Between The Lions: Season 1

I bought this set after purchasing the other DVD sets (The Chap with Caps and more and Hopping Hen and more). I cannot recommend this series enough. It has helped my son to read and he is obsessed with certain episodes such as, Be Pop. It is fun, educational and will not bore you, the adult when watching it. If you are a fan of the Muppets then this show will be good.

This series is one of the few childrens shows that I enjoy watching with the kids instead of silently suffering through and like the Muppets tries to serve both the child and adult audiences. The Ingmar Bergman tribute, Sausage Nose, did not do too much for my kids however, I cracked up.

The later seasons of Between the Lions are kind of inferior to the Season 1 and have a lot more "borrowing" from the earlier episodes. I read it was due to budget constraints and some controversy with the sponsors but who knows? I know that there are a lot of episodes that are on VHS but not available on DVD.

In any case, if you like the show get this whole set. But if you have never seen the show and are unsure whether it is something your kids would love then get one of the other 2 smaller sets.


Things to Know:

* the other 2 DVD have many of the same episodes found in Season 1
* the Seaseon 1 packaging is kind of "down scale" in comparison of the first 2 sets;
* Many episodes use other parts of other episodes such as Gawain's Word
* The first 2 sets are more a "best of" of Season 1
* Season 1 is 5 DVDs with 6 episodes each



Episodes in Season 1 (* shows that it can be found in the earlier 2 sets)
DVD

- the ram in the pepper patch
- A peck of peppers
- Sausage nose
- Red hat, green hat
- The lucky duck
- The Old Man
- A King and His Hawk
- The Roar that Makes Them Run
* Piggyback, Piggyback
* The Fox and the Crow
* Giants and Cubs
* Be Bop
* Touching the Moon
* The Boy Who Cried Wolf
* Fuzzy Wuzzy, Wuzzy
- Lionel's Antlers
* To the Ship! To the Ship!
* The Chap with Caps
* Pandora's Box
* Lionel's Great Escape Trick
* There's a Fly in My Soup
* Popcorn Popper
- Something Fishy
* Hug, hug, hug
* Pecos Bill Cleans Up the West
- The Lost Rock
- Little Big Mouse
* Farmer Ken's Puzzle
* Shooting Stars
* Hopping Hen

Highly recommended and I am glad that I got them. I gave away the other 2 earlier sets as gifts and that child loves them too. I hope that they release the other episodes even though the other seasons aren't quite as good, but not quite as good is still better than other shows.

I teach first-grade and show one episode to my class each week. They get excited about the movie and forget that they are learning. They read aloud with the show (there are many captions and word building visuals). My own children (4 & 8) watch the episodes over and over. My four year old is excellent at sounding out words. I would definitely recommend this to any parent who would like to give their child a boost or something better to watch than Cartoon Network.

As a first grade teacher for 10 years, a mother of 6 and grandmother of 7, this is a must have item. I use it in my classroom as a reward for good behavior. My grandkids watch it on long road trips and at home. I agree with other reviewers that it is better than other children's educational programs. I find that my students bug our librarian for a copy of the stories they have seen on the show. Many struggling readers find they can "read" the story and feel such a sense of success. Each and every Kindergarten and first grade classroom should have access to these DVD's. Great when a substitute comes or as a reward. I bought them on my own but wish my district could see the value in investing in a few sets for each grade level.

Don't hesitate. Buy this set. YOu will NOT regret it.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 13 reviews  4.4 out of 5 stars