Barney: What a World We Share [VHS]
Dinosaur siblings B.J. and Baby Bop are feuding over a cardboard box when this 54-minute exclusive-to-videotape movie opens. This--and Stella the Storyteller's forgotten suitcase--gives Barney and the kids in the treehouse a good excuse to visit France, Canada, and Mexico, searching for Stella and learning about good manners and sharing along the way. There's nothing like Barney in a beret or Monty the Mountie leading the kids in a rap ("It's cold. Burr. I wish I had fur. I wish I was a bear with furry, furry hair"). But after meeting French mimes, Canadian Mounties, and Mexican mariachis, topped off by finding Stella, the kids and the Purple One return home to find that brother and sister have worked out their differences and made a terrific playhouse out of their shared box. Young toddlers may get the simple message from songs like "(It's Not So Tough to) Share Your Stuff" and older children will understand the more complicated message of cultural sharing.--Kimberly Heinrichs