Read and Share DVD Volume 1

Read and Share DVD Volume 1 is a collection of 13 animated Bible stories. I watched these DVDs with my two kids. They are 5 and 6.5. Here are some of our thoughts.

The Good
First of all, the kids found these videos to be enjoyable. They sometimes even asked to watch more than I had planned for our daily Bible time.

I found the animation to be pleasant. It looked hand-drawn, but the shadows and such were so well done that I think it must have been computer generated.

Topics such as Satan and polygamist marriages were handled tastefully without re-writing history. Angels were made to look powerful instead of cutesy. I found this refreshing for a children's product.

The Annoying
Noah's ark was represented as a tiny vessel that could barely fit two elephants let alone 2 or 7 of every kind of animal in the world. Also Noah's family was represented as a bunch of white (or possibly Hispanic) looking people. This undermines the fact that all people on earth today came from this one family.

Not very much of the Old Testament was covered. For example there is no mention of Joseph, Moses, Joshua, the judges, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Hezekiah, Josiah, Daniel or Nehemiah. After Jacob and Esau you skip to Baby Jesus. Granted this is Volume 1, but if these stories are going to be included in Volume 2 then the chronological nature of the videos will be skewed.

There are a couple of minor inaccuracies. For example, one of the disciples that Jesus takes with him to Jairus' house is a woman. I want accuracy even in the small things especially when my children are watching.

The title of this DVD is misleading. There is nothing to read. After getting the DVD, I learned that the title is after a Bible story book. But I didn't know that when I got it and so was expecting some kind of reading to be intertwined.

Because of these annoyances I can't give this very well animated and scripted video 5 stars. I have to go with 3.5 (maybe 4).