Harold and the Purple Crayon - The Complete Series

This is my secret weapon to getting wild little ones to settle down for bed. This is a calm, easy listening series that tranquilizes even the most rebellious little ones in to settling down. This is such a hit we purchased the item to use while children have medical exams (ultrasounds) in the hospital, when we need kids to calmly sit still. Worked so well parents take down the title and buy while they are in the room. Most parents are shocked when all other things have a history of not working, and this does. Other hospitals around us have also started adding this DVD to their collections for those hard to do exams when kids needs to calmly sit. Need I say more? Every parent should be given one. Mail them to your friends, they will thank you.

Very different from original.

My daughter was gifted this at Christmas a few years ago. I wasn't sure what I thought at first. There are two or three songs per episode, all sung by the same person, and the pace is less-hurried and harried than a lot of the kid shows that are made now. (We were used to Dora yelling at us.) It didn't take long before it became a favorite for my daughter, and I love it too. The episodes are sweet, thoughtful, and creative. There's an episode where Harold's fish dies, and a mermaid helps to understand what happened to Goldie. Harold has to problem solve a lot, but not in the "which path should I take? The RED path, the BLUE path..." etc. Sharon Stone narrates, and there isn't a whole lot of talking from Harold; it feels a lot like a parent reading to a child. The songs have a relaxed, but upbeat feel (think Jack Johnson). I highly recommend this series!!

My 2 year old Grandson Cullen loves the Harold Videos. For Christmas I gave him the complete series and my daughter gave him some books and the old series. While watching the older version he asked his mom why Harold had on white PJ's and what happened to Harlods Blue PJ's. They put in his new video with the blue Pj's and he continued to watch it. The next day when I went to visit he wanted to watch Harold after watching for a few minutes he told me that Harold had on white pj's last night but mamma and daddy changed him to his blue pj's. His mom had to explain to me what had happened the night before and that they had not actually changed Harolds pj's, only the video. Parents be warned Harold is dressed differently in the old version than he is in the newer edition and the kids seem to notice!

I find the Harold series so appealing and so does my son. It is quiet, it is simple, it is calming, it is entertaining, it is creative, and it is so very imaginative. Harold, his crayon, his stuffed dog, and his creative mind are so different than most of the children's videos out there on the market. This isn't the Wiggles, Barney, or Doodle bops -- thankfully! This particular DVD edition is full of great stories. Each story isn't too long and are perfect if you want to cuddle up and watch 1 or 2 before bed. As others have pointed out in earlier reviews, you'll notice your child will enjoy (even more) coloring and creating artwork with his/her own crayons. I can't say enough wonderful things about this series. If you want a DVD that you can enjoy with your child - than this is it! We are Harold's biggest fans!

This HBO animated series starts out with a really nice adaptation (and expansion) of Crockett Johnson's original story. The next dozen-or-so episodes are mostly new material, but remain pretty true to the spirit of Johnson's stories -- they celebrate the magnificent creativity and delight that a solitary child can generate for himself or herself, so long as that kid is happy and secure. One carp: Van Dyke Parks, a musician for whom I have tremendous respect, does the songs and I just plain don't like 'em. He often seems to forget that he's writing songs for kids (one tune has references to Orwell, another to Galileo); BUT!! My two-year-old, while no more enthusiastic about the music than I am, loves everything else about the show and will watch it as long as we'll let him.

My Daughter (4 and 1/2) has practically worn out this DVD, she watches it so much. It is a video that is simple in nature and peaceful. She is not a fan of movies that blow things up and violence, nor am I. She has even passed on this love of Harold to her cousins (ages 8 and 6). When they come over they specically ask if they can watch it. When we brought this DVD with us abroad all her cousins who are under the age of 8 loved it as well. (they are fans of rockem sockem movies) So I found it to be a nice change for them. Language was not a barrier for them to understand what was happening....NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE MIND AND THE POWER OF IMAGINATION A CHILD HAS!!!! THANK YOU HAROLD!!!

My now 3 1/2 yr old son began watching this version on HBO in Demand and loved it. It was the only thing he asked to watch over and over. It has not been available for the past month on In Demand so we went to the library and borrowed the original (1974 I think) Scholastic version. My son enjoyed it just as much as the Sharon Stone-narrated version. Both versions stimulate the creative mind and I feel that these series are overall so much better than much of the programming available for the preschool set. Overall a wonderful purchase....only one episode I had a hard time with (when Harold's pet fish dies) as it was too much for my son to understand and too much for me to stay dry-eyed due to the recent death of our dog!