Mickey's Storybook Surprises is squarely aimed at the preschool crowd and uses the same style of interactive storytelling as Dora the Explorer or My Friends Tigger & Pooh. In each of the DVD's four episodes, Mickey and the gang get caught up in retellings of several famous fairytales. Each episode revolves around one problem, such as Donald turning into a frog, and invites viewers to take an active part in solving the mystery.
Each mystery is solved by piecing together tools, which are introduced through a game of "I Spy...". Usually Mickey or one of the other characters will ask viewers to guess which tool they might need to use to solve the problem. This isn't anything new to kids' television, but Mickey's Storybook Surprises absolutely nails the timing aspects. There's just enough time for kids to think and yell out the answer rather than long bouts of dead space or quick answers. Nearly all of the clues are meant to help kids develop their problem-solving skills as well as teaching other skills like color and shape recognition. It's nothing that will replace simple parent-child interaction, but it serves as a great reinforcement tool - plus it's incredibly entertaining.
Discovering tools is, of course, accompanied by a catchy little tune that is admittedly hard to get out of your head once you hear it.
The four episodes are joined by one of the coolest extras I've seen on a kids' DVD. "Tales from Toodles" is an interactive story that allows viewers to help Mickey's computer, Toodles, create a story. Kids choose from a number of choices like "frog", "kitten" and "vine"; once all of their choices are selected, Toodles will then read the story back to them with all of their choices. The stories don't always make sense, but neither do Mad Libs and they're always fun.
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Storybook Surprises was a real hit and worth the purchase if you have a preschooler.
