My Beautiful House!: France--My House in Bordeaux

One of 30 titles in the My Beautiful House! series (other countries include Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Japan, United States, England, Spain, and Italy), this voice-over narrated production introduces 9-year-old Pierre, who lives in Pardaillan castle, on a vineyard estate in Bordeaux. Built in the 11th century, Pardaillan is neither representative of abodes in general, nor French dwellings in particular. And while it's pleasant to see Pierre eating breakfast with his siblings in the dining-room-in-the-round, or snuggling into the four poster bed for a bedtime story from Mom, or playing in the mini-castle fort (probably more elaborate than some Third World primary residences), I'm not entirely sure how appropriate or useful this extremely brief program would be for social studies classes. A much better choice here would be the Families of the World series (presently 7 vols., $29.95 each; see review of Families in Japan, for instance, in VL-7/99). Not a necessary purchase. Aud: E, P. (R. Pitman)