While Strawberry Shortcake is not a series that my daughters tend to watch regularly, they do really enjoy these DVD releases. So much so that I’m surprised we don’t watch the series more often. In the latest DVD offering, Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Best in Show, we see the introduction of several new characters, including Huckleberry Pie. (Finally a boy character so I have someone to relate to while watching this show with my girls.)

The DVD contains the first three episodes from season 3 of the Strawberry Shortcake’s Berry Bitty Adventures animated TV series:

• “A Boy and His Dogs”
   
  Lesson: Being yourself, telling the truth and not just what you think other want to hear so they’ll like you.

  We meet Huckleberry Pie for the first time. His van full of stray pups gets stuck in a ditch on the side of the road. Strawberry her friends quickly befriend the shy Huckleberry, help him get his van repaired and want to adopt the puppies.

• “Partners in Crime”
   
  Lesson: Listening to what others have to say.

  Having discovered that Huckleberry is also a huge fan of the Patty Persimmon mystery novel series, Blueberry invites him to write a detective story with her for a contest. However, Blueberry is not a very good listener and she only uses her ideas for the story. She gets upset and jealous when she discovers that Huckleberry is writing a song with Cherry, but soon apologizes when she realizes that Huckleberry is writing the song about her, to prove to her that he has his own ideas as well.

• “The Mystery of the Disappearing Dog Show”
   
  Lesson: Never giving up and using your own imagination.

  Blueberry and Huckleberry send their detective story to Berry Bitty Mysteries, but it is rejected for being too similar to a Patty Persimmons novel, and they decide to try again with a completely original idea. Meanwhile Strawberry and tries to hold a dog show to raise funds for Huckleberry to build a homeless shelter for dogs. Unfortunately due to a mix up, no one gets their invitations to the show. Will they still be able to raise the money?

What’s Included on the DVD:

Episodes:
DVD:

• 3 episodes of the series (66 min)
  

  • “A Boy and His Dogs”
  • “Partners in Crime”
  • “The Mystery of the Disappearing Dog Show”
• Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0
• English SDH, Spanish subtitles
• Closed Captioned

Digital Copy (Redemption Deadline 5/12/2018):

• UltraViolet Digital HD Copy

Extras:

• Printable Coloring Pages
• Perfect Puppy Digital Storybook download (while supplies last)

Final Thoughts:

I watched these dog-filled adventures with my younger daughter Claire (aged 5.5) who is deathly afraid of dogs and she absolutely loved them.

She giggled incessantly as adorable puppy after adorable puppy bounded out of Huckleberry’s van and nearly fell off the couch in a fit of laughter when Huckleberry accidentally ends up with a girly haircut at Lemon’s salon in the first episode. As soon as one episode ended Claire could hardly contain her enthusiasm for the next one to begin.

Each episode was entertaining and helped convey an important life lesson. This is one aspect of the series which I, as a parent, really enjoy. Whether or not my girls realize it, they are learning.

While the Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Best in Show DVD contains a compilation of three episodes, it could have just as easily been released as one long film if the opening title/credit sequences had been stripped out between episodes. The stories flow nicely into one another and it is perfect for one long sequential viewing.

The picture quality of both the digital copy as well as the DVD was fantastic, the dialog was easy to hear.

The extras were a little lacking in this particular Strawberry Shortcake home video release. Unfortunately, despite one really catchy tune contained within these episodes, there was no sing-along or music video (usually one of the highlights of these releases for my girls). A digital copy was included, which is always nice for taking these shows with us on the girls’ iPods. There were also a couple of printable coloring pages, which always go over well in our house.

Berry Best in Show was a hit with my younger daughter and I’m sure there will be quite a few repeat viewings in our household, in addition to my daughters verbal recounting of all of the puppy-based hilarity.