When I was offered the opportunity to watch, review, and give away this 5 DVD holiday collection of some of our favorite shows from NCircle, it was right up our alley.

The Wiggles, “It’s Always Christmas With You!,” includes a mix of 14 original new tunes and seasonal favorites. It’s the first holiday DVD in seven years from the beloved platinum-selling band from Down Under, and it features celebrity guests including ‘N Sync’s Joey Fatone, who sings a sweet rendition of “O Holy Night.” We love it because it introduces children to the diverse ways different cultures celebrate the holidays and The Wiggles are always good, clean, fun.

“The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That: Told From the Cold” DVD has four episodes from the popular PBS Kids series. Actor-comedian Martin Short is the voice of The Cat in the Hat, and I love his characters in movies. The four episodes on this learning-and-fun-filled DVD are: Snowman’s Land, Flight of the Penguin, A Long Winter’s Nap and Reindeer Games. The girls really liked the episode on the penguin named Percy and learn how to waddle like a penguin and love to sing along to the easy songs.

My favorite DVD is “WordWorld: New Happy Holiday WordFriends”. The show is an Emmy Award-winning PBS Kids series for obvious reasons. This DVD features three holiday-themed episodes: The Christmas Star, A Christmas Present for Dog, and Duck’s Family Reunion – plus a bonus music video, Dancing Dog. I love how the characters demonstrate that it is better to give than receive. Great messages to be had in this DVD for sure.

The DVD that Miss A requests the most is: “Chloe’s Closet: Winter Wonderland”. The DVD features four episodes: On Frozen Pond, Best in Snow, Getting to Snow You, and Icing Escapades. Miss A loves that the girls turn into snow princesses and make snowflakes and also one of the episodes features Chloe ice skating, pretty nice since we don’t get much of the white stuff here in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Lastly, “The Fairies: Christmas Wishes in Fairyland” is a DVD where Fairyland is transformed into a magical Christmas setting. Tiny tots will sing and dance along to their favorite Christmas carols {and some of mine too} and learn new songs as they celebrate the joys of the season with the beautiful fairies, Harmony and Rhapsody! I love that my girls can learn traditional Christmas carols through this DVD.

Overall we are pleased and love every one of these DVDs and think they are great for the Christmas/Winter-y weather season and I highly recommend them for long trips or even short moments of fun for your kiddos. They would even be great for a holiday movie viewing party since there are no scary parts, no questionable moments, and some good messages for our kiddos.

NCircle is provide a prize of FIVE DVDs (one of each title) to a MommyB Knows Best reader!!

Head over to NCircle’s website here: http://www.ncircleentertainment.com/default.aspx and tell me which is your favorite title. If you don’t use the prize pack for yourself consider giving it as a gift for the holiday season.

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2. Tweet- using @mommybknowsbest and #NCircle linking back to this giveaway. (up to 5 tweets a day)

Not an entry because MommyB Knows Best follows Facebook TOS, but we’d love it if you’d go check out NCircle here: on Facebook

Giveaway ends December 15th @12:00 am. The winner will be chosen at random, verified, emailed, and announced in a Winner’s post. The winner has 48 hours to respond to the email from MommyB to claim the prize, if the prize is not claimed within 48 hours a new winner will be chosen at random. You must be a US resident and 18 years or older to enter.

I received a copy of the above DVDs to watch and give my opinion on. I received no monetary compensation for this post and all words and thoughts are my own. Yours may vary.

I’ve invited a mom friend of mine, Courtney, to review Thomas & Friends newest DVD Thomas & The Runaway Kite. This film is not something my household is into but Courtney has two boys who adore Thomas so I figured she’d be the better expert on this one.

Courtney is not only a mom of two boys, her husband is hearing impared, she takes care of two little ones during the week and is a huge animal lover. Hopefully this will not be her only review for MommyB Knows Best. Thanks again Courtney and I hope you all enjoy her review.

Thomas and his friends have done it again! Thomas & the Runaway Kite is packed full of attention grabbing adventures, teaching valuable lessons to children of all ages.

Thomas was given the exciting duty of carrying the Winners Cup, to be given to the lucky winner at the Kite Festival. When Sir Topham Hatt’s grandchildren lose their kite the adventure begins. Thomas thinks he is just the train to catch the kite before it flies out of Sodor. When he gets so wrapped up in thinking he’s the fastest train and he can catch the kite all by himself he hurts his friends’ feelings by telling them he doesn’t need their help. After many failed attempts he begins to realize that maybe a little extra help is just what he needed after all. If Thomas plans to get the Winners Cup back in time he will have to ask his friends to help him. Luckily Thomas’s friends are quick to forgive and help him get the kite so he can still deliver the Winners Cup in time.

This movie continues on with many other lessons for Thomas and his friends. One such lesson is when Toby is sent out to pick up Lady Hatt, but before leaving he has to have his whistle replaced while his old one can be fixed. His original, quiet whistle was what he was used to, and he wanted to keep it that way. Instead, he got a brand new three-chime steam whistle. It’s the loudest one on the market! Just the thought of having such a loud, booming whistle made Toby anxious and uncomfortable. Toby struggles with his new whistle, but after being stopped on the rail road tracks by cows grazing, and already being late to pick up Lady Hatt, he finally finds the courage to use his new, louder whistle.

Once he finally made it to pick up Lady Hatt, Sir Topham Hatt was waiting angrily. He already asked Gordon to complete the job that Toby was unable to do. It was just then that they saw Gordon headed straight for trouble- Toby knew there was only one thing to do. He blew his three-chime steam whistle loudly to warn Gordon, and he saved the day. After that, Sir Topham Hatt can’t possibly be upset with him. In the end, he is proud of himself and his friends are proud too. He learns that he really shouldn’t be so worried and afraid to try new things.

Over all, this movie was exactly the kind of thing I want my kids to watch and learn from. The length of the movie was perfect for keeping my 3 year olds attention, at approximately 46 minutes. It touches on some very important lessons of problem solving, bravery, and friendships.

On an additional note that may not apply in most families but is important in our home, because my husband is hearing impared, this movie has closed captioning. Many cartoons and children’s movies unfortunately, do not have that feature. Once again, I am impressed by another entertaining and fun Thomas & Friends movie.

Who’s your favorite Thomas & Friends character?? Have you seen Thomas & The Runaway Kite yet and if so what did you think of it?

Can we fix it? Bob the Builder and his crew can fix anything if they put their minds to it in The Best of Bob the Builder. This DVD features 140 minutes of some of the greatest episodes from the hit television show,Bob the Builder.

Bob the Builder is a children’s television character who is a building contractor in a stop motion animated program. Along with various neighbors, friends, and a crew of construction vehicles and equipment, Bob seeks to help the neighborhood.

While I’m not a huge fan of Bob the Builder, the show does have some good points emphasizing conflict resolution, cooperation, and socialization, and it introduces various learning skills.

Several episodes included in this film highlight working together and the back story of how Bob the Builder began. Featured episodes include: “Lofty to the Rescue,” “Mucky Muck,” “Dizzy Goes Camping,” “Bob’s Big Plan,” “Two Scoops,” “Off-Road Scrambler,” “When Bob Became a Builder,” “The House That Lofty Built,” “Bob’s Big Idea,” and “Roley’s Flat Garden.”

As touched upon earlier, I do not enjoy the show as a whole and would not encourage my children to watch either. Personally, the character voices annoy me, they have weird pink cement, and most importantly, I feel that there is a lot of whining, complaining, and some unnecessary negativity within the episodes themselves.

In regard to the DVD, it feels as though a couple of the episodes are repetitive in their message. Both “Lofty to the Rescue” and “Mucky Muck” have their main characters overcoming their fear by helping others. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great message, but considering this DVD is almost three hours long I would have though that they either could have chosen a different episode with a new message or at least spaced the episodes out so they weren’t back-to-back.

I do like the focus on recycling, reusing, and reducing waste and that message is placed in several episodes and reinforced by the actions of Bob and his crew.

The story of Sunflower Valley is told throughout several of the latter episodes featured in The Best of Bob the Builder, showing how Bob wins the bid to construct an eco-friendly city.

Also included in the DVD are episodes of how Bob became a builder himself and how his friends, equipment, and vehicles came to be part of his crew, which I think is a nice touch if you are a big Bob the Builder fan or even a first time viewer. Bonus features include the never before seen On Site: Trains, and a few games.

All in all this DVD has some great messages if you can get past some negativity and annoying characters. If you’re a fan of Bob the Builder you will certainly want to add this to your collection for the back story if nothing else.

Are you a fan of Bob the Builder? If so tell me why?

Let’s Grow: Lend a Helping Hand features popular Sprout shows like: Barney and Friends, Bob the Builder, Thomas The Tank Engine and more great shows that your child will love, even if they haven’t seen any episodes. Kelly explains that someone who lends a helping hand is someone who helps people. She and Chicka give the viewers lots of ideas on how we can help one another. In this DVD, each show’s episode focuses on a great message that each child should be exposed to: helping others.

In the Barney and Friends episode “Litterbot,” Barney’s pal Riff creates a recycling robot that in the end makes more of a mess than it cleans up. Barney, Riff, and friends learn how to help each other and the environment by cleaning up the playground and using teamwork and some fun songs along the way. I loved this episode because it showed how sometimes we need to rely on other people to help us accomplish tasks. To reinforce the learning experience from Barney and Friends Kelly and Chicka not only give them a “Good Egg Award”, but also make their own Litterbot out of recyclables and teach viewers how to make one as well.

In the next episode, Bob the Builder’s “Clean As a Whistle, Bristle,” we meet Bristle, a new team member who is eager to do his job, cleaning up with his brushes. As everyone has lots to do to prepare for the Promenade, Bristle is a little too eager and ends up cleaning too much. Oops! Fortunately Bob and his team work together with Bristle to make the night spectacular.

As Chicka gets ready for the next episode, she dresses like a train conductor for a smooth transition to Thomas the Tank Engine. While this isn’t one of my favorite shows in general, the story behind the episode “Dirty Work” is good. James is chosen to be the one special train with a task at the Festival of Lights and after hearing that he wants to make sure he stays in tip-top shape. All of his train friends have many tasks to accomplish before they can attend the festival. James makes a big sacrifice and ends up covered in fish, coal, and quarry dust, all in the name of lending a helping hand.

This episode shows that even though sometimes we may be reluctant to help out another person because it may not benefit us, or even sometimes put us in a bad situation, that in the end it really is the best thing to do. Definitely one of my favorite stories from the Let’s Grow: Lend a Helping Hand DVD.

We also see in the episode “Mother’s Helper”, from the show Fireman Sam, the consequences of being too rushed when helping out. When Norman’s mother asks him to do two loads of laundry he figures one will allow him to go play. unfortunately the washer breaks and Mike the Fix-it man comes to help, causing even more chaos because each of the “helpers” in the stories are rushing to the point where they don’t think and cause dangerous situations. Luckily, Fireman Sam and the rest of the brigade are on the job. Sometimes we all need reminders that even though we’re helping we still need to be safe!

In the last episode from Angelina Ballerina, “The Ballerina Ragdoll”, we see that giving things to others can be a way to help out. Angelina donates one of her old rag dolls in an effort to help children in need out. Unfortunately, she thinks giving it away was a big mistake and tries to find the doll. After stumbling upon the already claimed doll, Angelina realizes that in giving up the toy she made another little girl happy.

Whether you’re a fan of Sprout shows or not, this DVD has a quality message with fun shows to enhance learning. It’s certainly a DVD that I could watch over and over again with my children. I think helping others is one of the most important lessons we can learn. I would definitely recommend Let’s Grow: Lend a Helping Hand to anyone I know.

What’s your favorite way to lend a helping hand??

Here are some of our favorites and some of my recent ponderings.

Nick Jr.

Go Diego Go – Why is Baby Jaguar still a baby and will he ever grow up? I thought animals grew faster than humans.  Also how can Diego drive? Isn’t he like 10 years old? Where are his parents when he’s surrounded by pumas when he should be afraid of being eaten? Who is Diego’s real family? On Dora Diego and Daisy were brother and sister but on Go Diego Go Diego’s sister is Alicia…hmm maybe there is an illegitimate daughter somewhere in this mix.

Backyardigans – I used to ask what Uniqua was but then we wikipedia’d it and found out she’s not really anything according to the creator. Now I’m wondering why Uniqua is the only non-animal in the bunch?

WonderPets -Why is the sink always full for Tuck to get out? Don’t those school kids clean up? And what’s up with Linny, they say, “she,” when referring to her and she dresses in girl costumes sometimes but why is she often portrayed like a boy?

Max and Ruby – Where are these children’s parents?? In fact where are most of these and other cartoon’s parents? Maybe they feel like the parents will put a damper on the adventures? We probably would!

PBS Kids

Clifford The Big Red Dog – Why hasn’t Clifford unintentionally hurt anyone? He’s a mess and huge! Where do Emily Elizabeth’s parents get all that money for dog food? Perhaps their cover is the beach shop….

Caillou - Caillou is 4 years old and his little sister has more hair than he does, why doesn’t he have any hair at all???

Curious George – Shouldn’t Chef Pisghetti and Professor Wiseman be in jail for their multiple health code violations of letting a monkey (and cat) into their restaurant and museum?
 
 
Playhouse Disney

Special Agent Oso - Why is this panda teal and yellow? Is there a back story, like he was douced with acid or came from another planet?

PS. Did anyone notice in Christmas Dora that she is playing with Boots, Isa, and her other friends when they are toddlers yet in the show she doesn’t meet them until after she’s older? Mmmmhmmm

These are only a few of my ponderings and obviously cartoons aren’t made to make sense but I had to get it off my chest. Anything you notice in your child(ren)’s cartoon shows that “bug” you?