Winnie the Pooh: ABC's

This autumn-themed title featuring A.A. Milne's Hundred Acre Wood characters teaches letter recognition, word formation, and basic phonics. Christopher Robin--taking on a schoolmarm-ish approach here--motivates main bear Pooh into the spirit of rhyming with his notebook compilation of pictures and simple verses about Pooh and his pals, as he describes how letters are strung together to form words (the P-Bear's newfound knowledge and rhyming capabilities come in handy when the notebook is whisked away by the wind!). Under the direction of bookish Owl (who offers charming, preschool-friendly examples for letter-writing), Piglet, Rabbit, Roo, Tigger, and Eeyore learn about vocabulary basics and similarities in word beginnings and endings, after which the whole gang is able to "rhyme" Christopher Robin's notebook back together (and he shows his gratitude by giving the group their own pages to write their own books). Narrated by David Ogden Stiers, this excellent primer--aimed at preschoolers--nicely incorporates basic phonics, a couple of jaunty tunes, and the trademark antics of Milne's beloved crew. DVD extras include a brief “Disney's ABC Song” and an “Easy as ABC's” activity game. Highly recommended. [Note: a companion volume, Winnie the Pooh: 123's, is also newly available.] Aud: K, P. (J. Williams-Wood)