After the success of Juno's Wonderful Day, we were inspired through customer feedback to build a more complete product line. Because we made the conscious decision to provide only the highest quality products in every aspect of our newly conceived brand, the endeavor took us nearly three years to complete! With the feedback gathered from our customer community, education experts and script consultants, we've developed a recipe for quality children's products. Live chamber music recordings, foreign language voiceovers, and the highest quality fabrics for our apparel and plush merchandise are just a few of the many considerations that we've implemented. We, like all parents, only want the best for our child and have learned that developing a quality product line, much like raising a child, takes patience, care, and diligence; however, the results and rewards far surpass the effort.

Our DVDs will not make your child a genius. Unlike other companies, which imply that merely watching their programs will automatically produce brilliant children, we make no such claim. However, we've made an effort to make the content of our DVDs as beneficial as possible based on the most current research (see below). In addition, each of our videos encourages viewer participation, co-viewing with parents, foreign language development, and includes interactive material. Still, the focus of our videos is beautiful music, entertaining stories, and diverse characters. These are our roots and what we consider our specialty.

Each of our original pieces was written by critically acclaimed and award-winning composer Belinda Takahashi, Ph.D. Each of the songs were scored for and performed by actual chamber music ensembles. While most other children's programs subtly espouse the benefits of "The Mozart Effect," they generally use only electronic or synthesized sounds. A child's ear is fully capable of appreciating the full textures and subtleties that only real instruments can produce. In addition, the music of Juno Baby encourages singing and movement through the lyrics and harmonies. Each of our videos includes fun, original sing-along songs as well wonderful classical pieces. The CD is a compilation of all of the original sing-along music with bonus instrumental versions for parents and children to enjoy together.

Based on our research, we have developed a video series that is truly appropriate and can be appreciated by children ages 0-5. Depending on a child's age and development, children will find different things that interest and appeal to them in our videos. For example, younger children might enjoy the slow movement, language development, and bright colors while older children might enjoy the stories, characters, and interactive features.

Research quoted in the American Behavioral Scientist suggests "(that programs where) characters speak directly to the child, actively elicit participation, label objects, and provide opportunities to respond, were positively related to expressive language production and vocabulary." To ensure that our content was as strong as possible, we hired one of the researchers from this study as a script consultant for our Juno Baby series. We've also included nteractive segments, which further explore the topics covered within each video. In addition, we've also created both French and Spanish versions of the programs, for parents wishing to expose their children to foreign languages. As a bonus feature, we've also included a language flash card component, to further help with language development and retention.

Quality is at the forefront at Juno Baby. From recording with actual orchestral musicians to puppeteering with Fraggle Rock alumni; working with top child development experts to providing multiple language tracks; using the finest and most comfortable fabric for our apparel line to rigorously testing our plush through independent testing laboratories, we sought to create a premium brand with the highest of quality.

We offer an unconditional 30-day money back guarantee. As a way of improving our products, we would appreciate (not require) your feedback on how our product(s) could have better suited your needs. Please contact us at returns@junobaby.com to request a refund. Sorry, we cannot reimburse for shipping.

To maintain the integrity of our product, we primarily offer our products online. However, our products do appear in smaller and very select children's boutiques around the country.

We charge a flat shipping rate on the actual cost of postage, shipping materials, and handling based on the smallest single order. As a courtesy to our customers, we use that rate for any quantity. So whether you order one item or one hundred items, the shipping cost will remain the same.

In response to the ongoing debate over infant videos, we would like to share some of our thoughts from the perspective of a producer. First of all, we welcome the discussion and think an ongoing debate on the topic is worthwhile. It is not our goal to operate in a vacuum without regard for the findings of experts or the opinions of our customers. As a matter of fact, when looking for feedback on our own videos, we specifically state that positive feedback is just as welcome as negative. Still, we do believe there are some common misconceptions regarding the research which should be pointed out.

First of all, regarding the 1999 study conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics, no specific studies were conducted on infants' television viewing habits and this relative dearth of support led them to make the conclusion that "until more research is done about the effects of TV on very young children, the AAP does not recommend television for children younger than two years of age." I think it's worthwhile to emphasize that no distinction was made between educational programming and regular passive television viewing. Just as you would not compare "Citizen Kane" to "The Waterboy", I think the differences should be stressed. While we're not comparing children's videos to Academy Award winning films, it is worth mentioning that, in the same article, the AAP elaborates that "studies show that preschool children who watch educational TV programs do better on reading and math tests than children who do not watch those programs. When used carefully, television can be a positive tool to help your child learn."

Perhaps a more detailed research piece was published just a few years ago in "Pediatrics" by scientists at Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center. The study explained that television in general tends to over-stimulate infants and may lead to problems associated with attention deficit. Once again, the study did not differentiate between the different "kinds" of programs that were watched. However, lead researcher, Dr. Dimitri Christakis felt that attention deficit in children was related to the unrealistically fast-paced visual images typical of most TV programming. Since the advent of the remote control, it seems programmers have grown fearful of viewers' changing the channel which would mean lost revenues for the networks. To maintain an engaged audience, images flash from cut to cut as rapidly as a standard music video which enthusiastically caters to a generation of shorter attention spans. It seems clear how this could be incredibly detrimental to an infant that is just starting to associate images on television with real life communications. Ironically enough, the very issue that seems to be scarring the industry in which we participate, is part of our mission statement - to show content in a slow and deliberate manner.

In general, we think it's fair to say that anything can be damaging in extremes and the key should be more about moderation. According to a survey conducted by The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 61% of children under 1 watch TV every day and another one-third of children under 6 actually have televisions in their bedrooms. This to me is startling. We have a three year old daughter and her television viewing is quite limited and controlled. When we do allow her to watch our videos, we typically watch them together and talk about the scenes and sing along with the songs. Completely ignoring videos as a medium for learning and communication seems dogmatic.

Still, not all videos are created equally. We were actually inspired to create our own series out of dissatisfaction with the options so popular on the market today. It is concerning that so many titles imply that merely watching their videos will make a child smarter. We think it's more important to highlight the enjoyment and exposure to language and music that can be both fun and beneficial for the interaction between parent and child.

In particular, some of the qualities we think are important in a video include:

Slow paced and intentional - As an alternative to videos that seem to hypnotize children into sedation through random images, content with simple vignettes and logical imagery may prove to be more beneficial.

Interactivity - Look for videos that include interactive guides or include content that can act as a springboard to interactivity between parent and child. An interesting study conducted out of The University of Washington showed that infants exposed to television learned language skills exponentially faster when viewed together with a caregiver who could help interpret and synthesize what was being watched.

Simple dialog and characters with individual personalities - Research has shown that infants identify with faces which may prove to be a valuable introduction to language. Also, infants are capable of understanding human emotions and interaction. Watching recognizable scenarios with characters may assist is shaping positive social interaction.

Reviewed by trusted experts.

Music and singing - While we wish there was more evidence which supported the belief that merely subjecting a child to classical music will make them smarter, we personally have a passion for it. Belinda is a composer who has dedicated her life to this love. We, therefore, found it very important to expose our child to music. However, we would be skeptical of any company that claims or suggests that it will make children smarter. Still, for preverbal infants, music is a wonderful way for parents to communicate with their babies, especially by singing to them. In a study done by the University of Toronto, videotaped singing performances were shown to be quite effective for developing infants and are now even employed for therapeutic uses including regulating emotion in disabled or sick children.

The bottom line is that it is important to use your own judgment. Make sure that the videos and programs that you choose are reflective of your own values, imagination, and interests that you hope to encourage or feel are important for your child to be exposed to. Television and video viewing is easily vilified but when used in moderation and appropriately, can be an incredibly effective medium to educate, stimulate, and entertain. We personally know that they can have a long lasting effect - we'll always walk around singing the theme to Marlo Thomas' "Free to Be, You and Me."