere. This DVD includes bonus footage of marine mammals, wild birds and more including a penguin cartoon called Peeping Penguins. One of the “bonus features” is “All About Penguins”. This 20 minute long clip is all the segments narrated by Artie. I appreciated that this DVD was divided into chapters so we could pick and choose and different songs or choose to watch the educational part without the songs.
This is what Supergirl had to say about Lots and Lots of Playful Penguins, “I like how he [cousin Artie, the narrator] talks about the king penguins, and macaroni penguins. I like how he sings ‘calls it macaroni.’ The tallest penguin is the emperor penguin. I like how he [cousin Artie again]talks about the penguin parade.”
Lots and Lots of Penguins in the Wild is the second DVD. This is exactly what it says it is. Lots of penguins in the wild. When you first load the DVD, before the menu appears, a message or disclaimer states that this DVD contains no narration or music. “It is intended to bring you as close to the penguins in as natural a way as possible.” They also ask you to excuse “any jittery camera work or noisy audio.” There are places where you can hear the boat or the wind and even occasionally camera crew speaking to each other.
This is what Supergirl had to say about the Penguins in the Wild DVD “I like when the penguin looks like he saying ‘I can fly. No, I can’t while he flaps his wings. I like pretending I am a penguin and I talk to the other penguins. I say ‘get moving, we’re having a meeting. Ok, we’re done here, get moving.”
So after watching the DVDs multiple times over several weeks this is what I am greeted with this morning: Supergirl walks into my bedroom with an exaggerated waddle and says, “Look, Mom I’m a Penguin!” She stops waddling, looks me straight in the eye, and says “I want to be a penguin when I grow up!” I’d say the DVDs have been a huge hit with my penguin obsessed daughter. When I asked her which kind were her favorite she didn’t hesitate or miss a beat and simply responded “the king.” I asked her if she had another favorite. Again without pausing to think, “the macaroni.” I was impressed that she knew the name of the species.
Here Supergirl imitates the penguins while watching the Bonus DVD containing the song/video “Party Like a Penguin
They were well also enjoyed by the entire family especially the Penguins in the Wild DVD because my husband has a crazy, funny and entertaining sense of humor. The girls begged for daddy to watch Lots and Lots of Penguins in the Wild because they knew he would provide running commentary such as “I found a rock! I found it. I knew I left it here somewhere," while a chinstrap penguin picks up a rock. Daddy kept us entertained as he added commentary, often with help from his daughters, while we enjoyed the beautiful scenery and the adorable penguins. More than one of us said “I want one. Can I have a pet penguin.” Since we can’t have a pet penguin, we’ve all kind of picked a favorite that we like to watch on the DVD (ok we’re weird)
All joking aside, the penguin DVD set is an entertaining but highly educational way to learn about penguins. Though we used this casually and not as part of a formal study, I could see these being easily incorporated into a unit study on penguins. These videos would have been a wonderful addition to our penguin lapbook study we did several years ago. If you are interested in penguins or have a child like Supergirl who adores penguins, you’ll want to check out this DVD set.
The retail price for this 2 DVD set with Bonus DVD is $39.90. Currently the website sale lists the price at just $19.95 and if you are a homeschooler reading my blog you can enter the code TOS27 at checkout and get FREE First Class shipping.
The Review Crew reviewed other Marshall Publishing & Promotion products in October 2011. This year in addition to Lots and Lots of Penguins, Marshall Publishing & Promotions offered 3 more DVDs. Be sure an click on the banner below to read those reviews.
Disclaimer: As a TOS Crew member, I received this product free of charge to review. I am required to write a review but I am not required to write a positive review. This review contains my and/or my daughters’ honest opinion with, hopefully, enough detail as to why I/ we liked or did not like a product so that my readers can make an informed decision. I received no compensation.
You can read my other Schoolhouse Review Crew Reviews by clicking here.
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