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It is commonly believed today that Mozart's music is so beautiful and well-ordered that it can have a beneficial effect on the brain's development in children who listen to it during their developing years. Using this theory, the Baby Einstein company have made an audio and video package meant to capitalize on these ideas. The audio CD takes some of the most famous (and most beautiful) compositions of Mozart and performs them with alternate instruments (small bells and/or a xylophone I believe) to make them more "baby-friendly." I didn't really care for this version of music. (In a way it seems to be a lesser version of the real songs, in a similar way to how elevator music compares to the original songs). I've found that my children, even at a young age, really enjoy fine recordings of the "real thing". Some would probably find the idea somewhat condescending toward children (especially considering the theories of Maria Montessori and Charlotte Mason) and there really isn't a lot to recommend this over some more straightforward Mozart recordings.

More annoying than the CD, however, is the video. The video takes the same watered-down music and combines it with images of moving toys that make their way across the screen. (This goes on for about half an hour, I believe. I haven't been able to sit through the whole thing.) The end of the video provides information on where to buy the toys. The toys aren't particularly beautiful or educational - just rolling toy animals, jack in the boxes, etc. I can't deny that my younger children enjoyed watching the video, but children like a lot of things that aren't necessarily all that great for them. I'd much rather have my children playing with pots and pans in the kitchen than be mesmerized by videos of toys and Mozartish music. I also object to the idea that this company charges money for what seems to be little more than a fancy toy catalog.

Additional information (added September 2007):

TIME Magazine article on studies involving "educational" videos for babies
Disney demands retraction of Baby Einstein study
Are "Educational" Baby Videos a Scam?

A sweet, fully animated, half hour movie for young children, about the apparitions of Our Lady to Saint Bernadette, in Lourdes France in the mid 1800s. The story is told from the point of view of a family with a crippled boy about to visit Lourdes, whose father explains why they are making the trip.

Published by CCC Animated Video
This is a nicely done version of the story of Our Lady's appearances to the three small children in Fatima, Portugal in 1917. It is a simpler version than The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima and more appropriate for very young children.
Reviewed byA.V.H.

This is an animated musical feature Francesco (St. Francis of Assisi) and his animal friends. They sing songs such as: How Can You Tell It's A Beautiful Day?, God Loves To Hear Your Voice and Why Does the Rain Go "Crash, Bang Boom?" My children love this video and even my one year old daughter tries to dance and sing along to it. But to be perfectly honest, the songs are the sort that might run incessantly through YOUR head at three in the morning. I also wasn't thrilled with some of the details of the animation style. (I tend to be rather attentive to details.) Some of the animals' eyes would "bug out" when they were hugged too tight and things like that.

Published by CCC Animated Video
This story of St. Nicholas is very appealing for little ones and portrays him as an excellent example of charity and love for the poor. If you're trying to encourage a more religious understanding of Santa Claus (which is Dutch for Saint Nicholas), I

Three Other Reasons to See Prince of Egypt: racially truthful, stealthily pro-life, realistic portrayal of sin
I admit, our family went to see The Prince of Egypt because of William Donahoe's recommendation. The Catholic League plugged the newly-released animated picture on the story of Moses in its newsletter as well as in an Internet message. So we joined my family at Christmas in a rare trip to the theater, along with my dad (who was going to see it because Chuck Colson had recommended it).

When we emerged from the theater, all of us agreed that there was more reason to like this film than the facts that a.) it was completely clean b.) and it was not by Disney.

I had been told of the technical perfection of the animation and special effects. This is true - the film is stylistically executed by DreamWorks with the perfection of any Disney movie. The parting of the Red Sea is spectacular. It has its share of chases, escapes, and comic moments, with strong female characters and funny animals. The story is simple to follow - so clear that my toddler son burst into tears when baby Moses had to leave his mommy to be adopted by a strange lady. I had expected all these things.

But I wasn't expecting any more than an exercise in clean filming of a token Biblical story to please the Christian market. Prince was more than that. Here's three reasons to go see the film that have nothing to do with the political battle over children's movies.

First, Prince is racially truthful. This is the first Biblical movie I have seen in which none of the characters - none - were Caucasian. Personally I am tired of depictions of our Biblical fathers and mothers that insist on giving them fair skin and sometimes blue eyes. Both the Hebrews and the Egyptians in Prince have the bone structure and skin color of their races, which I found refreshingly (not politically) correct. Aren't the Jews and Africans sometimes right when they accuse American Christians of making the Gospel into "a white man's story?" Certainly these are the images we usually give our children. Prince was a definite step in the right direction.

The filmmaker's choice to tap the heritage of the black community in using a music style inspired by Gospel spirituals was wise and effective. For its audience of children, it provided a further link between the Biblical characters and the African heritage. The Hebrew songs - particularly the children's hymn which heralds the day of Israel's freedom - were wonderful touches. My personal favorite was "Through Heaven's Eyes," the song of Jethro, Moses' future father-in-law, done in Arabian style.

Second, there was the undercurrent of a pro-life message. The catalyst of Moses' transformation from a selfish prince of Egypt who never looks twice at his servants to the deliverer of Israel is when he discovers that his "father," the Pharaoh, commanded the slaughter of the infant Hebrew boys. His father justifies this as population control: "the Hebrews were too numerous." Moses, who can't imagine being related to slaves, begins to feel compassion first for these countless baby victims, whom he narrowly escaped joining. A sense of the enormity of the crime is overwhelming in different parts of the film. While not explicit, a pro-life message comes through. The last line of the film "Deliver us!" became for me a personal prayer for an end to our nation's holocaust.

Third, the movie shows clearly the effects of the most deadly of sins - pride. This film underscores the fact that the bulk of the plagues upon Egypt were the result of one man's selfishness and unwillingness to change - the Pharaoh Rameses. What makes this moral tale so believable is that the film explores the character of the hard-hearted Pharaoh in his boyhood friendship with Moses. "Don't be the weak link in the chain," Rameses' father tells him, unfairly punishing him for things he didn't do. The fact that Moses truly loves his foster brother and has compassion for his internal struggle even as the two face off as adults raises the caliber of the storyline. Moses begs Pharaoh to yield for the sake of the Egyptians suffering from the plagues, but Rameses, tormented by the sores and pests of the plagues himself, remains bitter and unyielding. He has lost the ability to feel compassion for anyone else. When he announces that the slaughter of Hebrew children will begin again, he brings down the plague of the death of the first-born upon himself. Faced with unwittingly causing the death of his young son, he temporarily agrees to let the Hebrews go. The stark portrayal of the effects of mortal sin has probably never been rendered to this depth in cartoon form before.

Having seen the movie, I would nominate it for an Academy Award. And along with William Donahoe and other Christian leaders, I can now say that I certainly hope that the movie industry makes more movies like Prince of Egypt (how about a sequel?). If you go to see Prince of Egypt, you'll "send a message to Hollywood," but you and your family will enjoy yourself as well.