Jack Goes West is the second episode in the Jack, the Cuddly Dog series of educational videos. Jack loves playing with his big red ball every day, but one day it bounces away and he can't quite keep up with it! Follow along on Jack's journey west while chasing his ball. The video focuses on teaching viewers spacial relationships, with some additional emphasis on colors and locations. The combined animation and live action video shots shows Jack travelling by airplane, train, hot air balloon, and car over the Grand Canyon, the mountains, and through giant redwood forests, until he finally ends up at the Pacific Ocean in California. He also sees many animals, such a buffalo, antelope, a gofer, geese, a toad, butterflies, a humming bird, horses, deer, and sea lions!
A child narrates the story and asks many questions to keep your little one involved and engaged. The narrator often asks, "Where did Jack go?" and your child can point on the screen or answer out loud. A map of the Unites States is shown quite a few times to track where the red ball has gone; you could point to where you live and perhaps where some of your relatives live to help your little one begin to learn map reading and larger spacial relations. Children will also get a kick out of imitating all the puppy dog sounds Jack makes whenever he is addressed. Your little one will also understand the humor in the video, like when Jack jumps into a box so he is a jack-in-the-box, or when the sea lions get a hold of Jack's red ball and volley it with their noses.
My three year-old friend Sam is a huge fan of the Jack Goes West soundtrack. The gentle background music plays Home on the Range, She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain, You Are My Sunshine, and Yankie Doodle. He sang right along to each song (or at least as much as he knew of each song), clapping his hands and smiling the whole time.
--Audra