Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Baby Shakespeare is lots of fun. My son is 9 months old, and he's been watching this video every now and then for a few months now.

Let me begin by saying that my son is a pretty hyper baby. He bores easily, and he gets frustrated by toys at times, especially when his bedtime is nearing. He can be SUCH a fuss-bucket!! I suppose that's normal, but I really have nothing to compare him to.

All I DO know is that when he gets in those incredibly fussy-sleepy moods, a bottle will help, but it won't fix the problem. Singing a lullaby helps, but it's a very temporary solution, as after about five minutes he's grunting and fussing and twisting out of my arms. The radio absolutely DOES NOT work to soothe my baby, as he keeps looking around to find the source of the announcer's voice!!!!

There is only one thing that I've found that will immediately quiet my son. Baby Shakespeare. As soon as it begins, he's staring at the television screen. He almost appears to be in a trance!! He'll sit contentedly in my lap for the entire presentation.. if you knew my son, you'd be amazed that he would sit still AT ALL, ANYWHERE, for ANY amount of time! :)

Baby Shakespeare is a great video, full of great classical music, poetry read by a lady with a soothing, breathy, melodic voice, colorful pictures, plenty of movement and video of cool baby toys as well as video of flowers and trains and other things as they are in 'real life', and there are cute little puppets having short sweet adventures with flowers and apples and other everyday things. (Sorry for the run-on sentence!)

My son even laughs at a couple points, like when Bard (the dragon puppet) sneezes loudly, and when a potted flower grows accompanied by silly music.

By the end of the video, almost like clockwork, my son's eyes have been heavy for awhile, and he conks out in my arms. For a baby that usually fights sleep and wins, this is a miracle to me.

Baby Shakespeare is welcome entertainment for my son, as well as it is for myself. I find that I enjoy watching the video almost as much as he does. There are certain psychadelically colorful moments that capture my attention as much as it would any baby's attention!

The only thing about Baby Shakespeare that is slightly annoying is the repeated parts. Certain toys appear more than once doing the exact same routine each time. The alphabet song is sung twice, but I suppose that may be a good thing. And there is a toy camera that is clicked before each new "scene." That's really no big deal, but I think my son gets tired of seeing the toy camera. Those moments are the only moments when he'll squirm during the duration of the video. Other than that, the video is wonderful.

I'd recommend this video to anyone who has a baby. Especially if the child is as wound-up as mine is.

There are other tapes in this series.. Baby Einstein, Baby Van Gogh, Baby Mozart, and Baby Bach. I haven't checked these out yet, but I plan to. I hope that they captivate my son as much as Baby Shakespeare did!!

Baby Shakespeare is terrific!!

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up to Age 4