Amazing Animals: Animal Mothers [VHS]
Mothers will want to encourage repeat viewing of this tape which enthusiastically validates the maternal role in nature. When Henry, the series's reptilian guide, ventures his opinion that mothering involves some easy cuddling and not a lot more, the narrator begs to differ. Child viewers are then taken on a whirlwind tour of motherhood that has mama bats giving birth upside down, mother puffins risking death with each of the 10 feedings her offspring require a day, and supermom lionesses juggling the cubs and hunting down dinner, only to be chased off by Dad who eats his fill before Mom and the kids get a serving. If that isn't enough, a better-educated and recalcitrant Henry gives his Golden Gecko award to a revolting-looking toad who lays a multitude of eggs on her own back and whose skin swells and grows to cover them while they incubate. Even after they hatch, the babies live in these oozing pustules until they're mature enough to venture forth into the world. It's a gross, but not-inappropriate analogy that should have young viewers joining Henry when he tell his mom, "I love you."--Kimberly Heinrichs