Hopefully we are all in agreement that there is just no substitute for reading to and with your child. Tim and I cherish story time with Darah. Even though her primary goal right now is to get the corner of any book we read into her mouth, we know that she is still absorbing language and learning that books are a source of great fun.

As your child progresses along in his or her relationship with books, there are some cool ways to reinforce the value of reading. Scholastic has a really great dvd series that is designed for children and their parents. The dvds contain popular children’s books made into movies, and encourage children to read along with the story by including the text on the screen and highlighting the words as they are spoken.

We received the Treasury of 50 Storybook Classics to review. While Darah is a bit too young to view these herself, Tim and I have played some of the stories. We really liked that the book illustrations were used for the stories as opposed to cartoons. This helps keep the focus on the words being spoken, and it keeps it from having the feel of a television show that changes screen shots every 2-3 seconds. We were also pleasantly surprised when we heard some familiar voices serving as narrators (Meryl Streep and John Lithgow are two examples).

This collection seems to be appropriate for children ages 2 or 3 and up. We will definitely be showing these to Darah in a few years, and we are glad to have them on hand for when our nieces visit. This isn’t something I would be inclined to turn on for kids and just leave them alone with, but rather, these are terrific stories to experience with children, so that you can read along and encourage them to try to read, too. You can also pause the videos to talk about what you are seeing in the pictures. Another great idea is to check out some of the books in the set from your local library, and then when you view the dvds you can have the books on hand, too!

Buy It!: This entire collection contains over 8 hours of delightful stories for a terrific price: $49.95! That’s just $1 per story. We all know how pricey books are, so this is a great deal. It is currently available on Amazon for just $32!

Win It!: I bet you know a little bookworm in the making who would love to have this set! Scholastic wants to make that happen for one lucky Stuff Parents Need reader, who will score the 50 Storybook Classics dvd set we reviewed! The contest will run until Saturday, April 10th at 7:59pm CST. A winner will be randomly selected and emailed, and will have 48 hours to claim the prize. Open to residents of the United States.

EDIT: Giveaway closed

How to Enter:

Mandatory Entry: Tell me the story in this collection you would read along with first!

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I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. This post may contain affiliate links.