The entire story of the Baby Einstein company is interesting enough to make a movie itself. It started out as a brain child of a mother who wanted quality educational programming for her pre-pre-schooler. She started to me these videos to stimulate children’s minds as young as only a few months.

My wife bought a couple Baby Einstein videos when we had our first son four years ago. This was before they Disney buy-out that made the mother entrepreneur a millionaire. The early videos were clever, and they definitely drew the interest of my kids. However, they weren’t the top of the line when it came to production value.

The video quality was poor, and the sound was overblown and crunchy through the television speakers. While I appreciated what the Baby Einstein videos were doing, they weren’t my favorite things.

Now, Disney has bought out the company and sunk some real money into the videos. They’re still pretty simple, using puppets, kids and animals to teach overlying concepts of art, music, culture and science. However, the technological aspect has been brought to a professional level.

The two newest Baby Einstein DVDs are “Baby Noah” and “Baby Monet.” “Baby Noah” uses music and imagery to teach little kids about the different kinds of animals. Set to the music of Beethoven, Bizet and Mozart, kids learn a variety of different animals in a variety of different habitats.

“Baby Monet” focuses on the seasons. Using bright colors and Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” music, kids learn about spring, summer, winter and fall.

The special features on these DVDs are different than what you’d normally find on a DVD. After all, who really wants to hear a director’s commentary on the Baby Einstein series? Instead of the features that will get your standard DVD-phile excited, the Baby Einstein discs provide a more useful bonus room.

The first thing that’s beautiful about these DVDs is the “Repeat Play” feature. Let’s face it, the television is not meant to be a babysitter, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t do so from time to time. These movies run between 30 and 40 minutes, and sometimes that just isn’t enough time to do the laundry, fill the dishwasher or take a much needed nap. The “Repeat Play” feature will loop the DVD so you don’t have to.

There are a larger than average selection of games on these discs, designed to interact with and stimulate your kid. They give a little more thought to these than your standard Disney DVD game. Remember, these videos are meant to be educational as well as entertaining.

“Baby Noah” contains Discovery Cards, Guess the Animal, Talk Like the Animals, Puppet Shows and Story Time with “Jane’s Animal Expedition.” “Baby Monet” includes Discovery Cards, A Look at the Seasons and Puppet Shows.

If you’re interested in the toys that are used in the show, there’s always a “Toy Chest” that you can choose that allows you to find out where you can purchase the different puppets and stuffed animals.

Under the Disney banner, the Baby Einstein series has been given new life. They’re not going to be long-lasting DVDs. After a few years, your kids will definitely outgrow them. However, for the house with children ranging from babies and toddlers to preschoolers, there’s a lot you can gain from a few of these videos on your shelves.



Specifications: Fullscreen aspect ration (1.33:1). French, Spanish and English language tracks.