My gracious sister let us borrow her DVD boxed set of the BBC Planet Earth series and now my whole family is obsessed. Dinner dishes have never been so quickly cleaned as we scramble to complete our chores, so that we can sit down on the couch and fire-up the next movie. |
As the stories of places and animals across-the-globe are told, my family sits there speechless. Well actually... it's more like quiet-for-a-minute followed by:
My husband: "That's amazing!"
Me: "No way!"
My 10 year old: "Wow! That's awesome!"
My 7 yr old: "I'd like to be a polar bear."
With 5 DVDs in the series (featuring Mountains, Caves, Seasonal Forests, Great Plains, Desserts, and two others per disk) each and every segment has been remarkable. I'm learning new things about this amazing planet. My kids are seeing the amazing work of biologists and film crews. It really is amazing stuff that almost leaves us speechless. Almost... because when watching a walrus protect her young from a hungry polar bear we scream:
My husband: "Wow! Look at that."
Me: "Uh uh. She's not gonna let him anywhere near her baby."
My 10 year old: "Tell me when it's over."
My 7 yr old: "Wild."
Several parts of the series are available for on-line watching (here and here), but I recommend buying the set as a gift for the eight year old child (and older) that you love. Of course, if you want to break open the pack and watch it first - I totally understand and I add: Well worth it!