Families of Australia

The latest installment in the award-winning, PBS-aired series Families of the World takes viewers to Australia for a day-in-the-life look at two children—a rural-dwelling girl and city-dwelling boy—and their families. We first meet eight-year-old Phoebe, a blonde Caucasian girl who lives on a farm. As she goes to school, participates in sports, and helps her father with sheep shearing, viewers learn bits of Australian history and culture, as well as differences from American practices, such as left-side driving. Next, we start the day with seven-year-old Josh, who cooks breakfast with his little sister (also, a bit confusingly, a blonde girl named Phoebe). After a morning at school, the siblings go to their afternoon music and dance lessons, and later spend time with their grandparents. While the blueprint for these programs normally works well (see positive reviews in VL-5/06, VL-11/04, etc.), this entry has a few disappointments: American-accented children provide the overdubbed first-person narration, even though most kids are familiar with the Australian accent and would expect to hear it; only brief mention is made of the Aboriginal and non-white populations; and very little of the country is seen. Still, this is recommended on the strength of the series as a whole. Aud: E, I, P. (E. Gieschen)