I Love My ABC's! Animals

PreS-Gr 1—Mattie, an excessively cute-voiced yellow airplane narrates this program, introducing each letter of the alphabet and a corresponding animal whose name begins with that letter. She offers facts about each animal against a backdrop of their still photos. After every few letters, there's a song break that features alternate melodies for the ABC Song, some solo singing, and some harmonies—all reminiscent of late 50's and early 60's rock 'n'roll hits. The melodies are singable and catchy. To illustrate the alphabet songs, animals appear to dance and sway to the music, their still photos manipulated by moving ears, legs, or necks to the beat in a primitive kind of animation. Following the completion of all the letters, a quiz shows pictures of several animals and asks viewers questions like: Which one moos? Which is a kangaroo? The production ends with a repetition of all the ABC Song variants. While the animation is unimpressive, children will have fun singing the songs and learning a few facts about animals, some of which they will be introduced to for the first time, like the Xerus and the Vicuna.—Constance Dickerson, Cleveland Heights-University Heights Library, OH