Sesame Street's "All-Star Alphabet" DVD Review

Sesame Street’s “All-Star Alphabet” introduces children to the Alphabet letter by letter. Costumed letters “A” (Nicole Sullivan) and “Z” (Stephen Colbert) host the show from the mall. In between shorts and musical numbers about each different letter of the alphabet, "A" and "Z" walk around as pseudo reporters, interviewing adults and children about alphabet related topics and pointing themselves out in store signs.

The DVD features the following “star” performances:

• Dixie Chicks harmonize No Letter Better Than “B” with Big Bird
• Sheryl Crow and monsters sing “I” Gonna Soak Up the Sun
• Melissa Etheridge sings and dances with the letter “U”
• Larry King interviews the letter “W”
• Norah Jones sings I Don’t Know “Y” with Elmo

Other letters of the alphabet, both upper and lower case versions, are featured in varied segments using people, puppets, music and more. For some letters, the DVD also highlights the sound the letter makes or words that contain the letter.

The "All-Star Alphabet” DVD provides children with a good introduction to the letters of the alphabet. The show depicts both the lower and upper case forms of every letter, and many times the letter is used in words shown on the screen.

The skits also address the sounds letters make, but probably not clearly enough to help younger preschoolers learn the link between letters and the corresponding sounds. The DVD does not give as much obvious attention to the concept that letters represent sounds, or to the sound each specific letter makes.

The scenes with “A” and “Z” in the mall may not hold younger preschoolers’ attention as well as the short segments about letters. Older preschoolers, though, through watching “A” and “Z” point out letters in the signs around the mall, will learn that they can look for letters in signs and other places all around them.

Sesame Street’s “All-Star Alphabet” is a great tool for helping children recognize the letters of the alphabet, and it will encourage them to exercise their knowledge by finding and naming letters they see every day.

• Play the letter game with your kids. As you’re driving in the car or walking around stores, encourage them to find each letter of the alphabet in order on signs and other things they see around them. See who can finish the alphabet first!

• Kid-Friendly Instant Play
• 5 Classic Alphabet Segments
• DVD-ROM Alphabet Matching Game

* The Sesame Street website offers tons of great games to help kids learn about the letters of the alphabet.