Shalom Sesame

Every time an opportunity arises to review "Sesame Street" products, I jump at the chance. The Children's Television Workshop has been creating masterful programming for little ones my entire life. Now that I have a toddler, its a wonderful way to review material that I can watch with my son.

Time is of the essence these days, so working and enjoying family time is a treat. Children of the United States aren't the only ones who have a chance to spend Sunny Days on the Street. My little guy and I often watch the Latin American version "Plaza Sesamo". It's a wonderful way to expose him to the Spanish language and cultural diversity.

"Shalom Sesame" offers a similar window to the nation of Israel and the Jewish people of the world. Disparate cultures are dealt with in an inclusive way that is a boon to young ones in our global community.

"Shalom Sesame" is a six-disc set offering twelve episodes. The shows center around Grover, who's still everyone's favorite cute, cuddly monster. Grover flies to Israel in the first episode and journeys through the nation the rest of the way. He learns about the geography, food, holidays, people, and just about anything else culturally important. In typical Sesame fashion, the shows are loaded with celebrities like Jake Gyllenhaal, Christina Applegate, Debra Messing, Eva Longoria, and Greg Kinnear.

The set also includes singalongs and bonus clips as special features. These extras definitely offer parents a little extended mileage with an already packed set. Better still, is a bonus disc featuring two episodes of the '80s version of "Shalom Sesame". Like I said earlier, I'm more than forty so Sesame Street has been with me my whole life. Seeing a classic episode just shows that as much as the world has changed in that time, parents can still count themselves lucky to have educational programs from the Sesame collections to nurture the the young as they develop into the parents of tomorrow.